Who Wants to Marry a Duke by Sabrina Jeffries is the third book in the Duke Dynasty series, and the first book I've read in it.

I think that I would've benefitted from reading the other books in the series as I didn't know any of the characters, but that is my fault and was my choice to go in blind. I did like Olivia and the Duke (even though he was very inconsistent in his thoughts on Olivia), but I felt that the mystery plot overtook the romance at times.

Overall this was fine, but a bit of a disappointment compared to Jeffries' earlier books- I cut my historical teeth on the School for Heiresses series and so I'll always read her books, but this one didn't live up to others I've read by her.

Thank you to Headline Eternal for my copy, I am leaving this review voluntarily.

An intriguing, captivating romance. The characters were wonderful and stood out as individuals, the plot kept me interested throughout and the way in which the author portrays the blossoming romance really pulls you in. A very enjoyable read.

This was an enjoyable story especially with the intrigue as to what had happened in the past. Was there someone out there with deadly intent causing the mysterious deaths of the dukes? This mystery kept me interested throughout.

The romance itself was fun with plenty of lively interactions. Although I was firmly on Olivia’s side! With Thorn it took me a while to like him. I can understand why he was mistrustful but I definitely had to shake my head at some of his actions. He was stubborn but there was definitely something about Olivia that he couldn’t resist.

The story moved at a great pace and it didn’t take me long to read at all. Even though there were a few negatives I am interested in reading the next book in the series to see how the mystery plays out!

(Three and a half stars rounded up to four)

Who Wants to Marry a Duke by Sabrina Jeffries

The novel is about the Duke of Thornstock and Miss Olivia Norley . Thorn is a dashing young duke just arrived from living overseas and Miss Norley is a young debutante whose mother tries to force Thorn into marrying Olivia , she refused as all she wants to do is be a scientist. There paths cross 10 years later and they are completely different people then the real story begins.

Much enjoyed well written story easily read with many twists and secrets revealed. Sabrina Jeffries at her best.

Miss Olivia Norley is a modern Lady who is interested in science. 9 years before her coming out was ruined when she refused a proposal by the Duke of Thornstock when found in a compromising position. Her Step Mother blackmailed the Duke about his mother’s past and the moment passed. The Duke’s half brother Grey has employed Olivia to use her science to prove his father’s death was poison. Thorn is also unhappy about his own father’s death by coach accident. Exploring these unexpected deaths will bring true romance and danger to Olivia and her Duke. It’s a nice twist in this story to have a running thread to other books in the Dukes series about who killed their father’s.
I was given an arc of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable Regency era romance, with a fun murder mystery subplot and plenty of sibling banter, which I always enjoy.

However, I found the hero's flip-flopping about in regards to the heroine a bit nonsensical - he wasn't the most well-rounded character, which made it hard to believe in the romance for me. The main conflict of their relationship also seemed like something he had blown out of all proportion, which was frustrating. As such, I enjoyed the secondary plot of the potential poisoning to be far more enjoyable - but as this was a romance, I wanted to be just as invested in the couple!

I found this story quite frustrating. On the one hand it was gripping with the intrigue regarding the poisoner, yet this wasn't really answered despite it being a major part of the story and even the epilogue discussed it as though we were only in the middle of the story. Perhaps it's the authors way to make you purchase their next book but it's certainly not enticing me to buy anything else by this author. The other issue I had is this book is very much in the bodice ripping mills and boon style yet neither the cover (no semi naked Adonis type models like others with this type of content seem to have) nor the description mentioned that actually this book should have an 18+ rating for graphic sex scenes. There is a market for people who want to read basically regency era porn, but if it isn't what you're looking for, you could be tricked into reading this when there isn't much else in it other than regency era porn, the story doesn't really go anywhere. The characters were all well written but it'd have been nicer to see more of their development yet that seemed to stop as soon as the main characters jumped into bed together. I wouldn't recommend this author but feel the book could do well if marketed differently (i.e. make the cover more risque and mention a bit of the content so as to attract the audience who doesn't want a realistic regency novel, but more of a bodice ripper)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this review copy. Was so happy to receive this early copy as I’ve been a fan of Sabrina Jeffries work for years. Another enjoyable romance from one of the masters of the genre. Looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

A most enjoyable book. A mixture of dashing playwright hero and feisty scientist heroine, both involved in a criminal investigation whilst falling in love. Can’t wait for the next in the series.

I absolutely love this.

Thorn and Olivia are both amazing in their own way and I love an unconvential heroine.

I'm looking forward to the next book to get another step closer to unraveling the mystery!

Sabrina Jefferies effortlessly writes superb characters and has you hooked from the get go. Easily my favourite book of the series so far!

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

After a fateful meeting nine years ago that lead to being found in a compromising position, and a failed proposal, neither Olivia Norley, or Marlowe Drake, the Duke of Thornstock, have met. When Thorn's half brother, Fletcher, the Duke of Greycourt, hires Olivia to discover whether his late father for poisoned, Thorn can't help but be suspicious. He always believed Olivia had planned for them to be discovered, and was in cahoots with her stepmother about blackmailing Thorn, and doesn't want to see his brother hurt. So, he tags along with the group, and involves himself in Olivia's experiments, with an apparent purpose for him to keep an eye on her, but really he is more and more intrigued, and doesn't want to be away from her. After an incident in which it seems she is at risk, he whisks her off to his own estate, with a companion of course, and neither can deny their attraction any more.

Everything about this book just drew me in from the get go. I adored Olivia, who wasn't like most society misses, and after she refused Thorn's proposal all those years ago, she fared fairly well, but cared only about her love of chemistry. She wants to be a chemist, and by developing a test to detect arsenic in bodies, this would be the push she needs. Thorn, on his part, was standoffish at first, but as we learn more about him, and understand why he was so suspicious of Olivia, he definitely grew as a character. He's also a secret playwright, using his life in Germany, and his experience with Olivia as inspiration, but he doesn't want anyone to know the truth. Olivia adores those plays, and he gets a bit jealous when the 'named playwright' meets her, and she swoons. Both he and Olivia want to deny their chemistry, but it's clearly difficult, and they were made to be with one another. I loved them together, and can see how both characters will continue to grow in their future relationship. I hadn't realised this was the third book in a series when I requested it, but it wasn't necessary to read the others as we learn enough about all the characters here. I do think if I had read the other books in the Duke Dynasty series, I might have picked up some quirks of the different characters, and I will be trying to read them at some point. Sabrina's writing was flawless, and I look forward to book 4!