I love spicy historical romance and this book was perfection!

So many amazing tropes including second chance romance, political intrigue and code breaking, and so much spice!

These two had such a heartbreaking start, a married couple estranged for 8 years, and it made their reconnection that much sweeter. 🥹 Time didn’t make a dent in their chemistry, these two were real for each other! 🔥😍

Great parts spice and plot, this book was a great read

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the arc 🫶🏻

Deeply moving, poignant and sweet, The Wayward Duke was such a surprise with its depth and character development. Julian, Duke of Hastings and artist Caroline were childhood friends along with Grace whom he confides to Caroline he will ask Grace to marry him. When he offers to nude model for Caroline, sparks fly and the two marry in bliss, until tragedy strikes and the two become estranged for eight years with Julian travelling the world working for the Home Office and Caroline painting under a man's name.

I was hooked from start. Both Julian and Caroline have a chemistry and banter but are nursing deep hurts while secretly pining for each other. When we find the reason why they're estranged, my heart broke for the two of them. I loved the dash of mystery with Caroline using her cryptography skills to help Julian solve whom the letters. I could and would LOVE a series with the two solving crimes.

My only quibble is the issue of Grace is never fully resolved. Julian never satisfactorily explains why he was going to ask Grace to marry him. He just says modelling for Caroline made him fall in love with her. So why was he planning to ask Grace if he wasn't in love with her?

Thanks to Aria & Aries and NetGalley for the ARC.

🌈 Second chance romance
🌈 Historical romance

🌶🌶🌶🌶

Julian, the Duke of Hastings and his wife of 9 years, Caroline, have been estranged since early in their marriage. Loss and grief has tainted their marriage along with misconceptions about their importance to each other.

But when they are forced to cohabitate again and join forces to take down a threat to the country, they find that their passion and love for each other has not been lost.

This was a quick and angsty read - the language is easy to read and I got through this story quickly.

I've actually read other books in this series and was looking forward to reading this one - it was an enjoyable read and I finished it in one sitting.

I received an ARC of this book. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Perfection!!!

I’ve been waiting impatiently for Caroline and Julian’s story since we met them in His Scandalous Lessons. And this was absolutely everything I wanted and more. I’m completely gone for this couple!

This has a somewhat similar setup to Sherry Thomas’s A Private Arrangement, with husband and wife separated shortly after the wedding and estranged for years. While I hated the Thomas book (sorry not sorry—everyone in it is awful), the separation and reasons here are absolutely heartbreaking. But there’s so much angst and love and secret pining and I ate every bit of it up. PLUS we get some codebreaking and spying that really ups the stakes. Both Julian and Caroline are brilliant, and I love how he relies on her and gives her credit.

Katrina Kendrick can write some spicy books, and this might be her spiciest yet. I love that despite the years of heartbreak, these two are still feral for each other.

There’s a lot packed in here, so it’s a fast paced, high stakes historical romance that leans heavy on the drama. But I read it in almost one sitting and loved every single second. HIGHLY recommend!!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the preview.

Definitely a different romance with lots of drama alongside. I loved the main characters and the intense drama between them. Beautifully written.

An absolutely brilliant read.
Caroline and Julian the Duke and Duchess of Hastings have been estranged for eight years.Caroline has carved out a life for herself when Julian reappears in her life saying he is staying in the marital home for a month. Although not happy she agrees only if they appear to the ton that they are living as man and wide.
Julian has worked for the government for years as a cryptologist and is quickly getting involved when a serious of bombings take place which have killed several members of the ton.
Caroline who is a cryptologist as well helps to crack codes in order to prevent more deaths and it is during this time they begin to fall back to n love again but can she trust him and will it last.
Great story can’t recommend it enough

This is a strong addition to a well-written series, with two captivating and original main characters. The story of Caroline and her estranged husband has been hinted at in previous books, and it does not disappoint: the chemistry between her and Julian crackles from the start, and their verbal sparring is delightful. Interspersed with that is the heartbreaking story of how their love went wrong in the first place - although I'd have liked the flashbacks to have been a little more developed because there was plenty to explore there. I enjoyed the ways they re-connected through their shared love of art and code-breaking, and the ongoing intrigue was cleverly teased out and not predictable at all.

I requested this after enjoying "A Touch Wicked" by the same author, but this one really didn't click for me. The writing is high-quality, so this is very much an "it's not you, it's me" - this is a very angsty book with an actiony subplot, neither of which are things I enjoy in my historical romance.

I have really enjoyed the books I have read from this series! I sometimes feel that historical romances become stale as they all follow such a similar story arc. I was pleased to see this one offering up a little mystery and intrigue to keep the pacing up and hold reader interest.

Our hero Julian, has much in common with the brooding, grumpy MMCs we love in a lot of contemporary romances, and let me tell you, the spice was spicing 👌

I only wish we had been able to explore the characters budding romance a bit more deeply. I didn't feel as connected to their friend Grace, which made the events of the story a little less impactful. There were also a few mentions of a fire that had taken place several years earlier. Since we ever got to witness this first-hand, it felt a bit throwaway and perhaps could have been struck from the story without any impact.

The reason why caroline and julian were estranged broke my heart. The plot was good (and no 3rd act break-up🙌🙌), but something that kinda pissed me off was the fact that caroline didn't say 'i love you' back to julian, even in the epilogue.

5 stars

A great addition to the series. We have seen the Duke & Duchess through some of the earlier books. Both are linguists and code breakers and Caroline is an artist. They have been estranged for 8 years and with this book we learnt why....it did seem particularily poignant that all the writing was focused on Caroline's loss and mental health issues whereas the Duke would have been suffering badly as well. It was good that they got their HEA.

I'm wondering if this is the end of the series. I have gone back and read the others and wonder if Mr O'Sullivan and Sofia will also get a book. I thoroughly recommend these books, especially if you like passionate encounters,

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Absolutely stunning! This book might just might be most favourite favourite book in the series, blending sizzling romance with an intriguing mystery. The marriage-in-trouble and second-chance elements are handled with such depth and passion that every page crackles with intensity. The writing is superb, capturing both the heat of the romance and the twists of the mystery. A standout read that showcases why Kendrick’s books are simply unbeatable.