Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy of this book. My review is honest and based on my personal opinions. I want to preface my review by saying that this book was not for me, and I did DNF it at 34%.

Although I am an avid reader of historical romance, the characters in this novella were too immature for my taste. Despite being for an adult audience, the characters just seemed childish to me. It seems like it is meant to be enemies to lovers, but the reason they dislike each other is based solely on pranks and misunderstanding to the point where they refer to each other as “the Menace” and “the Shrew”.

I also don’t really feel like you get any sense of the characters in the first third of the book outside of their dislike for each other.

Although this book did not resonate with me, it might appeal to those looking for a light Christmas read, especially those who like stories based around pranks, practical jokes, or general silliness.

This is a voluntary review of an advanced copy.

At the start of the book, I was not sure how this was going to work out because Cecilia labeled the Duke (John) as the Menace and John thought of her as the Shrew. What I did get until later in the book was that the disastrous first meeting was when she was 15! So, it made more sense to me that she has this grudge in her mind from years ago.

When her plan goes terribly awry, they are thrown into a situation where they are compromised. Since they have nothing but time, they talk and learn more about each other. Which leads to things getting more than friendly!

At this point, they know that they will be forced to marry because of the "compromise" but plan to give this marriage a good try and not just suffer their fates.

Great HEA and loved the enemies to lovers theme.

Cecilia Bromwell is attending a houseparty at Broadleath, she still has memories of ger previous visit five years ago. Where she has encountered the menace John Rowley.

Five years ago John had inadvertently dunked Cecilia in the lake and after some retaliation with Jam in his boots it had escalated to a jug of lemonade over her near. The women was a shrew.

Moving on fives years their parents have been promoting a match between the pair and the only thing they agree on is that this must not be allowed to happen but then sometimes things don't work out the way you think they will.

A great story with great characters, short and sweet but a very enjoyable journey.

Not enough spice. for a short novel, it was charming esp how much they hated each other at first but the transition from hate to love was way too abrupt and total. There was no lead in or gradual shift, it was like a lightbulb and that was hard. I liked the beginning but the end failed to deliver.

Darcy Burke never disappoints and this novella is entertaining, festive and made me root for the characters
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is an enemies to lovers book. They made up with each other very quickly. Too quickly in my opinion. The story was short so I guess they couldn't take that long to make up with each other.

The writing is good but everything happened too quickly. Falling for each other after spending years disliking/hating each other in 1 day? Nope. Not believable.

I like this author and will continue reading her books. She has great plots but they tend to be too short. Oh well.

This was a good quick read

I know it's only a novella but the hate to love was very quick, and I just don't think I got the full connection between the two characters

- novella
- historical romance
- stuck in a snowstorm
- only one bed
- hate to love

Thank you to NetGalley and Zealous Quill Press for the arc - all opinions are my own

Yule Be My Duke was a fun novella to read! It tells the story of Cecelia and John, who met and did not like each other five years ago. Now their parents are encouraging marriage between the two. Both Cecelia and John are totally against the idea…until they are forced to shelter together in a cabin during a snowstorm. This is a perfect holiday read! Thank you, NetGalley, for this advance reader copy.

And we are still in the match making schemes of Darcy’s matchmaking Chronicles.

But this story happened 5 years earlier, then where the Rigid Duke, the Make-Believe Widow, the Bachelor Earl and the Runaway Viscount found their match. This story is about the hosts of this party: Cecilia and John. It’s very nice to read about the origins of the Matchmaking Party and even better: John and Cecilia hated each other at first. So, a very nice enemies-to-lovers trope in this one. Cute, funny and short. An excellent novella for the start of this series. Four out of five stars from me and a special thank you to Netgalley for providing the arc.

Unfortunately, I simply won't finish this title. I have decided to DNF at 30%. The writing style is terribly underdeveloped, and I do not enjoy being told the same information, muplitle times, from multiple POVs. I also find the main characters to be annoying and extremely juvenile for an HR.

🌲❄ Mini Review ❄🌲

"It was loathe at first sight..."

❄ Enemies to lovers
❄ Quick paced
❄ Forced proximity
❄ One bed
❄ Snowstorm
❄ Historical fiction romance
❄ 🌶🌶🌶 - y'all...this was spicy...at least for me 🤣

What worked for me:
- I absolutely loved the snowy setting of this novella and all of the historical information. It reminded me of Downton Abbey with all the talk of footmen, parties, and traditions.
- Humorous back and forth. These two characters knew how to banter once they got to like each other.
- I liked the enemy to lovers via truce aspect. The pet names while they were enemies were hilarious!

Yule Be My Duke is an extended prequel novella in the Duke in a Box anthology by @darcyburkeauthor Thanks to @netgalley and Zealous Quill Press for my eARC copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I can eat up the forced proximity trope anytime, any day. I loved that they had a misunderstanding years prior and were forced together after a snowstorm to realize they are actually into each other.

Great banter between the main characters and just the great amount of spice for a novella

Thank you Netgalley for this eARC.

4⭐️
I was so excited to pick this up and realize it was set in the eighteenth century, with the trends toward regency and victorian this was a fun change. This is my first Darcy Burke book so this being a novella serves as a good first couple toes in the water. Cecelia and John are sworn enemies in only the way that angsty teenagers can be: prank wars. They meet again five years later with both sets of parents determined they’ll be a good marriage match. From the blurb at the end saying the next book is sixteen years after I’m assuming Cecelia takes up the mantle of the married matchmaking mama. But how do these two find common ground? Well wouldn’t you know it they get snowed into an isolated cottage with, you guessed it, one bed. Needless to say they work out their differences in various ~ways~.

I felt like this book had a lot of potential with the regency era and the enemies turned lovers. The plot line was pretty predictable but that’s ok with romance books. I felt very uncomfortable with the mention of what specific race each character was. Not sure if it was supposed to be indicative of the time period or to show inclusivity. Would have liked to see any type of character development. I did like that it was a fast paced read.

The cover is eye-catching and drew me in. I think the book had a slight enemy feeling in the beginning, but went immediately to last and lovers. I was surprised at how quick the virgin heroine decided to go all the way when it had only been a few hours that she decided to not hate him. I did like the characters and the story had more potential, but then felt rushed. It became hot very quickly and those flames were simmering throughout to the end. I will check out the rest of the series.
I received this ARC from NetGalley and Zealous Quill Press for an honest review. #NetGalley #ZealousQuillPress #YuleBeMyDuke

Some tropes for this delicious novella:
** snowed in / forced proximity
** house party setting
** low stakes enemies to lovers
** kissing lessons <3
** only one blanket and only one bed.

This was such a great wintery historical romance novella! I found it to be the perfect level of enemies to lovers for a historical setting -- very low stakes "enemies" in a childhood pranks-gone-wrong sort of way. When Cecilia attempts another prank on John while they are paired together to search for a yule log at a wintery house party, her plan backfires in a big way.

The romance came on rather quickly, but was actually very sweet. I appreciated Cecilia and John's frankness with each other and their willingness to put their childhood pettiness aside. The scene at the tenant couple's house was immensely sweet to watch, as was seeing how quickly John feels protective over Cecilia. I appreciated that their love wasn't proclaimed to each other immediately and that each took their time to assess their own feelings.

All in all, this was a great historical romance with a wintery setting and several spicy scenes. The length of the novella was perfect - it felt delightfully long for a novella, but did not drag on to the length of a full novel. I will definitely read more of Darcy Burke in the future when I'm in the mood for more spicy historical romances.

Thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for a review copy of this book!

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

When Cecilia Bromwell met John Rowley, the Earl of Cosford, years ago at a house party, she decided there and then that he was the last man she would ever marry. Now five years later, they find themselves the only unmatched guests, and it's clear that everyone is expecting wedding bells to be ringing out. So when the pair find themselves snowed in together, talking through their past for the first time, love blossoms, surprising them more than anyone else. I've enjoyed Darcy's books before, and this one was enjoyable, but there wasn't really anything there to it. I know it was a novella, so it was short, but the idea that they hated each other so much, but ended up falling in love so quickly was jarring. The chemistry was developing, but it wasn't quite enough for me to believe their romance. Even so, a decent story, with a wonderful Christmassy vibe!

Cecilia and John hate one another.. He's a menace and she's a shrew but Fate and mutual attraction have other plans for the pair. A short but fun page turner leaving you wanting to know more about Cecilia and John's friends as well as the family matchmaking legend. This was an entertaining romantic, sexy and enjoyable read. I received a copy from NetGalley and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Cecelia Bromwell hates John Rowley, the Earl of Cosford and John hates Cecelia. All because of pranks from 5 years ago! However, when they meet again at a house party. Cecelia plans the greatest prank, but it backfires. Little does Cecelia know that John has the worst sense of direction! This leads to them being caught in a snow storm and fearing for their lives. Luckily there is a woodcutter's cabin nearby.

This is classic Darcy Burke. Always putting a fresh spin on common romance tropes, and this one is fantastic. I love how Darcy Burke develops the characters; it is like you have known them for years. Darcy is one of my favourite historical romance writers. I just love this story!

Big thanks to NetGally, Zealous Quill Press and Darcy Burke for this early release copy in exchange for my honest review.

Such a quick easy read, it haves pride and prejudice trope, you know she does something based on something he said and it causes a misplaced “animosity between them”, but it’s so good that I love it