Summary
Imogen Bates and Peregrine Butler, the Duke of Pennington have hated each other since they were children. Ten years later, he returns to Shropshire when he loses the dukedom. Imogen is still angry and tries to thwart his efforts to find a wife by spreading several rumors about him. Eventually, they realize the attraction to each other.

Tropes
Titled hero, virgin heroine, childhood crush, enemies to lovers, class difference, loss of nobility

The Plot
The there was lots of internal dialogue which seemed repetitive and dragged on. I don’t like admitting it, but some pages I just had to skim through to get to more dialogue and character interaction. There were also many side stories that I didn’t see how they fit in the story..and abusive husband next door…it was distracting and I found myself literally shaking my head.

The Heroine
Imogen Bates is a simple girl who’s father is the town vicor. She had her feelings hurt by Perry when they were younger and she also had her heart broken by a suitor while in London for a season, so I understand her pouting attitude. But she really bothered me with her bitterness and grudge-holding. I felt like she was whinny the whole book. And she was kind of a jerk to Perry for just a couple of rude comments about her.

The Hero
Peregrine Butler was the Duke of Pennington until his title was taken from him and he lost everything. He moved back to hide and find himself a somewhat wealthy wife since he was penniless. For me, Perry was the only reason I kept reading the book. I enjoyed watching him accept his new station in life and realize that he was better off without the pressure of being the duke. And he is MUCH quicker to forgive than Imogen!

The Steam
Eventually, there are a few steamy scenes, two of which include Perry scaling the side of her house and into her bedroom!

Stand Out Moment
I suppose the steamy scene by the River where he shows Imogen how he could offer ‘ pleasure’ to his future wife.

Who Would Like This
Honestly, there are so many good historical romances out there, I would steer them in a different direction.

Final Thoughts
Overall, this book was…okay. I had thoughts of walking away and giving up, but I hate doing that to books! Also, the cover bothered me as the scene could not have occurred in the story. ( )

3.5 stars - I can’t decide if it was the plot or the characters I didn’t love but overall I felt a bit meh about this book. Writing was good though. ( )

I received an ARC of this book to read through Edelwiess+. All opinions are my own. The Duke Goes Down by Sophie Jordan is the first book in her new series, The Duke Hunt. Peregrine Butler has lost everything, his title, his fortune, his lands, and he’s reduced to living in the dower house of his former estate with his mother because it was discovered that his parents didn’t marry until after he was born. Vicar's daughter Imogene Bates has discovered she has a mean streak because she can’t forgive Perry, her childhood nemesis and making sure that this villain doesn’t take advantage of the local heiresses has become her goal. When Perry discovers that Imogene is the source of the nasty rumours about him, he confronts her and makes sure she understands that he is not bald, does not have six toes and that he is an excellent kisser. I found this enemies to lovers story delightful and highly recommend reading it. Steam Level: Medium (yes, the duke does go down) Publishing Date: July 27, 2021. #TheDukeGoesDown #TheDukeHuntSeries #SophieJordan #HistoricalRomance #HistoricalRomanceSeries #HistoricalRomanceReader #HarperCollinsCanada #AvonRomance #MyBookPledge #HCCFrenzy #booksstagram #bookstagrammer #RomanceReader ( )