This book is fantastic. I just didn't want to put this one down. I love the story and the characters.

I can't wait to read Sabrina Jeffries next book.

As this fabulous series by Sabrina Jeffies concludes, investigatons involving the deaths of three Dukes by their sons, half-brothers, Grey, Thorn and Sheridan, are getting closer than ever to the truth of what happened to their fathers. Their mother has been widowed three times over and this is now Sheridan's story.

Each of the brothers played a role when it came to trying to seek the truth. Sheridan is tasked with investigating Vanessa Pryde, a possible suspect. This is complicated by the fact that Sheridan is quite drawn to Vanessa and finds it near to impossible to resist her. However, it seems that Vanessa has set her sights elsewhere and both she and Sheridan strike a deal to make her apparent love interest jealous.

Things are not as they seem, however. In fact, both Vanessa and Sheridan have ultimate motives, especially Vanessa. I loved her scheming ways when it came to landing the man who truly captured her heart, all while she was more the subject of a secret investigation.

Oh the twists in this delightful story! As sexy as it was intriguing, Undercover Duke was my favorite book in this series and I am sad to see this series come to a close.

Many thanks to Zebra and to NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.

I received an e-arc of Undercover Duke by Sabrina Jeffries from Kensington Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings.

If you don’t know already, I love reading Sabrina Jeffries books – I think she has become one of my favourite historical romance authors. This is the third series of her’s that I am making my way through and just loving it. You can check out my reviews on the rest of this series here and here. As well as my other Sabrina Jeffires posts.

Undercover Duke follows Sheridan Wolfe, Duke of Armitage, as he and his family try and figure out, once and for all who has been killing their mother’s husbands and their own fathers. Now tasked with getting information out of one of the suspects Sheridan needs to get in her daughter’s good books. But it’s much more complicated than that. And as Sheridan and Vanessa become closer, things start to heat up. But they both have their burdens, but will they allow themselves to overcome them?
I adored this book. I couldn’t put it down and I was only a few chapters in. It’s not hard for me to read a Sabrina Jeffries book in one or two sittings. And the only reason this took me a little longer was that work has been crazy. Undercover Duke is filled with high stakes, a tense mystery and a romance that is addicting and a perfect slow burn.

I already enjoyed Sheridan from the previous books in this series, and Undercover Duke made me love him even more. He is charming and made me smile throughout the book. Throughout the book, the reader can see that Sheridan does care a lot about his family and wants to find out what happened to them. But he also didn’t expect to like Vanessa as much as he did. I liked that we get to see him grow throughout the novel and not only come to understand himself, but Vanessa as well.

Vanessa was a fantastic addition to Undercover Duke. I adored her so much. She was sassy and knew what she wanted. She played Sheridan in a way and I loved it. We also get to see her grow throughout the novel. At the start she is shy, but as the novel goes on and she and Sheridan get to know each other a little more, she pushes him. She is also very sneaky and I loved it! So much.

I also really enjoyed the romance in Undercover Duke. What started as a fake courting – turned into something way more. I loved that they both used each other for other purposes, but they both fell hard and fast for one another. While Vanessa has liked Sheridan for some time, Sheridan has his own demons that he has to deal with. I do wish that this was explored more. I felt that once we were told about it – it wasn’t really talked about much again.

One of my favourite tropes, especially in historical romance is fake courting/marriage of convenience. And it worked just so well here. Everyone could see that Sheridan and Vanessa were falling for one another. But both of them were obvious to one another’s feelings. I also liked that it was a mix of sweet and sexy. It was a great combination of being soft, but then the heat can be turned up.

Now to the mystery element of not only this book but the series. While Undercover Duke isn’t as intense as the previous ones in the series, the ending had some high stakes. And I loved it. While I did guess little bits of the mystery, I still really enjoyed it. I always say, I necessarily don’t believe a book is bad if you guess what is going to happen. It means that the author left enough clues that you were able to figure out what is going to happen.

Overall, I adored Undercover Duke by Sabrina Jeffries. I think it was a fantastic addition to the series and just fit perfectly. Sheridan and Vanessa were fantastic together. I adored their banter, tension and just wanted to keep on reading. The romance was a nice slow burn and warmed my heart. If you are looking for a new historical romance series with a little mystery and some high stakes then pick up this series for sure. Not only does it have great characters, fantastic romances but it’s such a fun series to read.

I'm glad I'm almost always a stickler for reading a series in order. When I received this ARC, I realized I should read the first three books, and thank goodness I did. There's an over-arching mystery involved in this series, making it important (or certainly helpful) to read them in order. I enjoyed the entire series - the mystery feels a bit improbable in the beginning, but makes sense by the time it's revealed toward the end of this book. And the romance element in each is excellent.
This one may have been the most frustrating as far as the couple was concerned - each was deceiving the other in their own way, and the hypocrisy of each being angered by the other's deception was a bit much at times. But despite that I enjoyed it overall, and also liked catching up with the couples from the first three books. These were my first books from Sabrina Jeffries, but I like her style and I'll definitely be reading some of her previous books now.
My thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

This was sadly my least favorite book in the series. I found Vanessa and Sheridan to be boring characters. Their romance was not something that I deeply felt, there wasn’t enough angst. There was very little character development. Any sort of argument or misunderstanding they had was quickly swept away. The murder mystery continued and concluded from the last 3 books. It was very obvious before the reveal who the murderer was. I was disappointed in this one.

Dukely deaths unmasked!

A convoluted plot as Sheridan Wolfe, the Duke of Armitage, and his siblings try to discover who might have killed the various Dukes, and their fathers, their mother, the Dowager Duchess Lydia Pryde Drake had married. Their suspicions have landed on three women. That investigation was to take place at a house party by Sheridan’s half brother Grey, the Duke of Greycourt, but that’s now not possible, so it’s up to Sheridan. This leads to Sheridan pretending to be engaged to Vanessa Pride, whom it seems is “too attractive for Sheridan’s sanity.” Vanessa has her own reasons for joining in this deadly farce. Something to do with a playwright, Konrad Junker she’s “gushing” over. Vanessa’s woven a web of deceits that she’s afraid she’ll find hard to untangle. Hmm!
Vanessa is one of the best aspects as we come to the unveiling of who’s been disposing of the Dowager Duchess’s Dukely husbands over the years. Another great episode in Jeffries highly readable, yet deadly, regency romance saga!

A Kensington Books ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

I’ve been anxiously awaiting this book in the continuing Children of the Mist series. I loved the first one and just couldn’t wait to see what the next brother’s story was going to be. I was not disappointed. Juliana and Rory make the cutest couple.

Juliana ends up kidnapped by a fellow clan after her sister’s wedding and Rory is asked by the rest of the family to rescue her. At first he believes she’s just a willful girl who wandered into a situation she wasn’t ready for. When he catches them, he discovers it’s worse than he thought and he’s beside himself to find a way to save her. He finally decides Handfasting is the best way to save her even though she has no idea what it really means for the two of them. She turns out to be much stronger than Rory believed her to be and he quickly finds himself besotted with her and wishing knew and wanted the handfasting to continue.

Lucky for Rory, Ms Breeding knows how to give us a romance and eventually Juliana realizes she wants a real handfasting with Rory. As unconventional as the courting is, she decides Rory is the hero she was looking for to save her from her previous sexual assault nightmares. Rory works with kid gloves to uncover Juliana’s fears and bring her around to true romance and passion. When they arrive back home finally to tell their family, some are shocked and some not so much. It seems the bantering they’ve exchanged since first meeting has been noticed by the other brothers and sisters and they are happy for them.

I’m anxious to see what the next novel in the series brings us. Ms Breeding handles the Sexual Assault trauma in a very genuine-real way that isn’t over the top or diminishing of something no one should ever have to deal with. She also shows us that people can recover from it if treated with care and respect for their ordeal and the results of it. Kudos to her for dealing with this issue. I’m giving this a 4 of 5.

Thanks to Netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars
(4 Stars)
Steam: 🌶🌶🌶/5 stars (some great descriptive steamy scenes! )

This was a fun historical romance. The characters were funny, and had a lot of chemistry for each other! I read this in one sitting and it was a very enjoyable read.
Some of the plot points felt rushed at times (hence the 4 stars) but overall a good romantic regency read! I recommend this to people who are looking for a new historical romance read.

Thanks to Netgalley,
Kensington Books
Zebra for the digital copy in exchange for my honest opinions and review.

Undercover Duke is the fourth book in the Duke Dynasty series. The books can be read as stand-alones but I recommend reading them order because each book builds upon the previous. The series is about the Duchess of Armitage’s five children, and them suspecting that someone murdered her previous two husbands. They aren’t sure who or even why someone would have done it, but they are sure that someone had murdered them. Sheridan Wolfe, Duke of Armitage, reluctantly agreed to help with the investigation by questioning his half-brother’s aunt, Lady Eustance. The brothers think that for Sheridan to have a chance of questioning Lady Eustance, he must pretend to court her daughter Vanessa. Vanessa has had a crush on Sheridan since the day she met him, but he never notices her. She decides the on way to get Sheridan’s attention is to make him jealous of her other suitors. I have enjoyed reading this series and loved seeing the sibling get closer to the truth one book at a time. There were several twists and turns throughout the series and the ending caught me by surprise. This was a wonderful series and I enjoyed reading each book.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 stars
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖 4 books
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋 3 butterfly
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔 3 broken hearts
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡ 3 lightnings
Romance: 💞💞💞 3 hearts
Sensuality: 💋💋 2 kiss
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑 4 peach
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥
Humor: Yes, some decent banter sprinkled throughout.

This is the 4th book of Sabrina Jeffries’ latest series. This series is best read in order, as there is a ‘mystery’ all the children of the duchess are trying to solve. You do find out the villain in this one, so if you don’t want to ruin the mystery in the others, start with book 1, Project Duchess. A bit more is given away each book. If you don’t mind missing out on that, this book is okay as a standalone – there is a touch of character overlap from previous books, but nothing extensive. I thought this one was the last in the series, but Juncker’s story will be a novella in A Yuletide Kiss titled When We Finally Kiss Goodnight.

Sheridan is faced with investigating a suspect in the murder of his mother’s 3 dead husbands. He must try to coax the truth from Lady Eustace but he has no idea that her daughter, Vanessa has a tendre for him and has for a number of years.

Give this book a try if you want:
- Mid/late 20s MC - hero is 29 and heroine is 25
- While not explicitly full figured heroine – she is described as the opposite of tall and willowy and elegant – a short, voluptuous vixen
- 1809 time period (pre-regency)
- Mid steam - a few kisses and a few full scenes - locations at end of review under spoiler
- Fake relationship trope! These two "pretend" to be interested in each other to make Vanessa's supposed love interest jealous
- A bit of a jealous hero - he's not over the top but he is watching, and snapping at people looking at his woman, punching people that touch his woman....love 🤣
- Unrequited love - Vanessa has adored Sheridan for some time but he is a bit clueless

So, not going to lie, this whole series was a little bit meh for me :( There hasn't been a single book I adored, nothing that had my breath catching, my heart pounding. I'm not sure, it might just be me and normal people will totally enjoy this.

I do think this one was my favorite so far, but not by much. There was a little feeling of immaturity with how the heroine is trying to get the hero. Her plan just didn't seem that well thought out or logical. But still, I do enjoy fake relationship, so I let it slide.

I did like that Sheridan was quite jealous. I don't think he really understand what was going on with his feelings for Vanessa but he kept showing them through his behavior. (I know jealousy can be problematic, so if that's not your thing, take note)

There was some pleasant banter and romance mixed in throughout the book. I was a bit bored with some of the investigation stuff. It would seem like I would just be getting into their relationship and then it would be family drama/investigation time again and I would get bored.

I also do get annoyed with heroes that CAN NEVER MARRY or CAN NEVER FALL IN LOVE and....well I have just come to expect that from Sabrina Jeffries heroes. It's a plotline that I see a lot in her books and it's not my favorite. BUT in this book, it wasn't the main obstacle, and even though the hero was against marriage, it didn't stop him from doing the right thing. (Some of her other books it was dragged out until the end until they just magically realize it's okay to get married. So I'm glad that wasn't going on here)

I am posting an honest review after reading an advance reader copy of this story.

I love this series. The entire family has been a joy to read about & I'm sorry the series, Duke Dynasty, has come to an end. Sheridan and Vanessa are a perfect example of two people who can't communicate. The social rules are strict but come on....just a little bit of straight talk. Maybe a note that says do you like me? Check yes or no. It's fun to watch as they play games with each other and try to fool their family members. They're hot for each other and the games they're playing can't stop the inevitable HEA.

#SabrinaJeffries #Netgalley #ZebraBooks #UndercoverDuke #DukeDynasty #romance #historicalromance

Wow...what a ride. I've not read the first three books in the series and I think I need to do that post haste!

Three Dukes murdered. At first it looks like just bad luck for their Duchess, but now, the children are thinking it wasn't bad luck and it was possibly MURDER!

This book revolves around Sheridan Wolfe, the impoverished Duke of Armitage, and Vanessa Pryde, who is the daughter of one of the suspects in the murder mystery. Vanessa has always had feelings for Sheridan. Sheridan, however, is a man. Need I say more?? At times the romance was ponderous and at other times it was very light and romantic. The resolution of the murder was a bit nail biting and although I thought I knew who done it...I was not correct!

I really wish I would have read the previous books in this series. I feel like I missed out on some of the details regarding the murders. The ending was good, but again, I feel like I needed to read the previous books to really enjoy this one.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher. The review is my own.

The Duke Dynasty series is an entertaining historical romance series featuring a dowager duchess who was married and widowed by three different dukes. She has five grown children - three are dukes themselves. Undercover Duke, the fourth (and final?) full-length tale, features youngest duke Sheridan and Vanessa, cousin to the eldest duke, Grey (first book). Although the story is a standalone romance, there is a murder mystery that runs throughout the series, building upon the events of previous books; therefore, it is best to start with the first book.

In addition to trying to discover who may have killed his uncle and father, Sheridan is struggling financially. He never plans to marry, but does fancy Vanessa and will use his loose friendship with her to question her mother in regards to the deaths of the various dukes once married to his mother.

Vanessa has only had eyes for Sheridan ever since they first met; however, everyone thinks she’s in love with playwright and poet, Janka. In order to spend more time with Sheridan, she convinces him to pretend to court her to make Janka jealous.

I have really enjoyed the Duke Dynasty series, finding the concept original, and the multiple-book murder mystery engrossing. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the characters over time, and like the pairing of Sheridan and Vanessa. With that said, I was not overly found of scheme upon scheme as a means to get the pair together. Although they share a strong mutual desire, their entire “courtship” is a set of compounding deceptions and subterfuge. Even after they wed, they keep secrets from one another; she’s worried he’ll be upset she lied, he doesn’t think she needs to know because he’s not in love with her. I will admit I rolled my eyes a couple times because the characters’ logic wasn’t the brightest. I also felt Vanessa was way too naive when it came to “bed sport.”

Once the pair finally opened to one another, I liked them better as a couple. They work together and value each other. This is important when trying to solve a murder mystery. I did figure out who did it (guessing back in the third book), although the reasoning wasn’t clear until the very end. Regardless, I enjoyed this aspect of the series/story a lot.

In the end, I really enjoyed the Duke Dynasty series, and the although the final book wasn’t my favorite, I liked the pairing of Sheridan and Vanessa, and liked following the mystery until the very end.

My Ratings:
Story: B/B-
Narration: B

I enjoyed this 4th book in Sabrina Jeffries' Duke Dynasty series. I did not read the first one, but in books 2-4, I think each one was better than the last. Sheridan and Vanessa are both characters you can cheer for. Sheridan is a little bit of the grumpy hero, Vanessa the sunshine heroine. Together they plan a fake courtship, but for different reasons. They have chemistry for days, Sheridan fighting against it, Vanessa trying to figure out how to get him to act on it until she takes the reins. There is good humor, great banter and dialogue, plenty of sexy times, and a cast of characters that have been present in the whole series. The intrigue and mystery that ties that books together - besides the fact that this is a family series - is wrapped up, which I appreciate. You'd be surprised how many are not these days, so thank you, Sabrina Jeffries.
Jeffries fans should definitely check this one out. Historical romance fans will enjoy this. As the fourth book in a series, Sheridan and Vanessa's story in and of itself can be read as a standalone but I recommend reading the series in order, there are a lot of characters and the mystery thread is in each book. Knowing this will enrich the story for readers.

Poor guy.

Lady Eustace, blech.

Who's Helene?

Huh. They have a point about F words.

She had better read some of Juncker's poems.

Attagirl, Your Grace.

Well, that was stressful.

I am suspicious of Bonham.

Buh-bye, crazypants.

Good speech.

Haha.

Good end to a great series.

This was probably my least favourite of the series though. I liked the characters but I was hoping for more. More romance and definitely more to the mystery that had gone on over the last 3 books. It wrapped up too quickly (and nicely) for me.

I enjoyed this book, but much like the one before it, I liked the heroine much more than the hero. Some of it is Jeffries’ ability to capture just how exasperating it can be to love someone who does not want to fall in love. But she also writes wonderful female characters.

Sheridan has good reasons behind pretending to court Vanessa, but she loves him and hopes it will make him realize she is more than he thinks. I was completely empathetic to the point that I got mad at him for taking so long to realize he cared.

The writing, as usual, is excellent, and this novel wraps up the mystery that has been behind the series so far. The secondary characters are also great.

I recommend reading this series in order. It is worth your time. I think I have given every one in there series 4 stars, which means I enjoyed them all! And it’s fun to see the happy couples again here.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher and Net Galley in return for a fair review.

This was a DNF for me. I hadn’t read the first three in the series and was under the impression it could be read as a stand-alone. I feel like I don’t know enough to finish and am not intrigued enough to read three books to finish this.

Thank you for the opportunity to review.

A Regency romp with romance and intrigue
4 stars

I am a huge fan of Ms Jeffries’ writing although I’ve only read 2 of her most recent series, Duke Dynasty, of which this is number 4. I assume this is also the last in said series as it’s in this book that we find out the identity of the killer - the mystery that has been running throughout the whole series. The romance in this book stands completely alone although, as I mentioned, the mystery carries on from previous books. I don’t suppose you need to have read the previous books but you may get confused by the large cast of characters and the (unashamedly) confusing way they’re all related to each other!

Sheridan is a strong, silent and stoic character but without the arrogance that we sometimes see in ducal heroes. I liked him and understood him although I was a wee bit peeved with the way he needlessly used his first love as a barrier against Vanessa. I also didn’t like that he probably wouldn’t have approached Vanessa if he hadn’t been investigating the murders. I want him to HAVE to approach her regardless. But he was nicely besotted with her and overcome with lust when they were together - so I mostly forgave him.

Vanessa was a very enjoyable character and one I really got behind. Despite her rather hideous mother, she was still strong and determined and honest to a fault. I loved the fact that she knew what she wanted and worked all the angles to get her happily ever after. It never came across as scheming or manipulation - if anything, Sheridan was more artful than Vanessa was.

As I mentioned, the lust between Sheridan and Vanessa was delightfully apparent. Neither really disguised their attraction to the other - well, once they were wed, anyway - which led to lots of naughty shenanigans that Ms Jeffries always delivers to us in spades. Vanessa is a true innocent - unaware of any aspect of lovemaking - so having Sheridan instruct her was surprisingly sweet while still being fan-yourself while clutching your pearls, steamy.

As always with Sabrina Jeffries, she really grabs you and brings you into the worlds she builds with her writing. We’re transported to Regency London and all the sights, sounds and smells you would expect from the time. I would happily wile away the hours in a Sabrina Jeffries story.

I was satisfied with the conclusion of the mystery of the murders and who the culprit was. It definitely wasn’t edge of your seat, full-on action / adventure / drama stuff - but so far as I could see, I was happy that justice prevailed and we got the baddy/baddies in the end. Anyway - I’m mostly here for the romance anyway…

As always when I pick up a Sabrina Jeffries novel, I know I’ll be entertained and possibly even swoon a little. This book was no exception and she remains one of my favourite historical romance authors. 4 stars.

The Duke of Armitage, Sheridan needs to save his financial situation by marrying a woman with a generous dowry, but he has no intentions of marrying. He wants to uncover the mystery behind his mother’s first husband’s demise. Vanessa has eyes on the Duke, and makes him think she has eyes for another man, a poet, a playwright, Juncker. However, while the Duke appreciates their friendship, this fake courting ruse might end up being much more complicated.

Ha! My first ever regency romance that I’ve read. Like ever. It had all the same vibes as Bridgerton so I was here for it (after binging the series on Netflix). And, while the writing wasn’t exactly my flavor, being a contemporary reader, I laughed a fair amount of times. I couldn’t get Julie Andrews’ voice out of my head! The narration was wonderful, and though I don’t have anything to compare it to, I’d say I enjoyed!