DUKE, ACTUALLY

An unlikely friendship between a European aristocrat and an American turns into love.

English professor Dani Martinez hasn’t had the best year. She caught her husband in bed with one of his former students, and although the mediation process is complete, her husband is refusing to sign the divorce papers. Normally, she’d confide all these problems to her best friend, Leo, but he moved halfway around the world after falling in love with a princess from Eldovia. Dani will be the best woman at Leo’s royal wedding, which places her in the orbit of man of honor Maximillian von Hansburg, an Eldovian baron who will one day inherit a dukedom. One morning she gets an out-of-the-blue text from Max, who's in New York and suggests they meet to compare notes on the upcoming wedding. Max enjoys being with Dani, one of the only people who treats him like a normal person instead of a shallow playboy. When she impulsively asks him to be her plus one at a dreaded faculty Christmas party where she’ll have to see her soon-to-be-ex-husband, Max agrees and a friendship is born. Holiday’s knack for writing witty banter is on full display here, with Dani and Max's escalating text messages and phone conversations showing a deepening friendship between them. Dani helps Max learn to find a purpose for himself, and he encourages her to take control of her own life. This slow-burn romance will appeal to readers who enjoy the friends-to-lovers trope. The novel carefully builds trust and a deepening emotional attachment between Dani and Max, but the development and arc of their romantic relationship is rushed.

A well-drawn portrait of friendship leaves little time for romance.