When I pick up a Jenny Frame book I expect an old school butch/femme pairing and excellent sex scenes. This book did not disappoint.

What's not to love. Great story, the main characters are always well developed and the reader is drawn in to enjoy every page of the journey. Can highly recommend.

Another engaging book from Jenny Frame! I love how she vividly paints her characters as well as their backgrounds and where they come from. Both main characters, Evan & Clem were both so adorable, and you just knew they were destined to find their true love! I sure hope that the author considers a sequel to this story exploring how the main characters and their plans for the village progresses! Highly recommend!

Jenny Frame always writes some great stories and this one was no exception either. I was so excited to watch the characters grow together.

Butch & femme, rebuilding, environmentalism, family challenges and ... love

This felt like a pretty cute book, largely because the main character, Evan Fox, is a big child ... but a very successful business person. Evan has passion, excitement, glass overflowing of happiness and kindness.

Throw in the glass is almost empty, unhappy and unpleasant Duchess Clem and you have your opposites attract, perfect match.

This book is a fun read, with healthy doses of goodwill and change for the better.

ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you’ve read a Jenny Frame book before, then you know going in what you’ll find. This is no different in that the MCs are butch/femme, and as with two of her past series, this features British aristocracy.

The mains here are Evan Fox, who runs a large toy manufacturing business and also has multiple side businesses, one of which is to take over an English village and make it eco friendly and a safe haven for minorities (the dreamer). The other MC is Clementine, a duchess whose family fortune was lost thanks to the larger than life dreams of her grandmother, leaving her living in the gardeners cottage on the edge of what was once her family estate and her village. Clem is also responsible for caring for her mother who has dementia, and is bitter and closed off from her many losses/struggles.

Evan has long admired Clem’s grandmother, Isadora, and is ecstatic to find out that the family estate and I guess the village are up for sale, she buys them and moves in to enact her utopian plan. The village doesn’t have much in the way of locals, and Clem and some of the farmers want nothing to do with Evan’s plans. Evan, however, is a big ball of positivity and soon starts to win everyone over. It doesn’t hurt that Clem also finds her attractive. For Evan’s part, it’s pretty much love at first sight after meeting Clem, so she’s even more determined to win her over.

Evan’s dream seems like a pipe dream to be honest, but it was fun reading about all the different things they were going to do and watching the villagers slowly get on board. And the ideology behind it sets up a setting where LGBTQIA people will feature, which removes one of the biggest obstacles to a series set in such a setting.

I could have lived without the endless repetition about Clem being a duchess, Evan being a ‘dapper dandy’, and the word ‘collywobbles’ has probably never featured so much in a book as it does here. The romance itself is pretty sweet though and the characters are fairly engaging. Some of the secondary characters were interesting, and I assume will be fleshed out further in the coming books, it’s not hard to work out who will feature in those.

Overall, it’s a nice, sweet romance. Frame fans will enjoy this. 4 stars.

Stevie‘s review of The Duchess and the Dreamer (Rosebrook, Book 1) by Jenny Frame
Contemporary Lesbian Romance published by Bold Strokes Books 12 May 20

There are a whole range of things I like about Jenny Frame’s aristocratic heroines: they have plausible histories to account for them holding titles in their own right; they’re in touch with reality and not necessarily super-rich, certainly not through inheritance; and they find themselves paired with perfectly contrasting co-heroines. All these are certainly true of the lead in the first book of this latest series.


Clementine Fitzroy is a descendant of one of Charles II’s mistresses, whose children, like so many others. were given a title by their father. This title, thanks to the canny mistress, was bestowed on both male and female heirs, and so Clementine is a duchess by birth rather than by marriage. Unfortunately, the fancy title doesn’t come with a big estate due to her grandmother’s poor financial judgement, and Clementine now lives close to her family’s old home, watching over the house, lands and villagers while worrying whether the next new owners of the estate will revive its fortunes or drag it down further.

Unlike Clementine, successful business leader Evan Fox is a great fan of Isadora Fitzroy, Clementine’s grandmother, and has dreamed of reviving Isodora’s planned model for the estate since childhood. When the estate comes up for sale again, Evan is able to buy it, and sets about winning over the locals to her cause. Clementine, naturally, is one of the most suspicious residents, and is dismayed to see some of the neighbours she has known her entire life being won over by Evan’s enthusiasm and quirky demeanour.

As with Frame’s previous books in the genre, the background characters are a total delight and all very deserving of stories of their own. I particularly like the elderly twins who revelled in receiving new mobility scooters and set off on adventures around the area. Clementine and Evan are excellently depicted, and I love the butch:femme dynamic they have going on, as well as their individual abilities to stick to their principles but also to compromise with each other when necessary.

While I sometimes find subplots that revolve around a parent with dementia difficult to read for personal reasons, the one in this book is handled with great sensitivity and I am very impressed at how it is resolved. The family dynamics around Evan and the background characters are also beautifully depicted, and I’m looking forward to seeing how these evolve through the series.

An excellent start to this new series, and I’m greatly looking forward to the next installment.

Grade: A

Bottom line: I didn't like the power imbalance / sweeping in and taking care of everything dynamic.

This was my first book by Frame, and I think I'll try another one. I certainly loved the setting and modern royalty characters. I didn't like this particular pairing though. The Duchess was too helpless, the Dreamer too commanding. A few times, I thought Evan crossed the consent line, like when Clem doesn't want to get in the car or then stop for ice cream but is forced to do so anyway. It felt icky.

For their accomplishments and careers, I kept thinking they'd be ten years older. The timeline of the story was a little muddied. Generally, I wasn't very engaged in this story - although I'll try again with Frame!

This was a really fun, gentle read with a feel-good storyline.

Evan is the quintessential gentle-butch who rocks a suit and is charming and gentlemanly all at once. She brings energy and positivity—and uncertainty and chaos to Clementine, who is suffering from the loss of her family’s fortune and struggles to take care of the villagers she sees as her responsibility as well as her aging mother. At first their relationship is rocky, although secretly they are both instantly attracted to each other.

Frame weaves an easy-to-read tale, which flip-flops between Even and Clementine’s POV. It’s written so well that I never got confused about whose head we are in. Evan’s narrative is infused with energy, random ideas and passion, while Clementine’s is more subtle and subdued.

The setting is so vivid, it’s almost a character in itself! I really enjoyed this book, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys butch-femme, gentleman fashion, environmental issues, and of course a few hot bedroom scenes.

This seems to be the start of a series so maybe we’ll get to find out more about Archie and Ash in the future!



My rating: 5 Stars

Clementine Fitzroy, Duchess of Rosebrook, doesn’t put much stock in dreaming. She lost her ancesteral home and the life associated with a Duchess when her idealist grandmother lost everything trying to make Rosebrook a better place. Now, Clem doe contract archectural work and tries to keep her head above water while paying for expensive care for her ailing mother. Evan Fox dreams big. She’s always looked up to Isadora Fitzroy and is determined to carry on the work she started in Rosebrook. When Evan meets Clementine, she instantly feels like she’s been hit in the face with a banjo, a term coined by her father when he fell in love at first sight with Evan’s mother. Evan’s charm may not be enough to enlist Clem’s help in restoring the town, much less getting her to go on a date.

This book was super cute. Lay off the sugar beforehand, though, because Clementine and Evan lay on the sap thick. At times it was just a tad saccrine for my taste, but overall, I was endeared to the two leads and their little town. Both characters have big hearts, and they balance each other out well. Clem acts as a grounding force for Evan, who has her head in the clouds and her thoughts racing to a million different places, and Evan provides some optimism and encourages Clem to dream just a little bit here and there.

It’s not exactly enemies to lovers, but the romance strikes a pretty good balance between tension and payoff. More of a slow burn with a steadily building romance. I did like that part. They don’t immediately just jump in bed together, but as a jaded and bitter pessimist, I was a tad thrown off at Evan’s immediate insistance that she’d met the love of her life. It didn’t take anything away from the story or characters, but I was a reluctant believer. I’m glad they won me over, though.

If you’re looking for something like and fluffy to get you through the garbage pile that’s 2020, look no further. Also, it’s the first in a series, so I’ll look forward to revisiting this village and its cute characters again.

An honest review thanks to NetGalley. I love Jenny Frame and don't think I have read one of her works that I didn't love. This book was fantastic, I loved Evan Fox. She was amazing and her dream for a better world one village at a time was very intriguing. Her relationship with Clem and how she just knew from the very beginning that she was her Mrs. Fox was adorable and I loved experiencing their story!

Jenny Frame is a great weaver of romantic fiction. In this book she has created a royal romance in modern times. As with her other royal romance books, she has developed her characters in such a way that you feel that they are real and when the story comes to an end, you are longing for more.

The two main characters are Clementine Fitzroy and Evan Fox. Clementine is the Duchess of Rosebrook. Due to mishandling of the family fortune and the loss of the Rosebrook estate by her grandmother, Clementine and her mother had to move into the gatehouse. Because her mom is not healthy and suffers from dementia, Clementine has to place her mother into a nursing home. Being the Duchess of Rosebrook comes with responsibilities to the residents of Rosebrook Village. Although she does not have money, she does what she can to help the citizens.

Evan Fox is a multi-millionaire who has inherited the family toy business. It has been in her family for over three generations. Evan Fox’s mother is an environmentalist who has supported many causes and has raised her daughter to be a caring and giving person. Ever since she was a young girl, her family vacationed in the Village of Rosebrook. When she heard that Rosebrook Estate was for sale, she decided to buy it and help restore the mansion and all the surrounding buildings back to their previous glory days. In addition, she plans to rejuvenate the economy of the Village.

Clementine and Evan’s initial meeting is anything but wonderful. Clementine is suspicious of Evan’s motives. It does not help the situation when Clementine’s mother’s health deteriorates.

Ms. Frame is an expert in developing storylines. Readers will feel a connection with the characters and start to cheer them on. The supporting characters in this book have been well developed, too.

This book is a fast read, one that will provide many hours of enjoyment. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

‘The Duchess and the Dreamer’ by Jenny Frame is a lovely read. The story revolves around what happens when an optimistic dreamer meets an impoverished duchess and tries to make her see the positive side of life again. Evan Fox is bouncy and happy and sees great possibilities everywhere she goes. When she moves to a small English village with hopes of transforming it into an eco-friendly haven for LGBT people and anyone who shares her goals, she just has to get the local aristocracy on side. Clementine, Duchess of Rosebrook, now living in the gatehouse at the end of Evan’s drive, is not going to be a pushover.

I took to Evan straight away. Her infectious enthusiasm was endearing and seeing her feelings for Clem grow was sweet. I loved what she was trying to do for the village. It was admirable. Clem may have come across as a bit of an ice queen, but once we got to know her life story, it was entirely understandable. The community spirit aspect was very appealing too. I liked getting to know the villagers and those in Evan’s company trying to make a difference. I enjoyed it.

I was given this ARC for review.

Jenny Frame’s books make me want to pack up my life, sell everything, and then buy an entire village in England to house my family and friends for quaint holidays. No but seriously I ove Jenny Fram’s books and the Duchess and the Dreamer no different. This might be on the op of my list now above the Axedale Series.

The premisof the book is that the Clementine Fitzroy Duchess of Rosebrook is broke, and has a sick mother to take care of. She is no longer living in her ancestral home and feels upset by this. In comes Evan Fox who wants to build sustainable homes in the country as a haven for LGBTQ peoples and she buys the Duchess of Rosebrooks family home and turns it into a giant play house. Clémentine is upset by the changes, but slowly Evan starts to court her and make her a part of the process. They fall in love while working hard to fix the village that Clementine has lived in her entire life.

I loved so much about this book from the twins who Evan got motor bikes for, or the gay maple couple, the one who took over the bar. Everyone in this book was quirky and added something essential to the story. I would have thought that so many characters would mean underdevelopment of personalities, but Ms. Frame does a remarkable job of making you feel for every single character in this book. She has a way of writing that evokes all of the emotions. THis book is so well written, Niort a single word wasted, and all story lines were wrapped up in the end. I especially liked the personality of Evan Fox, she was playful, and jubilant, and just one of the most lovable written characters. I hope we see her again in other books set in Rosebrook.

Another great butch/femme dynamic from Jenny Frame. Plus a dash of an age difference. This book was more cheesy than her other books. The first two books by Jenny Frame were more serious and the angst heavier. But this one is also a nice read with a tad of angst.

It's the second time in a hundred books I have read that there is a dapper dandy character. Evan Fox is certainly unique. She certainly piques the interest of Duchess Clementine Fitzroy of Rosebrook. Even tho Clementine will deny it.

Evan Fox is a dreamer. It also doesn’t hurt that she has the money to try to turn her dreams into something tangible. Everyone has a hard time keeping up with her thought process but it helps that her father is a dreamer too, along with her mother who works hard keeping the air and water clean throughout the world. Keeping up with Evan can be tiring but luckly she has some great people around her. So none thought it strange when she got the chance to buy the Rosebrook estate. She just didn’t think the hardest part of making her dream community would be trying to convince the former owner.
Clementine Fitzroy would be still living in her former home but for the fact that her grandmother was also a dreamer. Like Evan she envisioned a self sustaining community but she lost her wealth and home to some crooks who were more than happy to come between her and her money. So that’s why Clem found herself living in the gate house situated at the end of the lane leading to her former home. Clem worked hard but never seemed to get ahead, mainly because every extra penny she had went to paying for the care her mother needed.
Now along comes another dreamer, a very cute sexy dreamer but still a dreamer. Ms Frame knows how to tell a story. This book is no different. A well written book that once you start you will have a hard time putting down. Very, very nice read.
ARC via NetGalley/ Bold Stroke Books

Jenny Frame can certainly entertain with her dapper butch stories. A fun butch/fem romance that will warm the heart and keep you coming back for more. It's sweet and well written. The characters are likable and the story is full of charm. Yes, it's a bit cheesy but it's fun to escape the real world through the writing and fantasy of an intriguing author. I recommend.

I like Jenny Frame - I find the butch/femme dynamic in her books too stereotypical at times but I can usually overlook that as her stories are always original and her style of writing is engaging. I enjoyed the fact that this book talked about climate change and veganism, and the bits about dukedoms and various titles were interesting, but I would have liked to see more multi-faceted, less stereotypical main characters. I get that the author wanted to portray Evan as an adult child, but I found her behaviour and inner musings so child-like it actually made me uncomfortable. The insta-love storyline didn't help matters either. My favourite bit about this book was its depiction of Clem's grief after her mum died.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers, Bold Strokes Books Inc., of 'The Duchess and the Dreamer' for affording me the opportunity to read the book and review it.

This is the first book of what will hopefully be Jenny Frame's new Rosebrook series. It's fair to say I read this during the current Pandemic crisis when there's a lot of doom and gloom and anxiety and sometimes it's hard to concentrate the mind. The Duchess and the Dreamer cut through all of that for me. It was a wonderfully entertaining read, with well-drawn characters and an interesting premise. The antithesis of one main character being smitten and the other caught up in her own restricted gloomy world worked well with the bells and whistles that the author used to carry the storyline and narrative. There are layers upon layers within the book that give credence as to why such opposites would attract, given time. Several times the beach served its purpose. Add in the different ecological emphasis in the book, and the philosophy behind Evans decisions, there is just so much to commend the book for.

On the one hand the dispossessed penniless Duchess Clementine, and the wealthy energetic, ecologically minded entrepreneur, Evan Fox looks as if they would drive each other mad given the disparity in energy levels. Evan's dapper dressing and boundless energy could unnerve those with a calmer disposition but the author has gifted Evan with so many positive attributes it is hard to see beyond the kind, generous, thoughtful, insightful character and easy to see why Clementine would succumb to her genuine charm. I enjoyed the slow burn of Clementine's reluctance and the inevitable chemistry once romance ignited.

I did get the collywobbles reading through this book and the only reasoning was I didn't like the character of Evan Fox. With Evan being a "dandy" with her "dapper butch" looks, we were constantly reminded of her being such and that was just plain annoying.  In addition I found her over the top positive personality grating and her maturity level rather low which actually could be the reason why she's the successful CEO of her family's toy company.  Having said all of that I did like that Evan had a passion for the environment but I absolutely loved the no nonsense attitude of Clementine. I also liked the premise of the storyline.  I just found it difficult to gel with Evan which made it a difficult read for me.