Who Wants to Marry a Duke by Sabrina Jeffries is book Three in the Duke Dynasty Series. This is the story of Olivia Norley and Marlowe 'Thorn' Drake, the Duke of Thornstock. I have read the previous books, which did add to my enjoyment of this one, but I do feel you can make this a standalone book if you wish to do so. Olivia is a women who pursuits are in chemistry then finding a husband. When she is given a chance to solve a mystery it puts her closer to Thorn who she had shared a kiss with some time ago. Thorn is used to beautiful women and some with ulterior motives. But there was something in Olivia's kiss that he can't forget so when she is asked to work closely with his family he goes to make sure she isn't trying something but it just puts them testing their feelings more and more. I am a fan of this author's and would always recommend her books and of course this one.

The newest edition of The Duke Dynasty Series by Sabrina Jeffries is just as exceptional as the first two in the series. Thorn the Duke of Thornstock has met his match. Olivia is a clever young lady who has no interest in becoming some neglected gentleman's wife. She is a chemistry scientist and determined to prove that she is as good as the men in her field. Both of them are stubborn, clever, and want nothing to do with each other. The only problem is that they can't seem to keep their hands off each other. Thrown together by circumstance in the mystery of who is killing off Dukes who were married to Thorn's mother. Mystery abounds with moments of peril and more questions than answers. The chemistry between Thorn and Olivia is palatable and the erotic. They get their happy ending but the mystery of the murderer is not resolved in this book.

I enjoy Sabrina's writing very much, that said all the Dukes and sons and stepsons were a little confusing for me. I had to refer to previous books in the Series to keep them straight. Overall this is a great read and I can recommend this book. It can be read as a stand-alone. However, I suggest reading the first two in the series then this one.

Returning to the Dukes Dynasty we’re on another murder mystery with just as much action as the previous books. If anything, I feel like it got amped up a little!

Olivia’s confidence in her skills amazed me given this book is a regency romance and women didn’t have many career choices. And yet she’s not comfortable moving around society like most of the women in regency romances.

Although Thorn is made out to be a bit of an arrogant rake, we know from the first two books that he’s more than he seems. As Olivia and Thorn work together we see more aspects of both their personalities coming out that, usually, complement each other quite well.

Roughly the first half of the book focuses on the romance, then as things escalate it twists into more of a murder mystery that happens to have some romance spattered in. Normally I’d find this change frustrating, but since we’re now three books into the series it’s good to see the wider story develop.

I can’t wait to find out more with Sheridan when the next book comes out next year. I really need to know who did it!

I've been following the Duke Dynasty series since the beginning and the mysteries that tie the books together have had me dying to know what on earth is going on. The investigations continue in this third installment in the series and here we meet yet another one of Lydia Fletcher's ducal offspring (my God, this woman had a thing for dukes).

Overall, Who Wants to Marry a Duke gave me hardcore Pride and Prejudice vibes, but specifically the 2005 film version vibes...which is the highest compliment I think I can give a historical romance. Imagine if Lizzy Bennett was an aspiring chemist who doesn't want to marry with a Mrs. Bennett-esque stepmother that could give Cinderella's Lady Tremaine a run for her money in terms of marital machinations. Then throw in a despairing duke who feels like he just doesn't fit in, even among his brood of ducal siblings, and despises the Marriage Mart and all of its matchmaking mamas.

Add a handful of dead dukes, some possible poisonings, a hint of arson, and a lot of "I'm just following you to keep an eye on you because I don't trust you; it's totally not because I have FEELINGS for you" and you have the roller coaster ride that is Who Wants to Marry a Duke.

A lot of the romance took a backseat to the overarching mystery arc of the series, and the second-chance aspect of the relationship fell a bit flat (I don't know anyone who would fall into instalove again after years of separation and their first interaction being one kiss followed by a thwarted marriage trap that infuriated both parties for different reasons), but overall, I'm a sucker for haughty dukes being laid low by intelligent and enterprising misses.

I liked this book and I'm eager to see what else is in store for this family with an improbable number of dukes.

Bookish Olivia Norley longs to be a scientist, and does not care to be married. When she is caught in a compromising position with the Duke of Thornstock, her mother tries to blackmail him into offering for her. Olivia refuses and her stepmother maligns Thornstocks name, painting him as a rakehell.

Thornstock decides to live up to his reputation. Years later, his brother gets a chemist to exhume their father; to prove that he was poisoned by arsenic, and the chemist is none other than Olivia Norley. Worried about what her investigation will uncover, Thornstock decides to keep a close eye on Olivia, passion erupts and danger begins to hound them, as the murderer wants to keep their tracks covered.

I get excited anytime a new Sabrina Jeffries book pops into my feed! I’ve been waiting for this one. In this series titled, Duke Dynasty, the cast of characters is unconventional and complicated. I think it adds a lot of fun to the backstory. In this third book, Who Wants to Marry a Duke, Marlow Drake, the Duke of Thornstock, runs into Olivia Norley for the second time and a lot of good and bad memories come rushing back to both of them. They definitely had some chemistry, but circumstances (and blackmail) prevented them from getting together.

It’s been nine years since their first run in and during that time, Olivia has been working on her career as a chemist. She has a lot of obstacles in her way, the biggest one being that she is a woman. But she is determined and takes a job offered by the Duke of Greycourt. Greycourt is Thornstock’s half brother, which is the connection that brings Thornstock and Olivia back into each others’ circle. Greycourt hired her to determine if his father had been poisoned by arsenic. This job might just be the one where she makes a name for herself as a chemist.

This book definitely has a lot of mystery and the deaths of previous dukes in this family may all be connected. Someone makes an attempt on Olivia’s life as she is conducting her investigation. The issue of trust is the stumbling block for this couple. It definitely takes a while to earn that trust back. There is a lot of suspense and the danger goes up a few notches in this plot. There is definitely some sizzling chemistry between Thornstock and Olivia. This story is a good addition to a complicated family tapestry and perfect for those readers in the mood for a historical romantic suspense story.

I loved Thorn and Olivia. Everything it took for Thorn to see the woman Olivia was and not the conniving viper he thought.
I highly recommend this series, you will not be disappointed.

Who Wants to Marry a Duke is a beautiful story. I love the characters, Thorn and Olivia.. This story is very well written, and combine love, mystery and fun. I really enjoyed this book, and I am looking forward to reading the next book.

Had some pacing issues but overall thought it was a cute book with some good mystery elements. I think it will be hard to follow for anyone who hasn’t read the previous books in the series

Two great characters are featured in this third book in the Duke Dynasty series. Miss Olivia Norley and Marlowe Drake have a past history when they once again cross paths. Filled with misunderstandings and in Drake's case a secret the romance is off to a very rocky start. In fact it is a stand still. Even so when danger rears it ugly head the two have to work together and a romance gets a fresh start, Good mystery worked into the story line. Look for more about that in future books.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

In general, this is a likable historical romance, but I don't consider this Sabrina Jeffries' best work. It was perfectly good, and a satisfying and entertaining read. My issues are not with her writing style or the story, I just found myself losing patience and I didn't fully connect to Thorn, the male lead.

Thorn had previously thought that Olivia, the female lead, had tried to trap him into marriage by having someone discover they kissing. She did no such think, but in his mind, he couldn't see any other explanation because she must have been looking for a husband. So when he comes across her again, he still has all of these lingering misgivings about her character, and he's still unfairly judging her.

Olivia was not looking for a husband. She wanted to be taken seriously as a scientist. This is how she finds herself once again in Thorn's orbit as the family tries to figure out if Grey's father had been murdered. Once they are back in contact, the romance is hard to put aside, but it takes a lot of patience and fortitude on Olivia's part for them to make progress. And once she becomes a target herself, Thorn realizes that he may have been wrong before.

Sabrina Jeffries books are always enjoyable, though in this particular case I found the hero to be very trying. Perhaps my tastes are changing because he isn’t described as particularly unique, his actions and behaviors fall solidly within the norms of historical romance, but his extreme suspicion and aggression, which was based on nothing but an attraction he would not acknowledge for some reason, was tiring and overblown.

Sadly, while I was entertained, I think this book was a bit of a miss for me. Historical romances are so nice to read when I love the characters and can feel the romance through the pages. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case here and I didn't really like or care about Olivia & Thorn. Our hero wasn't the best and he didn't really make me swoon or anything. I think one of the reasons why I didn't feel the tension was because the two characters already kissed barely after they were introduced and for me in this moment, I think I was a bit disappointed because we didn't have enough time to feel the build-up.

Who wants to marry a Duke follows Olivia, a young girl who doesn't want to marry and prefer to study chemistry. When at one event she ends up being discovered kissing Thorn, he's expected to propose to her especially since Olivia's step-mother blackmails him. He does it reluctantly but when she refuses him to free them both, he acts like a petulant child and gets angry. His reaction was to go enjoy his "ruined reputation" with the ladies (married or unmarried).

When Thorn and side characters investigate their parents' death, Olivia is here to help and figure out if foul-play was involved. That's how the two of them will grow close together after so many years while still staying single. They won't stay single for long but again, it lacked emotion and feelings for me. -> Overall, not my favorite historical romance but I might try another book by this author someday.


(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

It was only as I began reading that I realized that I had somehow missed the second book in this series—The Bachelor—and though I will definitely be rectifying that oversight very soon, Jeffries does a fabulous job of bridging the gap between this story and the first that, except for enjoyments sake, it’s not necessary at all.

Self-contained and yet still alive with its own set of charms, Thorn and Olivia’s romantic part of this mystery laced series is incredibly hard to put down.

Miss Olivia Norley is an aspiring chemist with no use for the frivolous goings-on of society and reminds me a bit of a female and slightly less eccentric Sheldon Cooper (Big Bang Theory) when she first meets the Duke of Thornstock. An innocent encounter inadvertently turns scandalous and much to Olivia’s chagrin, Thorn is forced to propose. It does not, however, mean that Olivia must accept.

Ten years later, a more jaded Thorn is reunited with Olivia in a shared quest to unravel a mystery that only her expertise in chemistry can shed some new light on. Completely suspicious of her motives after their past encounter, Thorn is determined to uncover Olivia’s secrets, while hiding a potentially damaging one his own—if only he can keep his hands off her long enough to do so.

Full of quirky humor, sweet but steamy passion and a murder mystery that becomes more dangerous than anyone could have expected, Thorn and Olivia’s rocky road to finding a love everlasting is nothing short of a treat for the genre and a gift for fans of Ms. Jeffries, in particular.

Who Wants to Marry a Duke is the third book in the Duke Dynasty series by Sabrina Jeffries. The author does a good job of reminding readers what happened in the previous books, but I think I should have read the other books before this one. Just a heads up too that there are unanswered questions at the end of this story. Not a huge cliffhanger situation, but you will want to read the next book.

I enjoyed this book for many reasons, not least being Olivia and the fact that she is a chemist. I can't recall any regency romance where the main female character is tasked with examining parts of an exhumed body! I don't want to go into much detail because I don't want to give spoilers. Suffice to say that this story has danger, intrigue and suspense which is almost palpable! All that and such a perfect budding romance between Olivia and Marlowe Drake, the Duke of Thornstock (Thorn). Their first meeting years ago did not go well and left Thorn with a distinct lack of distrust of her. When he discovers that she is going to play a part in examining his half-brother's father's body he can't believe she knows what she is doing and that she perhaps has other reasons for taking on the task. He might not trust her but another major reason he wants to be where she will be is that he is very much still attracted to her. He doesn't want to be.

I loved watching the couple both try to fight their attraction and even at times when they gave in to their lust neither was willing to admit even to themselves that it could be more than that. Those passionate moments they shared were written so wonderfully, steamy and yet definitely nothing crude or written just to take up the word count. Sabrina Jeffries definitely knows how to write passionate moments that will have you reaching for a fan. Add that to her flair for mystery and you have one awesome book and series which I am happy to recommend. Now I just need to go back and read the books that I have missed!

Who Wants to Marry a Duke is the third book in the Duke Dynasty series. This series follows the children all from marriages to Dukes, from one mother.
This is Thorn's story.
Miss Olivia Norley wants one thing in life, to practice chemistry. She's not like other well brought up misses hoping to snag a husband and raise an heir and a spare. So when offered for, even by a Duke she's not interested. Now years later she's forced to face the past, Marlowe Drake, the Duke of Thornstock to be specific.
Thorn, as he's better known shouldn't still be thinking of Olivia Norely, she should be but a blip in his past. Yet when she is brought in to help uncover whether arsenic is present in the exhumed body of the Duke of Greycourt, Thorn wants to make sure she is up to the task. Of course, the chemistry isn't all in the experiments as Thorn and Olivia have always been combustible. And when things turn dangerous Thorn's first instinct is to protect Olivia. Could he have made a hasty judgement nine years ago?

I did enjoy thr previous books in the series but this one is my least favourite . The chemistry of the characters was not the best and I did have a few parts where I got a little bored. But bthis book was good enough that I kept reading and I still want to read more of the author’s books In the future.

This book was pretty entertaining. Thorne and Olivia are endearing, but perhaps Olivia is more endearing. I enjoy a plucky, smart heroine, and Olivia had that in spades! A quick easy read with all the feels!

I covered this title for Frolic Media. Link attached below. I enjoyed the story very much, I found the heroine a pleasure to read, her intelligence and determination stood out for me. Our hero, in all of his grumpy glory is fun to read as well! The overarching story of murder kept the pages turning at a fast clip, I can't wait to see how all of this is resolved! Well done!

Jeffries’ Duke Dynasty series has one of the best series plots I have ever read. It is rare in this genre to have a murder mystery that readers haven’t solved within chapters. Jeffries’ has kept this mystery going for 3 books, and I still haven’t figured it out.

Unfortunately, the romance doesn’t live up to the previous two books in the series. The heroine is like able enough, but the hero spends so much of the book sulky that it is hard to root for them to get together.