Once Upon a Duke (12 Dukes of Christmas)

A delightful Regency romance flavored well with Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol sounded like a splendid holiday romance to enjoy.Once Upon a Duke is the first in a series of historical holiday romances and introduces the fictional high mountain, northern English village of Cressmouth (locally pronounced 'Christmas') where it is Christmas all year round thanks to old man Marley running things from his crumbling keep at the head of the village and there is an odd legend about the 12 Dukes of Christmas.The one person not enamored with Mr. Marley's perpetual spirit of zany fun and Christmas cheer is his grandson, the Duke of Silkridge. He is forced to return to his maternal grandfather's little town to get back what was taken from him and he is well aware that he left behind a young woman with whom he shared something more than a friendship before he left. She will be well within her rights to hate the sight of him.And, Noelle is determined that she does detest Silkridge as an arrogant snob who left her because she was beneath him. Her generous spirit, however, remembers what they had and sees after not long that the duke isn't the scrooge she vilified him as. Her heart couldn't take another abandonment so she doesn't dare dream of a second chance.I went into this book in the spirit it was intended. It had a heart-felt situation, but it was set in make believe. There was over the top stuff like getting lost in a fantasy dream, but it also had some core struggles like a man who grew up with the loss of both parents while he was young and getting rejected by his grandfather because he survived childbirth and his mother did not. Class differences. A woman orphan who wanted something more to her life because she was bright with a mathematical mind and wanted to be respected for her work. And, a chance to set a wrong right. So much and it was all good stuff. I will admit that it was a quick-paced romance and hustled through, but it wasn't missing in essentials. There was quirky charm and fun mixed in that caught me in just the right way.So, it was a delightful romp and I want to read more of the series. Those who want a quick and fairly light holiday historical romance should consider this one.

I liked the story. Tiny Tim was a perfect fit, as well as the partridge. I liked both main characters very much. The story became redundant toward the end after Benjamin left on both characters' parts. Otherwise the writing was excellent. This had one small porn scene, I was able to turn the pages without losing any of the storyline. And before that scene, there wasn't a bunch of porn fantasy. Could have been much worse

'Due to the terms of an estranged relative's will, the Duke of Silkridge must revisit the cold, unforgiving mountains where he lost everything he once loved. As soon as he rights his family legacy, he'll return to London where he belongs. He definitely won't rekindle the forbidden spark crackling between him and the irresistible spitfire he'd left behind...Noelle Pratchett is immune to charming rakehells like the arrogant duke. He stole her heart, stole her first kiss, and then stole away one night never to return. Now he's back—and so are all the old feelings. Noelle knows he won't stay. But how can she maintain her icy shields when every heated glance melts her to her core?'_____________________________Once Upon a Duke is the first book in Erica Ridley's 12 Dukes of Christmas series and is a historical romance set in a fictional Christmas wonderland in England.This is the first book by Erica Ridley which I have read and I wasn't much a fan. This was novella length, which I know is often not an ideal book to start with when reading a new author. And similarly a Christmas novella is not an ideal first book to read, but 'tis the season and I did it anyway.The story is filled with Christmas references and odes to A Christmas Carol. The village is a winter wonderland where everyone is markedly happy and call the village 'Christmas' instead of its real name of 'Cressmouth.' There's an orphan who feels she need to constantly prove her worth or else she'll be abandoned again. There's a cold duke who has lost everyone he has loved and so decides the only way to never be hurt again is to never allow anyone close enough love again. Hence they must be perfect, but I didn't really see the connection. The story was too cheesy. I expect any holiday book to be a little corny, but it was to much for me. I had to push myself to keep reading the first 75%, the last 25% was better though. Much of the book was inner monologue of the two main characters.Once Upon a Duke just wasn't for me. I wanted to read a few Christmas books before the end of the year though, so I'll be giving the next in the series a chance. Also this was the first book of Ridley's I have read, so I still plan to give a book from another series a chance because I expect her books not from a Christmas series to have a different town.

I enjoyed reading this book, it is the first book in the series with a prelude also.It kept my interest throughout.

I know… I know… wrong time to read Christmas cheer novel, but I believe that Christmassy stories are the best books to be read whenever one feels the blues, and a story in the historical romance genre is the cherry on the top.Benjamin, Duke of Silkridge is a man who wants nothing to do with Christmas. As if losing his mother during Xmas was not enough but his father also dies around the same time, but to add salt to the wound, 5 yrs before his only living relative, the maternal grandfather banishes him from Cressmouth and Benjamin wows to never return to the land of all year-round Christmas cheer.Noelle Pratchett, has no plans to fall for the Duke’s charms again but what she wants is not what she gets. As Benjamin and Noelle fight their attraction amidst the most cheerful place on the planet, the best laid plans definitely go awry.Book # 1 in the 12 Dukes of Christmas series, this was way too sweet and sugary for my liking. I loved the character of Benjamin but the whole Cressmouth/Christmas endless cheer of course was too filmy. Maybe I need a good villain to spice up the plot. LOL!A plotline with Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol story, Once Upon a Duke is a fun and quirky read that will definitely cheer you up.

Once Upon A Duke features Benjamin, Duke of Silkridge. He’s travelling to his estranged late grandfathers home hopefully to retrieve his most treasured possession, a locket containing the only portrait of his mother who died at Christmas shortly after giving birth to him. A locket that his grandfather stole from him before throwing him out and banishing him. When he left the first time, he didn’t realise he was also leaving his heart behind. Noelle Pratchett is a foundling, abandoned on the steps of his grandfather’s castle as a baby. Her whole life revolves around the castle and the surrounding village – Cressmouth, the place where they’ve made a business out of it being ‘Christmas all year round’. She doesn’t need anything else especially not an arrogant and cold-hearted duke who broke her heart five years before with his abrupt departure.This is basically a re-telling of A Christmas Carol combined with The Twelve Days of Christmas set in regency times. The fun lies in spotting all the references from a partridge in a pear tree to twelve lords although in this case the lords have been exchanged for dukes but I think Charles Dickens himself would be surprised by the form Tiny Tim takes in this version. This is a heart-warming story, short and sweet. I did get a little bored by the whole Cressmouth/Christmas thing and the overwhelming happiness everyone seemed to feel and I felt it was missing a good villain. Cressmouth is alright for a visit but I wouldn’t want to live there – bah humbug!!!

What I liked about this story is that the settling in the story is perfect for a Christmas novella - who wouldn't love to visit a town totally set up to pay tribute to the spirit of Christmas - the town folk characters are all happy to be among friends and customers as they serve even though it's repeated all year long - I loved the happiness and love that poured forth all around - I didn’t like the characters of the H and h, did they even have stable characters? - Noelle is a happy industrious clerk for the town but then it's revealed that she doesn't think she belongs so she works so hard to please everyone - the Duke is Scrooge and humbugs his way through the story but apparently he is a special person who fixes Tiny Tim and other wonderful things, this to me made the story sappy - I could buy into a wonderful location of love and joy but not into an H and h with constant conflicting characteristics that were boring and loco

I've read some of the Duke's of War series by Ms. Ridley and loved them, so I was a little disappointed with this book. The premise was good - and I liked Noelle and Benjamin. I liked all the connections to "A Christmas Carol". But something just fell a little flat and I'm not sure exactly what. Maybe not enough interaction between Noelle and Benjamin? Maybe too much internal monologue for each of them, repeating their opinions on why she had to stay in Christmas and he in London? Maybe it's because I just finished reading another series where the author absolutely excelled at drawing the reader into a story that this could only pale in comparison. However, as I did enjoy other stories by Ms. Ridley, not loving this book won't stop me from reading more by her. This was not a bad book . . just not my favourite.