2.5 This is another author that I generally enjoy and this book was entertaining enough, though not a favorite. I enjoyed the heroine, Beatrice, and many of the supporting characters. There were a few too many predictable tropes regarding the past background of our male hero and also Beatrice's brother, both of which maybe could have been thought through a bit better to be slightly more original. The plot moved a bit slowly, but there were many moments of great fun, even if those moments felt a bit off given the underlying plot of murder. A nod was given to the grieving mother over the loss of her husband when she held a dance lesson for Beatrice, but in many ways, the scene felt a bit contrived and could have worked without seeming to be in contradiction to the supposed great loss that the family had experienced.

I am intrigued by the central mystery in the book and will seek out the other books in the series for that reason but I'm not a fan or insta-love romance novels.

This is the start of a new series, and a little confusingly it concerns siblings and step siblings, and some of their cousins. They are all related through their mother, Lydia, currently Duchess of Armitage, and previously Duchess of Thornlands, and Duchess of Greycourt.

Fletcher Pryde is the oldest child, and Duke of Greycourt. His stepfather and mother were living in Prussia, and had recently returned to England so hecould take up the Armitage dukedom, Maurice has died in an accident, and Grey is reluctantly going to see his family. He feels estranged and cut off emotionally from his mother and siblings, his father’s will appointed his Uncle as his guardian, and so his mother was forced to send him back to England when he was 10. Grey was badly mistreated by his uncle, in an attempt to force him to sign over property, and he blames his mother and stepfather for abandoning him.

When he arrives he meets Beatrice Wolfe, cousin to his stepbrother Sheridan, and sister of the estate’s gamekeeper, ex soldier Joshua. He is lame from a combat injury, and very withdrawn due to this. They don’t get off to the best start, but they are both attracted to each other. Beatrice and her brother are not very well off, and Lydia and her daughter Gwynn are coaching Beatrice to make her debut. Grey is roped into help with dancing lessons, and their attraction to each other starts to grow, but Grey is not prepared to love anyone, and Beatrice doubts herself. They both suspect Joshua of being involved in her uncle Armie’s death, and Grey is also helping Sheridan investigate Maurice’s death, which they suspect Joshua May also be involved in.

Grey is very conflicted. Is Beatrice an accomplice or innocent, how can he resist becoming involved with her, he doesn’t want to love her.

Sabrina Jeffries is usually excellent, and this is a nice romance, but it didn’t really get firing on all cylinders for me. I found it difficult to get invested in the two main characters, also the mystery of Maurice’s death wasn’t solved, and so the suspense element of the plot also didn’t get a resolution either. Maybe it’s because it is a complicated setup with the multiple marriages, and the series setup took away from the main plot.

I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Also posted on Goodreads.

The Dowager Duchess was famous for her projects.

This new series is premised upon a Duchess whose been widowed three times. All three husbands were dukes. The now Dowager Duchess has five children and three of her sons have inherited Dukedoms.
In the first of the series Fletcher “Grey” Pryde, 5th Duke of Greycourt meets Beatrice Wolfe when she manages his stepfather's funeral. Beatrice is a cousin and she and her brother Joshua have depended on the generosity of the Duke of Armitage.
Beatrice is a feisty, single minded young woman who is not a all threatened by Grey.
Grey's mother, the Dowager Duchess decides that she will present Beatrice in the upcoming season and seeks his assistance in readying Beatrice for her debut. This project is important to the Duchess, giving her something to do as she grieves the loss of her husband.
Of course there's an attraction between Grey and Bea, but neither wants to acknowledge it, until they do. Meanwhile Grey's brother, Sheridan Wolfe, the 4th Duke of Armitage, is suspicious about his father's death. This adds another layer of intrigue and becomes a source of contention between Bea and Grey that has the potential to destroy the fragile trust that's building between them.
I must admit that I wasn't that sold on Grey and Bea but I'm looking forward to seeing where the series goes.

A Kensington Books ARC via NetGalley

Loved it! It is another one of these books you don't want to put aside because you really like the leads a lot and because you want to know more about their past.

Will we ever know who the murderer is??
(thanks to netgalley)

Sabrina Jeffries new Duke Dynasty series is off to a good start with series opener Project Duchess. It has all the classic Jeffries characteristics, spunky heroine, angsty hero, interesting cast of side characters, and suspense.

Fletcher "Grey" Pryde has been called back to his mother's home after her third husband, and a third Duke, has died. Grey experienced hardship as a child and was separated from his family. Although reluctant to return home now, he knows he must see to his mother's well-being. Things are not going so well for Grey at the moment. Although a very rich duke, he has established quite a reputation, albeit undeserved. Meanwhile his aunt is pressuring him to marry his cousin, and that is something neither of them wants.

Beatrice Wolfe is the cousin of Grey's half-brother, and Grey's mother has offered to help her by giving her a Season in London. With the family mourning now, the debut must be delayed. However, Grey's mother wants him to school Beatrice in certain matters, like proper dancing. Meanwhile, Grey's brother Sheridan is quite certain that his father, and also his uncle, previously, were murdered. The man he thinks guilty is none other than Beatrice's brother Joshua. Sheridan wants Grey to investigate the cause of both deaths.

Grey elects to spend time with the delectable Beatrice, leaving Sheridan to sort the more serious matters himself. However, Grey has very good reason for not wanting to become romantically involved. Beatrice herself gave up on romance, but she is very concerned for her and her brother's future so she has agreed to the tutelage offered by her aunt. It only takes a few glances at Grety for Beatrice to realize she is smitten.

What a delightful romance by Sabrina Jeffries! I loved all of the conflict involved with this story while the foundation for a heartwarming romance was being built. This made this become a multi-layered story that flowed smoothly through the pages. While this is my first read by Sabrina Jeffries it certainly will not be my last. I am eager to continue on with this series. The next book is Duke Dynasty and is slated for release in February, 2020.

Before you dive into reading this first book in a brand new series by Sabrina Jeffries, take a moment to carefully peruse the family tree laid out at the beginning, detailing the three marriages of Lydia, Duchess of Armitage (and before that, Duchess of Thornlands, and before that, Duchess of Greycourt) her five children from those three marriages, and their assorted cousins on their fathers’ sides.

Got that? Good. Otherwise you’re going to get in a terrible muddle over who’s who and how they’re related to everyone else, because every significant character in this first book is somehow related, even if it’s only by one of Lydia’s multiple marriages.

The Duke of Greycourt, aka Grey, is Lydia’s oldest son, and her most distant. While Lydia was living in Prussia with her third husband (the ambassador at the time) and her children, Grey was forced to return to England, and the care of his guardian, aged just 10. Things didn’t go tremendously well, and he’s grown up wary, resentful and gun-shy about commitment and trust. So when he’s called to his mother’s side after his stepfather’s sudden death and asked to look into the possibility that his stepfather was murdered, the last thing he wants is to fall for an opinionated young woman intimately connected to his own family.

Beatrice Wolfe doesn’t have good experiences with dukes, and she has no reason to believe Grey will be any different. He’s sexy, seductive… likeable and kind. She can’t help but like him, but she has secrets to protect, some of which aren’t hers to share.

There’s a murder mystery thread running through the background of this romance which will presumably be followed through in the rest of the series, because all that happened here was a suspect with a viable motive was eliminated from the inquiry. The romance arc is brought to a very nice conclusion, though not without a few hiccups along the way.

This is a wonderful start to a new series, and I’d definitely recommend getting in on the ground floor, so to speak, because I think the threads of that murder mystery might be tricky to pick up in later books if you haven’t read this one. Dive right in and enjoy! Five stars.

A solid regency romance, but one with too many side characters and a confusing murder mystery that just seemed to be a prop to further the main characters' plot points along. I'll probably read the next book in the series if it pops up on my radar, but I won't be actively seeking it out.

A new series by one of the Queens of historical romance, Project Duchess takes you into this series with all the dynamics of a whirlwind that is sure to set your heart ablaze! Prepare to get lost in the first of a sure to be amazing series if this first story is any indication!
A mother who has several children by different husbands and one of those sons Grey, having lived through several of those stepfather's, find's that she is a widow one more time. At her request he leaves London and heads to Armitage Hall.
What he finds is his destiny, he just doesn't know it yet, in the form of Beatrice Wolfe, a cousin to Sheridan, the New Duke of Armitage. She is helping with the funeral arrangements for her uncle who was married to Grey's mother, the duchess. Got that? Yes a lot of characters are introduced in this story but it all begins to form a picture of what's to come!
Grey's mother wants to help Beatrice launch into society and have him help her with her "project."
I loved these two! Bea is not afraid to speak her mind and she and Grey have a lot of great banter and it seems he is attracted to her but really should be beyond his touch.
Filled with a myster, trying to find a murderer, oh yes it seems the Duke may have been murdered and some steamy attraction made this a wonderful romance. I cannot wait to read the rest in this series and see what happens with all of the siblings!!!

I enjoyed “Project Duchess”. The premise was interesting and it left me wondering about several characters in the story, which tells me we will have more books about this interesting family of dukes! Because I am interested in reading more, I gave it 5 stars.

This is my fair and honest review in return for this ARC. Typical Sabrina Jeffries read. well written, good characters, involved tale and sweet storyline. As always, worth your time and money. Just left a bit hanging at the end.

Sabrina Jeffries is always one author on my to be read list. Every time Sabrina writes a new book I have to read it. This was no exception I was so excited to see she has written a new series. She makes me laugh and I always love the characters she comes up with. Project Duchess is about a series of stepfathers and a difficult childhood that has left the main Character Fletcher Grey not able to trust people and doesn’t believe in love. It’s a story about two people who have had difficult childhoods trying to find the one that will break down their barriers and have them fall in love. I definitely recommend this book. It was a charming read and can’t wait to read other books in the series. I was given an arc of the book from Netgalley for an honest review of the book.

Project Duchess by Sabrina Jeffries is book One in the Duke Dynasty Series. This is the story of Beatrice Wolfe and Fletcher 'Grey' Pryde, the Duke of Greycourt.
Fletcher's mother has married three times to different Dukes, that has produced 5 children (him being one of the 5) but now her last husband has died. Fletcher was taken by his Uncle when he was young which turned his world upside down...he started keeping his distance from his mother and siblings. Now in their present day he steps forward to do his duty to his mother now that her husband and his step-father has died. This lands him to meet Beatrice who is the granddaughter of the Duke but he misunderstands who she is at first. Of course Beatrice isn't like anyone he has met before which set the tone of their relationship.
Loved this book.

Reviewed on Instagram on 23 of June 2019. I also did a story about it, which reached around 100 people.

Project Duchess by Sabrina Jeffries, out June 25 2019. Shoutout for the arc @netgalley, buckle in for my reckons.
EMOJI SUMMARY: 🎩 💰 🤝 👒🗣👗🔜💃
⚠️tw: sexual harassment
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“She’s firmly on the shelf.”
[the hero]: “What a ridiculous notion. As if a woman were a knickknack to be put away.”
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Don’t you think this cover is like the moment in Cinderella where the mice and birds make her the pink dress? I LOVED that scene.
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The first page is a family tree! Brilliant! I forget names easily but I love a complex family history, so this is catnip to me. It’s based around a 3x widow, and tbh I think the best possible career for a woman in the Victorian era was that of a widow. I would be aiming for that, personally. 😂
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Our hero Grey is being set up with his cousin and he’s like ‘eww why would I be interested in this young thing I saw her grow up’ and I like him instantly. This is a Pygmalion premise, and when Grey meets Beatrice, he thinks she’s the undertaker’s daughter and tells her the biccies are weird. She shuts him down and he apologises when he learns she’s a lady. It makes me realise even good men in historical romances this thing where non-titled women were nothing, and Sabrina does this easily without making you hate him. Good shout.
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I actually like Grey. He’s a good man doing his best for his fam. Actually, the further I get I realise that all the brothers in this book are good men. And Sabrina writes some beautifully feminist moments.
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I didn’t find the mystery plot particularly mysterious or surprising, but that could just be because I’m a hard nosed sleuth. 💁‍♀️
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In terms of the tw; there’s a thing where her uncle is a lecher. It’s reasonably well handled and didn’t feel gratuitous, although there are issues with the way the romance genre in general handles these confession moments and I’ll do a story about this tonight.
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This is the first in the new #dukedynasty series, and I am looking forward to the rest of the series.
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VERDICT: 💎
RANK: 3 ⭐️
QUESTION: Do you like an Eliza Doolittle premise? I 🧡 them. Any recs? Bonus points if it’s the dude doing the learning.
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#projectduchess #netgally #arc #gifted #inexchangeforanhonestreview

Loved this book, the main part of the book is romance, with overtones of abuse within families. Sabrina Jeffies deals with this great. She does not shield away from the issues, or hit you over the head with it but shows that abuse changes who you were and who you become.. This is a new family, new mystery so I hope there are more books to come. A must read

*scroll to the bottom for content warnings*

Trope: Duke helping with debut
Cover rating: beautiful if inaccurate for clothing (not sure where her dress is from, I hate when they do that!), dancing is a pivotal plot point so it makes sense to be the cover
Book description accuracy: accurate from a high level but plot is watered down from what this led me to expect
General review:
This reminded me why I don’t usually pick up Sabrina Jeffries any more. She writes an okay historical, gives you a pleasant escape from real life; but in comparison to other authors publishing today her stories are watered down. The content warnings aren’t described in vivid detail, giving the illusion of human characters. I’m not saying I wanted to read through child abuse or attempted incest but these were among the reasons the characters were the way they were, fighting all attraction for each other but their experiences seemed minimized. I’m not sure if it’s just I couldn’t relate to the content- these aren’t triggers for me thank God- but it wasn’t my cup of tea. I couldn’t understand the attraction between H & h- major instalust that didn’t fit the storyline. I also did not like the language used- h’s Grandmother used to refer to her as a ‘naughty saucepot’ and the number of times rascal, arse and weird ‘supposed to be period swears’ were used was too much. Every time it happened it took me out of the story, making this one that took me several days to get through- after the publication date no less. The series looks like it will follow the rest of the family (both H & h’s, because this is a weird ‘they’re sort of related’ story) and I don’t think I’ll be picking up the next ones.
Angst style: OW misunderstanding
POV: 3rd person, both H & h
Relationship stage reached: married, in epilogue
Epilogue? yes, on wedding day

Content warnings: child abuse, death of multiple family members, attempted incest

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review. #ProjectDuchess #NetGalley

I've enjoyed pretty much everything Sabrina Jeffries has written, with a number of 5-star books scattered throughout her oeuvre. But, for my money, she's at her best in a series set within a family, with a mystery at its core. She excels at family dynamics; creating realistic, and entertaining, relationships among siblings such as those within The Hellions of Halstead Hall, my favorite of her many series. Her Duke Dynasty series introduces readers to a new (blended) family - a thrice widowed mother of three dukes, a second son, and a daughter - and a new mystery to be solved. Based on the recently released first book, Project Duchess, where we meet the entire family, it just may give those Halstead Hall hellions a run for their money.

Beatrice and Grey are wonderfully complex characters, both with hidden emotional baggage. At first glance, their "playing field" appears to be very unequal. Grey is a wealthy duke from London while Beatrice is a poor spinster from the country. Yes, she's a duke's granddaughter but she's never had a debut and is much more at home running her dogs or walking the woods than at a dinner party. But Beatrice isn't about to let Grey walk over her. She's opinionated, fond of cursing, and holds her own with our rigid duke. Rather than repel Grey, those qualities only make her more attractive to him, as evidenced by the sizzling chemistry that flares whenever they're in the same room. It was so much fun to watch our calm, collected, and controlled duke fall head over heels, even though he doesn't realize it until it's almost too late. And the banter between these two! So good!

Beatrice may appear confident but she also has a vulnerable heart that could easily be broken and secrets she guards zealously. Grey has a few of his own. There are good reasons why he isn't close with his siblings; why he keeps his emotions safely locked away. My heart broke for him when those reasons were finally brought to light.

One of the things I most liked about this book is the fact that both Beatrice and Grey evolve over the course of the story without losing the essential elements of their character. Neither is "transformed" to better fit their new role, especially Beatrice. Rather, they gradually help one another overcome the pain of their individual pasts, they protect one another's secrets, they learn to trust in love and one another, and most importantly, they help each other heal and recognize their true worth. I adored them and can't wait to, hopefully, see more of them throughout the series. They are going to be one fun - and formidable - couple!

4.5 Stars
As posted at The Romance Dish
Advance copy received from author. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I have a new series!! Sabrina Jeffries writes some of the best romance stories, and I loved this little series starting romance.

Fletcher Pryde, Duke of Greycourt, is one of five siblings, three of whom are dukes. Attending his stepfather's funeral, Grey meets Beatrice Wolfe, cousin to his brother (and not related to Grey at all by blood). Beatrice intrigues him, and their banter is cute, cute, cute. Not going to lie, Grey is a sweet, considerate hero who just can't seem to make a wrong move. There's tension with his siblings, which will be great for the series in the future, and a mystery to solve, although not too much time is spent on that mystery. Grey is kind but controlled (mostly) through his and Beatrice's story, and he's a hero that most readers would want to marry themselves.

As for Beatrice, she's delightful! Strong, frank, and practical--all things I love in a heroine. She helps Grey reconcile with his family, even though her involvement has more to do with his own happiness in meeting her than her direct involvement. Really, the only problem I had was with the power dynamic, because Beatrice what would be considered a poor relation to Grey's brother, Sheridan, but I decided to shrug my shoulders and let it go.

Truly, this was what I would consider a sweet, entertaining romance and a great start to this series. In fact, I can't wait for the other siblings, especially the only sister, Gwyn, and Beatrice's injured war hero brother, Joshua. Sparks flew when they were on the pages, and brooding hero Joshua will make him distinct from Grey, who was not the brooding type, really.

Definitely, everyone who loves a sweet, sincere romance should add this book to their TBR pile, and anyone who likes series that focus on families should keep track of the comings and goings of Jeffries' latest.

Both Grey and Beatrice have sworn off love, they meet while helping with the funeral arrangements for the Duke of Armitage. Grey’s step-father and Beatrice’s uncle. Grey’s mother thinks it is best if they find a husband for Beatrice and asks Grey to help. What will happen when sparks soon fly between them. What will happen when Grey begins digging into the family secrets? Fast-paced read with lots of drama and suspense. The chemistry is steamy and the story really draws you in with its twists and turns. An entertaining historical read.