Miss Ivy runs a gambling house which is open to anyone who can pay, and that includes dukes who've just learned they aren't actually a duke anymore. Such is the lot of Sebastian de Silva, ex-Duke of Hasford. Despite the offers of the new Duke to support him, Sebastian is determined to prove to himself that he can be independent. He finds employ with the short but intriguing Miss Ivy. Things escalate.

NEVER KISS A DUKE is a reversal of fortune story - Ivy has recovered from her reversal and Sebastian is just dealing. There are underpinnings of a workplace romance (with Ivy desperately trying not to take advantage of her position, a novelty in this time period) and class concerns. The story is fine, but some of the side characters stole the show for me - Octavia and Ana Maria are both exuberant women whose story I want to read.

Additionally, it pinged my radar a couple times in the front half of the book when Sebastian said that he'd never met any women who could do what Ivy does - run a business/be so smart. Maybe this was part of his evolution but it bothered me enough to hold it against him for a lot of the book.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for review.

I have read every one of Megan Frampton's books and enjoyed each one. The storylines are always a little different. That was no different here.

A duke who is no longer a Duke due to an archaic law.
A lady who is no longer a lady due to placing a wager to save herself and her sister from a bad marriage.

The storyline was intriguing. Unfortunately the book was not. It just fell flat. I just felt complacency in this book. No fight, no angst, no chemistry.
It was just okay.

My first Megan Frampton book was a satisfying read. Not perfect, but enough to keep me interested in the book. The premise of the story is Sebastian, who lost his Dukedom, trying to find his way as a mere 'mister'. Ivy is the spunky proprietor of a gaming hall and quite inappropriate for London's ton.

A great friendship sparks between these two as their attraction intensifies. The sexy times are pretty great and add to the story. There is plenty of plot but it is redundant in places and drags a bit a few times. I was more interested in some of the side characters and will read Megan again to see what the other Dukes are up to.

If you're interesting in friends to lovers and character growth, I'd recommend checking this book out.

Megan Frampton is always fun and I can always count on her to write something sexy and generally light and breezy. I liked this one. I think there were times when I wanted the pace to move along a little faster. But it’s solid, enjoyable historical romance. However, I’m REALLY anxious to read the next one in this series as the preview at the end of this book had me thoroughly hooked!

Thank you Netgalley and Avon for the chance to read and advanced copy! Never Kiss an Earl is set to release on Tuesday Jan 28th! I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received an advanced reader’s copy of Never Kiss a Duke by Meghan Frampton.

I liked Ivy and Sebastian. Ivy, a gambling club owner, is smart and knowledgeable about business and independent. Sebastian having lost his position as a duke is lost about who he is and what he’s going to do. She takes a chance and hires him. They are attracted to each other and had good chemistry. They are both kind and caring and well matched for each other.

Ivy’s sister, Octavia, Sebastian’s sister, Ana Maria, and Sebastian’s friend, Nash, are great secondary characters. I feel the story could have used a bit more conflict as the pacing was slow during some parts.

Overall, this was an enjoyable story and I’m looking forward to reading more about Octavia, Nash and Ana Maria. .

I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley. I was intrigued by the story line. Megan Frampton is a new author to me and I am torn with this book. I liked how head string and determined Ivy is and I like Sebastian coming to terms with his new life. However, I would have liked more banter between the two characters. I will continue reading this series so I can see how the other characters pan out.

I really wanted to like Never Kiss a Duke much more than I actually did. There is a strong female lead, and the concept of a duke no longer being a duke was intriguing. However, the fact that the male lead is not a duke any longer makes the title nonsensical. It's a small thing, I suppose, but if he isn't a duke why does the title still intimate that he is? It's not logical.

The story itself, of Sebastien learning how to be "normal" and wooing the headstrong , independent gambling parlor owner Ivy just really fell flat. The leads were very boring, each having a sister that got much better dialogue and personality.

I loved the idea of this book. One of my favorite settings in historical romances are gaming hells. But this one just didn’t do it for me.
I DID like this book. I just didn’t love it.
I thought Ivy was an interesting character. The story of her gambling everything important to her for her freedom and then becoming the owner of a gambling house was what made me want to read this book. Then having Sebastian, the Duke of Hashford, losing his dukedom was the cherry on top.
On paper this book screamed my name. It just didn’t work for me for some reason.
I will be continuing with this series. I do want to see how to two characters in the next book get together.

Never Kiss a Duke is the first book in the Hazards of Dukes series.
This was a great story. It starts off with our hero, Sebastian de Silva, losing his Duke title and status due to some discrepancies his mother committed when she married the former duke. The news takes him completely by surprise and is now having to deal with what to do with his life. That same day he ends up at a gambling house that is run by a woman.
Ivy Holton used to be part of Sebastian's world, but due her father's gambling they lost most of their money and was lucky to win her independence at a game of cards. She builds and manages her own gaming house, Miss Ivy's. It is at this gaming house that Sebastian ends up and encounter each other for the first time.
It is due to one of those moments that he was at the right place at the right moment that Sebastian ends up working for Ivy.
They worked very well together and though he lived a privileged life he is doing his best to adjust to his new one. Besides working well together, the chemistry between them is off the charts. Their flirting is so cute! She likes to call him "your grace" and he lets her know that he likes to be bossed by her. Feelings begin to grow between them and it is Ivy that wants to take it further, she believes that marriage is not in her future, so why not? I liked how Sebastian's character went from a Duke who took everything for granted to a man who truly valued what and who he had in his life. Therefore he becomes that man who Ivy can stand with as a partner. Ivy's character also grows as the story enfolds. She's given all her life to her sister and those that work for her, that it was nice to finally see her make decisions thinking of herself first.
I enjoyed this story from start to finish. We get to meet interesting characters, who we will probably get to know better as the series continues.
I look forwards to more of these hazardous dukes!

*Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.*

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I have recently discovered Megan Frampton and have really liked all the books I have read by her so far.
So in this story Never kiss a Duke we have Sebastian who finds out that his whole life has been a lie. He is called into his solicitors office along with his cousin, and finds out that he actually isn't the Duke of Hasford. His parents marriage is deemed invalid because of an ancient law. So now he doesn't know what he is supposed to do with his life. He moves out of his home, and starts staying with a friend named Nate who is also a duke.
Nate takes Sebastian to a new gaming establishment called Miss Ivy's. There is where Sebastian and Ivy meet, Sebastian ends up working for Ivy, helping her come up with new ideas and helping make them reality.
I don't think I have ever read a book where the Duke ends up loosing his title, and I loved it. Sebastian didn't let his change in circumstances keep him down for very long. He did his best to figure out who he wanted to be, and how to achieve that without to much moping. Of course he ends up making some mistakes, but he really is trying to be better. and Ivy went from being a part of the upper class, to opening her own successful business, and helping Sebastian find out where he belongs.
this book was a great, it has sister who want to also be able to live how they want, dogs, a duke turned mister, and a lady turned miss who have to make their own way along with some laugh out loud moments. I think you will really like this.

It wasn't too shabby. The chemistry was undeniable and I thought they made an ideal pairing though the whole 'game kink' was not up my alley. Nevertheless it wasn't a bad read and would definitely categorize this as mediocre.

So the book was entertaining but the title should have been something else because Ivy one of the main characters didn't kiss a duke. Let me explain. So Sebastian- Duke of Hastings is at his solicitors office along with his cousin, come to find out that his mother was a scheming liar and cheated the system so he Sebastian is no longer a Duke but a lowly Mr. On a drunken night out along with his other bestie Nash they go to a new club in town where Ivy is the proprietor. Now Ivy is no longer considered a lady because she did not go along with her fathers plan of marrying her off to a old gentleman which had won Ivy in cards to. Ivy was a really good person not only did she save herself, but she took care of the people who worked for her father, and her sister and in her club she welcomed all regardless of gender and color, so yes I respected her. Sebastian starts working for Ivy and both of them are attracted to each other, and after of hot night together (which I really did not think they talked this way at that era) but regardless had a hot night and she was beside herself and in love. While out at a party for Sebastian's sister she overhears a young lady mention that she was to marry Sebastian..What??! In confronting him since he thought he wanted that life he didn't really think when talking and made it sound like he was doing her a favor, and got rid of him and luckily he woke up and realized she was the best thing that happened to him.

The circumstances in this historical romance are fascinating. I don't think I've ever read about an aristocrat being declared illegitimate in that way. The heroine's situation reminded me slightly of Faro's Daughter. I liked the main characters and their attraction.

While some small things about the ex-duke, like learning how to shave, fit his circumstances, the living situation was sparsely written about. I found it hard to believe that his two dogs and his personal belongings fit into the spare room he accepted as part of his wages. I wanted practical considerations!

I did not care for the crude language used in the intimate scenes. And the gaming table 'seduction' felt out of place, including the kink.

I am interested in Nash and Ana Maria's story.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy from Netgalley.

The premise of this book was interesting. Sebastian has been the duke for 6 months and then suddenly discovers he is illegitimate because of a deception by his late mother. Ivy was a lady but because of her father’s gambling lost her status and opened a gambling club. The two meet when Sebastian’s friend, Nash (a duke), takes him to “Miss Ivy’s” so he can get drunk. Sebastian and Ivy have instant chemistry and subsequently Ivy offers him a job helping her make the club more successful. In what seemed to me a contrivance, Ivy invites Sebastian to live at the club despite the fact that she has a 17 year old sister, Octavia, whose reputation she is keen to protect. But of course, since Sebastian lives there it will be much easier for him and Ivy to have sex, which eventually they do (on a table).
I appreciated the fact that both Sebastian and Ivy want to succeed despite their respective challenges. But I got tired of “will they or won’t they” become intimate because you know they will. The ending was also contrived with Sebastian’s cousin (the new duke) setting up a betrothal with a woman Sebastian has never met and without informing him. Ivy hears this and of course is crushed so then we have some misunderstandings, etc.
A few nit-picky things bothered me. Sebastian has an older half-sister, Ana Maria, but we never find out how old either of them are or how many years apart they are in age. Is the sister 30 and Sebastian 25? In the preview of the next book in the series we find out that Ana Maria is 10 years older than Octavia, which would make her 27. But there is also the fact that Sebastian’s mother made Ana Maria a drudge for 20 years. I wish the author had clarified this. Also, there is a scene when Sebastian has first moved to the club when his cousin bursts in to confront him. How did the cousin know where to find him? If his friend Nash told the cousin I don’t think that was mentioned.
The next book will be about Nash and Ana Maria, but I think I will skip that one. I just didn’t enjoy this one enough to read it. I think I am tired of dukes.
I received this from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest review.

I hear him about waking up so early.

Ugh, loopholes in law.

She got the better deal.

What a problem to have.

When did he get so chatty?

He told her he doesn't have anything else to do!

Sebastian's mother was a witch.

Back-up plan is being a gigolo. Got it.

Ooh, Ana Maria and Nash?

He really needs to find out the cost of things.

When life’s circumstances are altered, how to go forward when you are stripped of everything you have ever known...

Just by reading the blurb, I could not imagine how a man raised to have it all would do when he has nothing left.
I was even more impressed that the marriage law’s detail, base of the background plot, was true. How it must have impacted many many lives.

Sebastian, former duke, divested from his title and wealth is now plain Mr de Silva, a duke’s illegitimate son. So, how will he rise from this twist of fate?
Sebastian is no arrogant nor haughty man, sure for a commoner he looks like one, after all it is all he had ever known, but as a trained duke, he is rather approachable and easy to speak with.
It is certain, even disowned, his family and friends would have continued to support him, but he can’t face his previous life anymore.
In a way, he ran away from his former self, trying to dig a new road for the new Sebastian. Thus he has to relearn everything from dressing and shaving alone to the cost of things, and also to find a new purpose.
I loved him, he makes mistakes, a lot of them but he tries, he strives. He wants to prove he is worth his title, that the duke of Hasford in him is dead, only remain Sebastian. He does not want to be defined anymore by his late title, only the man he will be.
With Ivy, he thinks he has found the right path, still he is torn between his new life and his life old one when his kin wants him back.
Ivy is not the usual miss of good manners, when she could have hunker down and accepted her fate, she took charge of her own future.
After having broken every rules demanded to a woman of good breeding, she makes her owns.
She is determined to never again be at the mercy of someone else, and to offer her younger sister the choice of her own destiny, when hers have been robbed from her.
With Sebastian, she sees an opportunity for her business, but also a man who stirs feelings she has never encountered before.
Their relationship will need time to be established, with Ivy becoming his employer, they change the dynamic of their association.
Why they have up and down as they struggle to find the right pace. They are attracted to one another, but need to find a common ground to enter a more intimate bond.
It was lovely to see them interact, decide to reach for something they hadn’t expected. They struggle too as by allowing themselves to care for the other, they have to reshape their own expectations.

As a first in a series, it introduces the different protagonists we will see again in the next books, as side characters, they champion their relatives to be the best of themselves even if at time, they do not realize they push them in the wrong direction.
There is no vilain in this story, no need, when they are their worst enemy, overthinking things and muddling their feelings to the point of failing to see what was right in front of them.

I am just not able to place the cover, the yellow dress maybe but a cover with the heroine wearing a daring red gown and a mask would have been a hint.

5 stars for this sensual and romantic tale of family’s love and the resilience of the soul.

I was granted an advance copy through Netgalley by the publisher Avon, I had previously purchased my own.
Here is my true and unbiased opinion.

Sebastian and Ivy made the perfect couple. She had already given up everything and he had just lost everything. I loved that Ivy was able to show Sebastian a different side to life than what he had previously known. Ms. Frampton continues to pull her readers into the story so that the reader feels like they are actually there.

I love Frampton's books, and she's an immediate read for me, but this one did not jump out at me or grab me like most of her others. Both protagonists were well-rounded characters, with clear motivations at the start, and they had excellent chemistry. Their growth seemed to stop and start in lopsided ways, and the end of the book had a quick wrap-up.

A Duke and a lady no more. Sebastian was raised to be a Duke. But 6 months after his father’s death, he finds out due to his mother’s lie, he is no longer a Duke. Ivy was born a lady, but her father wagered her in a card game and lost. However, she wagered the winner and won although her reputation was destroyed. She has opened a gambling club that caters to everyone and it is successful. A chance meeting between Sebastian and Ivy results in him rescuing her from a thief. And thus begins their tale. Sebastian finding out who he is and Ivy rethinking her wants. A good read.

Preview: This is the most useful review I've ever written.

Books like this are the reason why I have a "it's not you, it's me probably" shelf, because while it featured many things I usually like and I can't name any technical faults, I didn't particularly like this and I have no idea why.

It had a million elements in it that I liked! Complicated family relationships, competent people, discovering your awesome competent self, letting go of your old (and heavily influenced) ideal and embracing your true new self, funny banter, less gentry and more normal people, gambling house antics, equality ftw, Nash (!), and more! There were even cute, spoiled dogs. Both characters were decent, if maybe not fantastic, and I shipped them well enough.

Yet something just didn't click for me and fell flat, and even after a few days, I've yet to pinpoint it. One thing I know bothered me was relatively minor; I had an issue with the execution of Sebastian's "accident of birth", but it wasn't so big to shade everything for me.

(view spoiler)

What element(s) did I dislike? I'm so annoyed, because I can't really place it. There were a few minor things, but not enough in intensity or number to put together and list them in a cons like usual. Maybe it was just too blah? I can think of a few things to maybe improve it? Like, maybe if there had been more time spent at the gambling house and the actual working there and working together? Maybe some editing on the family time, since some of those scenes seemed to be repeats? Maybe someone else's review will enlighten me one day.

tl;dr: There was technically nothing wrong with this book, really? (Except that one thing, but that's not that bad.) It just wasn't my thing for some weird reason. I'd willing to try the author again. This is a useful review.


Disclaimer: Thanks to Netgalley, Edelweiss, & the publisher for the free ARC, with no incentive or coercion on your parts.