Lilian Fairclough is a widow whose children have convinced her to visit a friend in Italy and maybe to have some adventures. Pietro is a widower and a discrete ladies man who is convinced that he is not a suitable husband, based on his short-lived marriage to his first wife. The two of them met before but nothing came of the meeting except a passionate kiss.
Now it could be a holiday romance or it could be something more but both of them need to unpack some baggage and decide how they can balance their established lives with their romance.
It was a fun read with engaging characters. ( )

Lilian and the Irresistible Duke is book 4 in Virginia Heath’s Secrets of a Victorian Household series. I have not read the previous books in this series, but this reads fine as a stand alone.

Lilian Fairclough is a 45 year old mother and widow who a few months prior in the previous book in this series shared a passionate kiss during a carriage ride with Italian duke Pietro Venturi. She is now on her way to Rome for a vacation. Her adult children are happily married and they wanted her to get a way for a while and relax. She goes to Rome with her cousin to stay with a friend for several weeks. Little does she know she will run into the tall, dark and handsome Pietro Venturi while on her vacation.

Pietro is a 48 year old widower and a ladies man, but is discreet about it and wants to keep his affairs with no strings attached. When he and Lilian run into each other in Rome, sparks fly again and the two are irresistibly attracted to each other. The two make an arrangement that while Lilian is in Rome they will have a discreet affair and the rules are clear, no strings attached and Pietro will of course only see Lilian during this time. He finds himself enjoying time with her and the conversations they have and soon enough they each begin to become attached even though the rules are set against it from the start.

Virginia Heath does not fail. This is my third time reading her and I thoroughly enjoyed Lilian and the Irresistible Duke . The writing swept me away to Rome and Duke Pietro Venturi is my kind of hero.
Lilian is a great heroine. She’s smart, a good mom and she demands respect. She appreciates art and these two naturally get along. I like reading older couples, they are more relatable and mature.

This is a book about two older people who have a second chance at love. It is also a story about the heroine finding herself again now that her kids are grown and living lives of their own. I enjoyed reading about the sights in Rome, the artwork and the romance was great as well.
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Disclaimer: This review is my honest opinion. I did not receive any kind of compensation for reading and reviewing this book. I am under no obligation to write a positive review. I received my free review copy of Lilian and the Irresistible Duke by Virginia Heath from Rachel’s Random Resources in exchange for my honest thoughts. ( )

Lilian and the Irresistible Duke, by Virginia Heath, will be available and booksellers on February 1, 2020. Lilian is book four of the Secrets of a Victorian Household series. Each book/character has been written by a different author. I find a series of this type very interesting, you get a different take on each of the entertwined characters. A fresh set of eyes on a plot can be enlightening. Although Lilian is a stand-alone tale it is part of a series and I'd recommend reading each book to throughly flesh out the entire story. This story is about adults, not blushing virgins, so they act like grown-ups. I like that and it's written beautifully.

Ms Heath has taken on the love story of the older couple, near and dear to my heart as I'm "older" too. Our heroine, Lilian, is widow who had a lovely marriage and her children are her prized achievement. She's been content until now, she has an "empty nest" and finds herself at loose ends. She's talked into a trip to Rome, it'll be good to get away for awhile. She's a nice lady and easy understand & empathize with. She's likeable.

Pietro, our hero, had the exact opposite marriage experience. No love lost there, it never existed. He's not going down that road again. Nice guy who was disappointed by life and that's easy to empathize with too. He & Lilian have a huge mistake to work through, it takes some time to get over but their chemistry won't be denied. Both are set in their ways & watching them grow and learn is enjoyable. They have so much in common that it's no wonder they're drawn to one another.

One more plus to Lilian & Pietro's story is the setting. Rome is very, very, different from a London setting. The places they visit, things they do, it's all awe inspiring and makes me want to hop on a plane to Italy. Since I don't have a passport I'll just have to thank Ms Heath for the imaginary vacation.

#VirginiaHeath #SecretsofaVictorianHousehold #LilianandtheIrresistibleDuke #HarlequinHistorical #historicalromance ( )

Virginia Heath is by far one of my favorite authors. I'm always thrilled to read something new from her and Lilian and the Irresistible Duke is a lovely addition to her wonderful collection of stories.

Lilian and the Irresistible Duke is a steamy romance featuring a mature hero and heroine. Keep a fan ready because this one is hot. Italy, art, romance and an attraction between two people that burns right off the page make this the perfect winter read.

Lilian Fairclough is a widow with adult children, who has lost a bit of herself in raising a family and in her work at her deceased husbands charitable foundation. She loves her family and the foundation, but her children have taken over all the administrative roles at the foundation and she is at loose ends. Her family decide she needs a trip to Italy to indulge in her love of art and to take a vacation. She accompanies her husband's cousin Alexandra to Italy where they will be staying with Alexandra's friend for six weeks. Doesn't that sound like a wonderful adventure? I was drawn into Lilian's life and wanted her to have the best time in Italy. Virginia Heath does not disappoint, as she gives Lilian and the reader a wonderful art tour of Italy and as the icing on the cake, Pietro Venturi.

Pietro Venturi is the brother of Alexandra's friend and an Italian art dealer. He is a mature hero, handsome, sexy and flawed. The perfect, what happens in Rome stays in Rome fling. Yet there is more to Pietro than meets the eye. Pietro is the very person that Lilian need in her life and he needs Lilian more than he knows.

Lilian and the Irresistible Duke is such a wonderful read and it was nice to have a romance where the couple is mature and sexy at the same time. I also enjoyed that the book was set in Italy and its location was a lovely way to warm up a cold winters day.

I can't wait to see what Virginia Heath comes up with next. ( )

Series: Secrets of A Victorian Household #4
Publication Date: 1/20/20
Number of Pages: 288

This is a fun author collaboration series that follows the members of the Fairclough family. I haven’t read all of the books, but I didn’t have any problem following this book. The book is excellently written and the characters are fully formed and totally relatable. You’ll feel as if you are friends with all of the characters before you are through reading.

One of the best things is an absolutely delightful epilogue set about five years after the end of the last chapter. I love epilogues and this one was one of the loveliest ever. Not only did we get a very sweet and romantic look at Lilian and Pietro, but we also got an update on all of the characters from the other books in the series. Even though I hadn’t read a couple of the books, I loved seeing what happened to those characters as well. It really was one of the best epilogues I’ve read.

Lilian Fairclough is five and forty years and she’s suffering a bit from what we might call ‘empty nest syndrome’ today. She enjoyed a fairy-tale marriage with the love of her life, but she’s been a widow for ten years. She never even thought of another man during those years and spent all of her time and efforts in raising her three children and running her husband’s foundation. There was little time for anything else. Now, the children are grown, married, and one of them is expecting her first grandchild. She’s needed less and less at the foundation because her daughter and her husband have taken over the every-day running of it. At a loss for what to do with herself now and in the future, she allows her family to persuade her to travel to Italy with Alexandra, her husband’s cousin.

Pietro Venturi, Duca della Torizia, had an entirely different experience with marriage and, as a widower, has sworn that he will never, ever, marry again. At eight and forty, he has spent twenty-five years living a life of no commitments, no emotional involvement, and very strict rules around his affairs. Those rules, however, fly out the window as soon as he meets Lilian. Too bad it took him so long to figure it all out.

Lilian and Pietro had a bit of a history – just a small bit, but it was significant to both of them. The previous December Pietro had been in London and shared an impetuous, mind-blowing kiss with Lilian. Now – all these months later – when he encounters her in the corridor of his own home, he believes she is there to entrap him into marriage. He quickly sets her straight and propositions her. She was totally shocked to realize that it was his home they were visiting and made her position very, very, undoubtedly, clear to him. Well – that didn’t get off to a good start.

As Lilian and Pietro are thrown together more and more – and discover they share a love of art and many other things, their feelings grow. Each fights those feelings – especially Pietro – and they each have their reasons for believing that a relationship won’t work – especially since they live in two different countries. Seeing Pietro grow was a marvelous thing and I came to love him. Lilian had more room for love, but her growth and acceptance of another love was a wondrous thing to behold.

I really enjoyed this story of two very different people with two very different views of love and marriage find their HEA with each other. I hope you will love it as much as I did.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. ( )