Overall I enjoyed this series. This book felt almost more like a novella rather than a full novel but I enjoyed the characters a lot. ( )

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Cheers to the Duke by Sally Mackenzie is the third book in her delightful Widows Brew series. I think you will enjoy this book more if you have read the previous books in the series. Widow Josephine Smyth-Waters, Lady Hendridge is the founder of Puddleton Manors Benevolent home, but things have significantly changed as both of her partners have married and left her behind. She’s feeling a bit lost and out of sorts. When she is spirited off to a christening because her former partners have matchmaking in mind, she’s also a bit resentful and determined to chose her own course, one that does not involve former solicitor Edward Russell, now the Duke of Grainger. A year after his surprise inheritance of the Dukedom, Edward is still finding his way. Meeting Jo in person, after having corresponded with her for years, is a revelation, and together they begin to discover that maybe their friends know them better than they know themselves. I enjoyed this book very much. It was a lighthearted and fun read and exactly what I seem to enjoy best right now. Steam Level: Medium. Publishing Date: October 5, 2021. #CheersToTheDuke #SallyMacKenzie #KensingtonBooks #ZebraRomance #HistoricalRomance #HistoricalRomance Series #RomanceReader #HistoricalRomanceReader #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #NetGalley ( )

OMGoodness – I thoroughly enjoyed this lovely, heartwarming romance. Our protagonists had both survived tragedy and unhappiness in their lives, both had survived, and both had overcome. Well, he had, but I’m not sure about her. While she has survived and has done good works, she still allows what happened during her marriage to color how she lives her life. It colors the decisions she makes and it makes her very wary and distrustful. Once burned, twice shy.

Lady Josephine Smyth-Waters was the daughter of a small village vicar – one of several sisters. All of her older sisters had already married vicars of their own, but that isn’t what Jo wanted for herself. That left her ripe for the picking when a handsome, charming, titled man arrived in their village and expressed an interest in her seventeen-year-old self. She was dizzyingly, dazzlingly, giddily in love and they were married within two weeks. Sadly, it didn’t take long for her to see the grave error she’d made. She’d never trust love again!

Over the last ten years, Jo along with her friends Caro (The Merry Viscount) and Pen (What Ales the Earl) created the Benevolent Home for the Maintenance and Support of Spinsters, Widows, and Abandoned Women and their Unfortunate Children. During the last year, both Caro and Pen have married and moved away, leaving the running of the Home totally on Jo’s shoulders. That isn’t good for Jo because she stresses over the responsibility – she feels she has to do everything herself – she can’t let their residents down. So, when Pen requested her to attend her newly delivered son’s christening and become his godmother – she had to refuse. She just couldn’t leave the Home right now. Ah, there is trickery afoot …

Until a year ago, Edward Russell had been a widowered London solicitor who was raising his young son, Thomas, on his own. While he had always known he was distantly related to Duke of Grainger’s family, he’d never met any of them – nor had he cared to. Then, a tragic set of events propels Edward into the title and his life isn’t his own any longer. He intended to follow expectations and marry to produce the spare he supposedly needed, but after a season of attending social functions and meeting simpering, insipid debutantes whose only interest in him was his title, he’d had enough. He was so grateful to be able to leave to attend the christening of his friend’s child – and to become its godfather.

I absolutely adored Edward and his son Thomas. He was a wonderful, loving, involved father who had no intention of marrying someone who didn’t love his son. It was wonderful to see Jo and Edward meet and come to care for each other. Jo had serious trust issues – not only didn’t she trust men in general, but she also didn’t trust herself or her own judgment.

This was a wonderfully straightforward love story without the navel-gazing, angsty, woe-is-me you see in so many books. It was well-written with humor, romance, wonderful characters, and the most delightful bear of a dog – named Bear. I hope you’ll love it as much as I did.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. ( )

Fun book. Jo, Lady Havenridge, and her two friends Caro and Pen started the Benevolent Home years earlier to help women who had nowhere else to go. The Home partially supports itself by running a brewery and alehouse and partially with the financial support of the Duke of Grainger. Jo corresponds with the Duke regularly. Caro and Pen married and moved on to life with their husbands in the past year, though they are still peripherally involved with the Home. They also remain friends with Jo and support her as best they can. Jo is a bit of a control freak, and with her friends gone, she feels she must do it all herself, despite offers from others to help. It's become so bad that some of the ladies collaborate with Caro and Pen to get Jo to the christening of Pen's son as the boy's godmother. Jo arrives at Darrow to find that Pen and Caro have matchmaking on their minds, with Edward and Jo as their targets.

Edward was a solicitor until recently when he unexpectedly inherited the title of Duke of Grainger. The widowed father of a seven-year-old son, Edward wants a mother for Thomas and a wife who can be a partner for him. Attending the ton's ballrooms does nothing to improve his opinion of the nobility, and the available ladies are not what he wants. After a particularly stressful evening, Edward opts for an early arrival at his friend Darrow's home, where he will be the new heir's godfather. He takes Thomas and their dog, Bear, with him.

I loved the first meeting between Jo and Edward. Jo encountered Thomas and Bear first and immediately connected with Thomas. He's a very forthright little boy and jumps right into pleading his case for himself and his father, even though he just met her. Edward arrives shortly after. He is immediately smitten by the woman who interacts so easily with Thomas. While Jo is attracted, her first marriage was so terrible that she has no intention of ever marrying again; additionally, she refuses to give up control of the Home. Be that as it may, Jo and Edward quickly discover that they like each other and enjoy spending time together. I liked how Jo found herself relaxing and enjoying her time away, especially with Edward and Thomas, and she irritated me when she kept forcing herself to put the Home first.

When Edward and Jo gave into the attraction between them, Edward had high hopes that it would lead Jo to marriage with him. He accepts that he's already fallen in love with her. Jo suspects that she loves him, too, but after her first marriage is wary of trusting the speed of those feelings. I liked how Edward respected her fears and feelings, giving her the time she needed to believe in what they could have together. I loved the ending, as Edward shows up at the Home to plead his case just as Jo receives some unexpected news. Once they get past some insecurity-induced misunderstandings, seeing them finally admit their feelings made a fantastic ending. The epilogue was a terrific wrap-up.

This book was a lot of fun to read. The interactions between Jo and Edward ranged from fun and flirty to serious and deeply emotional. Edward's son Thomas stole the show with his sweet care and worry for his father and conviction that Jo was precisely what they needed. The dog, Bear, certainly kept things interesting with his enthusiasm and occasionally awkward interference. I loved the close relationship between Jo, Caro, and Pen, though Caro and Pen may have been a little too enthusiastic in their attempts to get Edward and Jo together. That much pressure tended to make Jo dig in her heels rather than agree that she and Edward were right for each other. The dinner scene was both funny and uncomfortable because of two women who had no filters regarding gossip, Jo, and Edward. One of the funniest scenes was at the end when Livy explained to Jo why she didn't feel good.

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