I really wanted to like this one but this book didn't catch me as her previous books did. I didn't really like either character and didn't want them to get together. I"m disappointed because I really WANTED to enjoy this book but the whole timeline of them getting together didn't work for me; likely because I didn't want them together. I read the whole book hoping it was just a mood of the day but sadly, it never landed for me.

Set in the Regency era, this romance follows Jon, the son of a duke, who is sent abroad to mature from his reckless ways. However, his journey takes an unexpected turn when he and his companions are captured during the war. While imprisoned, Jon witnesses the death of his mentor, Dr. Morris, which leaves him feeling burdened with guilt. Eleven years later, Jon returns home to find himself unexpectedly inheriting the title of duke. Haunted by his past and driven by a sense of responsibility to honour Dr. Morris's dying wishes, Jon commits to helping his friend’s daughter find a husband. However, Jon is conflicted as he introduces Victoria—now a witty and captivating young woman—to society, struggling to suppress his own growing feelings for her.

Victoria, in particular, is a thoughtful and considerate character who not only captivates Jon but also demonstrates her kindness and selflessness as she looks out for others. The characters’ interactions feel genuine, and the story's twists add interest. Although some of the questions were left unanswered, I am hoping that they will be addressed in the next installment. Overall, I enjoyed the novel and I look forward to continuing the series.

This is a delightful first book in the author's new Lords of Hazard series. Written with keen attention to the historical details of the post Napoleonic War era, in which Lord Jonathan Leighton is finally released to home after French imprisonment. There is a luscious romance with his late mentor's daughter, and an array of twists revealed with great wit -- a hallmark of Jeffries' writing. Histfic fans will be overjoyed and wish this compelling tale would never end. Brava, Sabrina!

How I've missed Sabrina Jeffries! It's like coming home every time I read her books. And this one was no exception. She delivers sultry romance with a compelling plot that is always full of these little details that bring everything together. As I read the book, I thought I knew what Tory's reason for not wanting to marry was and I was WRONG!! As usual, Sabrina unveils the secrets early on so that the reader understands the characters better. Tory was a wonderful female character and Jon was perfect for her. At times he felt like two different people but that is to be expected after what he went through and then is expected to be a Duke. He is still trying to find his place in this new world.

I can't wait to read the next two books in the series and watch the other two couples find their HEA. I *think* I know who it's going to be and (rubs hands together) I love it!!

Sabrina has done it again! She has incorporated a bit of history into her latest romance, the stories of the Englishmen and women held in France by Napoleon's edict for eleven years. Eleven years! Civilians were interned or imprisoned when war broke out between England and France, their lives on hold. This story tells us of one of the survivors and how out of place he feels upon his return and of his survivor's guilt. Plus there is a thread of mystery to be resolved: who betrayed Lord Jonathan and his friends? Can't wait to find out!

Sometimes you just need extra cheesy regency-era romance goodness, and boy did this one deliver! This was enjoyable with a fun mix of humor and some series topics.

This feels like a classic Sabrina Jeffries: nobleman wants to be, well, noble, and assist a lady with something she needs. But he just can't stay away from her, himself, even though he just! doesn't! deserve her!!

The historical angle in this book is that Jon was a detenu in France for 10(!) years. What's a detenu? It's a civilian prisoner caught in France after the brief peace during the Napoleonic Wars. Jon was caught in France when war broke out again, along with hundreds of other English tourists and business people traveling in France at the time. As the book begins, his tutor passed away from complications after breaking his leg during an escape attempt. Jon wants to help out the man's daughter only to discover after his return home that she's not only living at his house, working as his sister's governess - Jon also can't imagine letting any other man marry her.

I enjoyed this a lot, especially the historical details about the detenus (I have read one other historical romance, by Elizabeth Boyle, that included a small bit about this, but it was blink-and-you'll-miss-it). I was also thoroughly entertained by the romance, which was nicely sexy, and Jon's failed attempts to keep away from Victoria. I can't say this will be a new favorite, but it was a quick, fun read, and I can see myself going back to it in the future.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

How can you resist a book that starts out making you laugh—a prison named Biche (I know, likely pronounced beach, but you get the point)—and a reformed rake! I began smiling when I started the book and considered it a good omen that this would be a fun and engaging book. I wasn’t disappointed. There were multiple mysteries to keep the plot moving and a historical backdrop that was new to me, so it had the bonus of teaching some history.

It was a quick and entertaining read that kept me hooked from start to finish.

Thank you for Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC.

*I’d like to thank NetGalley, Kensington Publishing and Sabrina Jeffries for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Hazardous to a Duke's Heart” by Sabrina Jeffries is the first instalment in Jeffries’ new series “Lords of Hazard” and follows the story of Lord Jonathan Leighton and Victoria Morris. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Jon returns to England with one mission: make sure Victoria Morris marries well. When he arrives, it is revealed that his two older brothers died in the past 11 years, and Jon has inherited his family’s dukedom. On top of that Tory, the daughter of his mentor, has been employed as his sister’s governess and has absolutely no intention to get married any time soon. He hopes to convince her to get married by forging a hefty dowry, but they end up striking another bargain. Tory participates for the rest of the season, should the season pass with no real match on the horizon, she’ll receive her dowry to start an art school for girls. However, they quickly find themselves entangled in much more than just a bargain.

The thing I like about Jeffries’ writing the most is that her stories are always well constructed. There are no missing threads or major plot holes, everything just pulls together perfectly into one sound and coherent story. “Hazardous to a Duke’s Heart” surely is no exception.
Additionally, I really enjoyed the historical part of this novel. The Napoleonic Wars are often mentioned in the genre, but not always explored as a real part of the plot. Jon’s backstory as a soldier captured by the French and the descriptions of his experience being held in Bitche was very interesting. In the author’s note Jeffries explains her research process and what inspired Jon’s story, which I truly appreciated. Personally, Jon was my favourite character in the story. As the third son who was sent off to war in order to keep him out of trouble, only to end up becoming the heir was quite the character arch. And didn’t even stop there.
The character I am most curious about is Chloe, I hope she will get her own story in the upcoming instalments of the story.
The scene in the carriage must have been my absolute favourite in the entire scene. It had everything from steam to a good heart-to-heart. Very effectively it showed the development of Jon and Tory’s relationship from an attraction to deep seated emotions.

The thing that bothered me the most about this novel was the lack of exploration of Tory’s character. I felt for much of the book, she simply was there while Jon went through a lot of experiences and growth. The sexual assault by Jon’s brother was never further explored nor was her love for art and teaching it to women.
I also found it a bit frustrating that the entire traitor plot was not resolved at the end. Not even a new big clue that would make me excited for book 2 was revealed.
And while the carriage scene was my favourite regarding the main romance, the overall story arc of the love story was not a favourite of mine. Jon and Tory’s relationship starts very quickly and very passionately, which is strange considering that Jon literally just was told that his brothers gave the governess a really hard and constantly harassed her, yet he feels comfortable enough to immediately start flirting and making out with her.
Even though the story is very well constructed, I felt that it got boring very quickly. Everything that occurred either happened very quickly or was very predictable, leaving me with not much interest in the progression of the plot. There wasn’t much tension between the external conflict of Jon finding the person who betrayed them back in France, and the internal conflict of Jon setting up Tory to marry someone else while falling in love with her. A certain element of action or angst was missing in my opinion.

Overall, a good novel with a decent and well-executed plot, but not outstanding in the landscape of the genre. I’m sure fans of Jeffries will enjoy this story as it aligns with her usual style, and it might be a great recommendation for people who are interested in the Napoleonic Wars in the framework of historical romance. I’d give the novel three out of five stars.

I absolutely loved this book so so so much!!! Firstly, I had never heard of the détenus before and I loved how it was integrated into the story and that I learned some new history at the same time!!!

I adored Tory and her chemistry with Jon was electric and Jon had me swooning while reading this book so many times!!! I loved how complex these characters were and how they are so different and yet fit so perfectly together♥️

Torys sweet little brother was such a highlight of this book as well and the Duchess and Chloe were just amazing !!

I am so so so so honoured to have been accepted to read this arc and am so thankful !!

“Hazardous to a Duke’s Heart” Lords of Hazard, Book 1 by Sabrina Jeffries
A Really Good Story.. worth the read.
A Really Good Story shining a light on an 11-year spot of history. I truly enjoyed my time within this story. Yes, I loved this story. I shed a few tears and laughed a bit, too!! I could have lived without the need to skim over a few romance scenes that shared a bit more detail than I cared to witness. But it was such a good story that did cover a bit of time that is usually omitted from the reign of Napoleon B. Authoritarian rule does tend to be a reign of terror, at least for the folks losing all their rights. Happy Reading & Learning !

I love Sabrina Jeffries; I’ve read all of her work. It pains me to say this book didn’t work well for me. What bothered me was the tone. This book focused in large part on a very serious subject, which I’ll say more about shortly: the detenus of the Napoleonic era. Our hero was held for 11 years and was clearly traumatized, as the author makes clear. Thus, it was jarring to have scenes that swung between describing how he was painfully thin due to being starved in prison to having his mother make bad puns and malapropisms. It was as if the book didn’t know what it wanted to be—a romance with drama and mystery or a romantic comedy. I think the book would have worked much better without the comedy. I suspect it was an attempt to use humor to lighten some of the darkness of the plot, but it was jarring and inconsistent.

All of that said, I loved learning about the detenus. I knew nothing about this part of history and found it fascinating. One of the things I have always loved about Ms. Jeffries’ writing is that it is meticulously researched, and that quality really shines here. I would have loved to have seen even more of this history depicted in the book. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series where we’ll hopefully learn more. I hope that in the next book, the issues with tone will be resolved.

Thank you to Kensington and NetGalley for the ARC!

This has everything I love about Sabrina Jeffries’ regency books.

If you’re a fan of her Duke Dynasty series, there’s also a mystery subplot in these books. This book provides just a hint of suspense, but I can’t wait to see how the mystery unfolds.

There’s actual witty banter between the MMC and FMC too. So many books say there’s good banter, but this one actually has it!

Also, the side characters are particularly memorable. Especially Jon’s mother and fellow detenus. The cameo from a few characters from the Designing Debutantes series was also *chef’s kiss*.

Overall, this book was a great read and I can’t wait to read the next books in the series!

Sabrina Jeffries writes really well and it was lovely to learn more about an aspect of the Napoleonic wars that I had never heard of - the detenus (prisoners of war). They were people who were imprisoned in France when the war started and included people on their grand tour, families, soldiers, and more. The author was very descriptive in her depiction of their situation. I also liked that there was a little bit of mystery and a character with developmental disabilities (due to a difficult birth). The main couple had chemistry and it was clear why they liked each other.
Also, the spicy scenes were excellent and I blushed during one relatively tame one involving a pear.

I enjoyed reading, Hazardous to a Duke's Heart. It's a pretty serious romance novel. A change from the resent novels I've read and I liked that. Jon owns up to his mistakes fairly quickly and Tory is quick to forgive where needed or reassure him that there is no need for forgiveness in some cases. I think that this book set up the beginning of this new series very nicely.

This is historical romance at its best - it was funny, light hearted and felt consistent to the time. We have our tortured MMC who needs to right wrongs that loom large in his mind and protect the (less than he thinks) helpless FMC

I laughed, the characters feel real and the plot didn’t rely solely on connivence as it’s only real option

If you like historical romance you will love this

Overall I enjoyed the book. The author seemed to know her historical elements and it was not too heavy of a read. It was not my favorite book by any means but I did enjoy it.

Sabrina Jeffries is starting a new series with this book, and I am already imagining how she will be writing the stories of some of the other characters in the future books in the series. I enjoyed getting back into this genre of book, even though it was somewhat predictable in following the social norms of the time, but there were a few daring exceptions to the rules and it spiced up the story! This was an easy read for me and just what I needed to lighten my mood for a few days. Thanks NetGalley for the chance to read this advance copy and provide a fair review.

Hazardous to a Duke's Heart
by Sabrina Jeffries
Pub Date: Apr 29 2025

Napoleon’s war has ended, and English captives detained for years in a French fortress are finally released. Returning to a London he no longer recognizes, and facing astonishing changes in his own family, Lord Jonathan Leighton learns he has inherited a dukedom. But the new nobleman carries the guilt of having wronged his late mentor. Now, he vows to fulfill his promise to find a suitable match for the man’s daughter, Victoria—even if it takes offering a nonexistent dowry to spark her interest in matrimony . . .

Sharp-witted Victoria would just as soon sculpt the Greek god who has come to take charge of her future. In fact, she has her sights set on founding a school for women artists. As Jonathan matches wits with the talented beauty, revelations from his past—and their connection to her father’s demise—threaten to unveil both of their closely held secrets and thrust them into a danger they can only escape together.

This book was an absolute delight! The perfect mix of lighthearted fun, swoon-worthy romance, and a touch of mystery kept me hooked from start to finish. The hero, haunted by his experiences in France, was both compelling and endearing, while the heroine, hiding a well-kept secret, added depth to the story. Their chemistry crackled with just the right amount of spice, making every interaction sizzle with anticipation.

I also loved the vibrant friendships and rich family dynamics, which brought warmth and depth to the narrative. Though the mystery remains unsolved, it perfectly sets the stage for the next book in the series—and I can't wait to read more!