ARC Review: A Tale of Two Dukes by Emma Orchard

A Tale of Two Dukes by Emma Orchard is a standalone (from what I can tell) Regency romance.

Viola was 17 when she wed the Duke of Winterflood, a man about 30 years her senior, in order to provide him with an heir, and protect her family from penury. Her life is miserable until the duke’s cousin, Richard comes to stay, and the two of them fall in love. Years later after the duke’s death, Richard reappears and proposes to Viola, claiming he needs an heir for his newly inherited title.

A Tale of Two Dukes is written in third person, mostly from Viola’s point of view. There are a few chapters from Richard’s point of view, but not a lot.

The story has a number of time jumps, it takes place mainly on 1813, which is present day for the characters, and has several flashback chapters to earlier timelines. I understand why the author did it, I think I would have been much less sympathetic to the characters if the author had told the story in another way, but it’s not my favourite plot device, but it did what it was supposed to do.

Although I ended up enjoying the story, I do wish it had come with a warning about cheating. I’m not a fan of cheating in romances, even if there is an explanation, and the cheating couple are the hero and heroine.

While there are a number of spicy scenes, I would not say they are overly so. And for the most part they are necessary for the story, so they don’t feel gratuitous.

Despite the things I didn’t like about the story, I was invested in Viola and Richard’s relationship so found the book hard to put down.

I enjoyed A Tale of Two Dukes, and will probably give Emma Orchard another try to see if the issues I had with this book are common in her others before deciding if I’ll put her on my regular reading list. I recommend giving this book a try if you are a lover of historical romance and want a story that is slightly out of the ordinary.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A Tale of Two Dukes will be available on September. 20 2025.