This third book in the Duke Dynasty series of historical romance, introduced me to two refreshingly different and talented principals. Miss Olivia Norley first meets Marlowe Drake, the Duke of Thornstock at a standard ball but gives a hint of her unique character by removing wine stains with a handy vial of chemicals from her reticule. WHO WANTS TO MARRY A DUKE is the bluestocking’s response when the Duke, known as Thorn to his friends, is pressured into asking for her hand by her chaperone.
Move on nine years, and Chemistry has taken over Miss Norley’s life. As she’s in her mid twenties she’s no longer as carefully chaperoned, considered on the shelf. She is engaged by Thorn's half-brother, Grey, to set up a laboratory in a dairy on his estate and conduct an arsenic poisoning experiment to see if his father has been cruelly murdered. Thorn has his own secret – having grown up in Prussia, he is the author of comic plays about a Prussian gentleman about London. And oh dear, he’s written Miss Norley and her chaperone into the scandalous skits. This kind of effort did occur, ‘Lady Windermere’s Fan’ by Oscar Wide was strongly based on socialite Lily Langtry.
Sabrina Jeffries has been creating historical romances with strong characters for years, and this time she also merges a murder investigation – which widens as Grey and Thorn start to look harder at suspicious carriage accidents – with details of the scientific world of the day. The combination is great fun and packed with detail. As I had not read the earlier books, and various half-siblings and twins and deceased parents and third husbands are added, I started to lose track of who the characters were, especially when I put the book down halfway and returned two days later. For this reason, I suggest followers of the series will be ideal readers for WHO WANTS TO MARRY A DUKE. Newcomers, however, will find sufficient novelty and inspiration to make them want to start the series from scratch.
Nowadays we’d also find titled men making moves on young women reprehensible, but this did happen, which was a reason for chaperonage. And Olivia does have resources and knows her own mind even at the start, so she is not frightened. Sabrina Jeffries is an absolute artist with Regency romance, and I love the added dimension of crime-detection.
Stepsiblings in search of the truth about their mother’s succession of beloved husbands—and their own surprising identities as eligible young nobles—are the endearing stars of this dazzling series from New York Times bestselling author Sabrina Jeffries . . .
A past kiss with adorably bookish Miss Olivia Norley should be barely a memory for Marlowe Drake, the Duke of Thornstock. After all, there are countless debutantes for a handsome rakehell to charm beyond a young lady whose singular passion is chemistry—of the laboratory type. But Thorn has not forgotten—or forgiven—the shocking blackmail scheme sparked by that single kiss, or the damage caused to both their names. Now Thorn’s half-brother, Grey, has hired the brilliant Miss Norley for her scientific expertise in solving a troubling family mystery. And the once-burned Thorn, suspicious of her true motives, vows to follow her every move . . .
For Olivia, determining whether arsenic poisoning killed Grey’s father is the pioneering experiment that could make her career—and Thorn’s constant presence is merely a distraction. But someone has explosive plans to derail her search. Soon the most unexpected discovery is the caring nature of the reputed scoundrel beside her—and the electricity it ignites between them . . .
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