I liked the concept of the story but ultimately it just ended being another historical romance with the main characters having the usual traits.

A Duke For Diana is the 1st book in Sabrina Jeffries's Designing Debutantes series. Jeffries has a uniquely engaging style of writing which pulls the reader into the book instantly. I have read her School for Heiresses series, a few books in the Hellions of Halstead Hall series and enjoyed them immensely, so much so that she is one of my favourite authors of the historical romance genre.

I had such high hopes for 'A Duke for Diana' but the book managed to live upto my expectations only to a certain extent. The book contains all the familiar tropes of story lines she likes to use. The plot is good, the characters are all interesting enough and the story telling is crisp as always; however the story does not contain that engaging factor which Jeffries's book usually contains.

The book begins with three sisters Eliza, Diana and Verity, deciding to make a business out of helping aristocratic families with their parties, balls and every other thing people of that station ought to have a knowledge of, but don't, due to extenuating circumstances. This leads them to the newly minted Duke of Greenwood, Geoffrey, looking for help with his sister Rosy's debut into society and all aspects pertaining to it.

Diana and Geoffrey find themselves dancing around one another, both of them attracted to the other, but neither of them willing to think in terms of marriage, owing to their personal experiences. The story takes us through their reasons and tells if they manage to overcome their misgivings.

To be fair, their reasons are legitimate and reasonable. And serious enough for them to be real obstacles to their relationship. However, for some reason, I just couldn't completely connect with their troubles and definitely didn't feel the urge to root for their relationship.

Diana is a fairly likeable character. She is quite independent, knows her mind and is strong; she does have some flaws but they only make her more human and not very unattractive. Geoffrey's character, however, didn't impress me particularly. His virtues are not as great for them to outshine his flaws; in fact, he can be fairly irritating at times. And in spite of the rather hot intimate scenes between them, I just didn't feel the spark between them. Like I previously mentioned, it might just be the way characters have been written or the plot might not have been laid out in an engaging manner - atleast definitely not to the extent I was hoping they might be.

I usually love Jeffries's books, but I can just say that I only like this book and not love it. I, however, definitely recommend this book if you want something light and enjoyable, with just the right amount of intimacy.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review. And all opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

This was a really interesting historical romance. Rather unconventional and fantastical, but I overall really enjoyed it.

Pros: Banter, strong female characters, potential for subsequent stories in the series to be even better.

Cons: hero isn’t very heroish… just a normal bloke which sometimes is okay but not why I read these, heroine is sort of boring for such a strong character. I’m making this sound worse than it is I think. It was good, but had the potential to be really good!

Verity’s story is the one I’m interested in reading. That mystery man has me intrigued.

I love this author and her previous work but I found it really difficult to finish this book. It read really slow and I almost gave up on it before I finished it. I thought the characters of Diana and Geoffrey were interesting but there was something that was off in their chemistry. It made the book a bit boring and not one that I can recommend. I would suggest skipping this one. This was the first book in the new Designing Debutantes series.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review*

Diana Harper and her sisters run a business called Elegant Occasions which helps Debutant become very eligible. Geoffrey Brookhouse inherits a dukedom and hires Diana and her sisters to help his sister with her eligibility. I love Sabrina Jeffries's writing all of her stories are good. This one is right up there with all of her other ones. I just reviewed A Duke for Diana by Sabrina Jeffries. #ADukeforDiana #NetGalley
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I really enjoyed this book. The author created really likeable characters put together by somewhat unusual circumstances for this particular genre. Choosing to start a business to help prepare young debutantes for their presentation to the ton, Diana and her sisters are off the market themselves due to continuous scandal brought about by their mostly unlikeable parents who did the unthinkable for the time and got a divorce after a lengthy love/hate relationship. Yes, grasp your pearls, you read that correctly. Resigned to live closer to the edge of acceptable society, they form Elegant Occasions, bringing the delicious Geoffrey Brookhouse, the Duke of Grenwood, to their door. Newly titled and having no idea of fashionable London society himself due to being an untitled engineer who never expected to have the peerage thrust upon him, Geoffrey employs Diana and her sisters to help his younger sister make a perfect match and entry into polite society. And to keep things spicy, he hopes this is done before his own dark secrets have a chance to ruin any chance his sister has for a good marriage.

The story was written well, was entertaining and had just the right amount of chemistry and steam to keep me turning the pages. I thought the romance and dialogue was more on the more formal side but I enjoyed this as it made it more realistic when combined with Diana and the Duke's desire for stolen, intimate moments. Geoffrey was a pretty grumpy hero and certainly not as shiny as the usual titled heroes. Combined with Diana's sensible nature, I really enjoyed their relationship and how they complemented each other. There was a bit of repetition relating to the scandals covered in the book for both main characters, but this wasn't a massive issue. I'd definitely continue on to Book 2 when it's released as I really liked this author's style. Oh, and the cover is just gorgeous.

A lovely new series from Sabrina Jeffries. Diana and her sisters run a business helping the ton navigate events. They do this after a scandal left them with the need to be independent. Geoffrey is a duke, but never imagined he would be. He is really an engineer and prefers the simple life to being a duke, but is determined to help his sister make a good marriage so he hires Diana and her sisters.

I love Diana - Geoffrey is an acquired taste. He is rather crude for a duke, but is trying to find a way to fit in both worlds. The romance was a slower burn than I’m used to for a Jeffries book, but sweet nonetheless. I am definitely excited for future books in the series, including finding out who the mystery man showing up at events is!

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy via NetGalley. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Not your typical society characters, but totally delightful. I actually prefer characters that are not the usual lords and ladies and the ones presented here are anything but usual. Although they are true ladies, daughters of an earl, their mother unfortunately, mired them in scandal by running off with her lover. The sisters decided not to live until their father's thumb and have established a very successful business, Elegant Occasions. Oh no! They work! Geoffrey Brookhouse has newly came into his dukedom, a title that he never expected nor was prepared to received. However, he is a talented, much in demand engineer. Oh no! He works, too! Lady Diana and her sisters are hired by the duke to help launch his sister, Rosabel. Although, I really loved the characters in this book, Rosy was my favorite. She is as spunky as they come, and a lot more aware than most young ladies of the era. Diana and Geoffrey are a bit oil and water at first, but that soon changes. What is the secret Geoffrey refuses to share with his family? With Diana? And how well it affect their lives? I am looking forward to reading more in this series. Very enjoyable read.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. It pains me to say this but A Duke for Diana was the first book by Sabrina Jeffries I had a hard time finishing. The story lagged, the whole "oh if people learn my deep dark secret (that was neither deep nor dark) we'll all be ruined" did not work and gracious, I did not need to know that much about dresses and fabrics. I mean, it's good when authors do their research but we don't need to know all of it. All in all not badly written, just a bit boring.

Geoffrey Brookhouse has worked hard to become a successful civil engineer, but he doesn’t quite know what to make of the dukedom he’s just inherited. He’s also inherited bigger problems than the title Duke of Grenwood, namely a secret that could potentially destroy his family. To mitigate the potential for damage, he hopes to see his shy sister married to a proper, preferably titled, gentleman, the sooner the better. As London gears up for the Season, Geoffrey seeks the help of Elegant Occasions to organize her debut. Fashion focused Lady Diana Harper is not at all what the duke expected, but she is working wonders at bringing his sister out of her shell. Geoffrey isn’t prepared for how successful they seem to be, receiving social invitations along with Diana’s efforts to turn him into a proper duke, when he’s more interested in getting to know her on a more intimate level.

Diana is perplexed by the slightly unkempt new duke, but she won’t let his lack of societal savvy jeopardize his sister’s season. Diana can’t help wanting to get a rise out of Geoffrey anytime their paths cross, but even his societal faux pas are somehow endearing to her, and it turns out they may have more in common than either expects.

I really liked this premise, this idea of three sisters working together to make their way in the world in an original and unconventional manner, thumbing their noses at a society that has spurned them for a scandal not of their making. However, Diana doesn’t really do this. She talks a good game when it comes to picking and choosing who to associate with and not being bothered by societal cuts, but really, she’s incredibly aware of appearances and is a high stickler for following all of society’s dictates. I think a lot of the time she was also pretty unfair to Geoffrey. He’s dealing with an unexpected inheritance that completely changes his life and has settled him with a lot of debts and she starts off being judgmental of him from the start and critical of him for wanting to be careful about spending too much money. He’s just trying to be sensible and deal with things he’s clueless about and she comes off as haughty and bossy. I was glad to see Diana’s younger sister was willing to stand up to her and make her reevaluate sometimes, but a lot of the time the two sisters were also just very nosy and their incessant need to butt in too away from a romance that was already struggling to feel realized. I also questioned their sisterly bond when Diana worried about the possibility of one of her sisters tattling to their father if her changing feelings for the duke were known. I would rather have seen her confiding in them than her having to hide things from them and only telling them things when they harangued her to no end about it. I don’t have sisters myself, but if this is how it is and it means you have no privacy for your feelings then I’m kind of glad I don’t. Along these lines, Geoffrey’s younger sister was also quite vapid, which I think was intended, but I wish Diana had realized this more, instead of always criticizing Geoffrey for trying to take care of his sister.

I guess my main issue here was just with Geoffrey feeling a bit flat at times and Diana’s character hopping all over the place when it came to her feelings about marriage and her treatment of Geoffrey. In fairness, he was utterly clueless, and he kept secrets for way too long instead of trying to solve his problems as a team, though he did have a lot to be getting on with all at once and he at least did eventually realize he had friends and didn’t have to do everything all alone. Diana just annoyed me with her tendency to jump to conclusions. There are a couple of instances in which she does not allow Geoffrey any opportunity to explain himself, which she acknowledges, but she ignores her own culpability in this spat and remains angry with him anyway. In fact, there are several times where she chalks up something he said without fully thinking it through as him deliberately misleading her and never gives him an opportunity to explain. I just wanted more mature communication instead of this little tantrum. I was also super annoyed with her when she became angry with Geoffrey for mentioning marriage after their physical relationship progressed. She’d been teaching him all the nuances of society’s rules and he was just trying to follow that, and she couldn’t fathom why he might think she’d expect marriage from him. Then in the next chapter she’s back to berating him for ignoring society’s rules. This sort of behavior just made her seem wishy-washy and out of touch with reality, especially when she tried to say that her responsibilities running a thriving business with her beloved sisters was somehow equivalent to Geoffrey’s trying to right a flailing dukedom he’s just inherited, look out for his mother and sister, deal with debts he didn’t incur, and run his engineering firm. This just made her seem ludicrous and, though Geoffrey was by no means faultless, made me feel kind of bad for him.

Diana was charmingly uptight at first, but she did grate on me after a while. She kept wanting Geoffrey to confide in her, but then when he finally started trying to, she threw it back in his face without even seeming to realize what he was doing. She just went from being unreasonable to using sound logic then back to going off the deep end with nonsensical anger at Geoffrey and made it difficult to get a read on her. Their relationship seemed a bit flat just because it was bogged down by Geoffrey’s secret and all this erratic behavior and lack of communication. It made it hard to know where things stood with this couple, and yet as I was reading, I just kept wanting them to get together already and have a meaningful, uninterrupted conversation. They eventually realized they belonged together despite all this, and I was happy for that. I did enjoy the ending scenes and I liked this setup so I will still be looking for Eliza’s book. Even though I had some mixed feelings on this one, it was still a solid story with a unique premise.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It’s a fantastic start to a new series that I can’t wait to continue.

Geoffrey Brookhouse knows a lot about designing and building bridges, and less so about being a duke. Out of his depth and desperate to secure a respectable marriage for his sister before his family’s secret causes a major scandal, he hires the lovely ladies from Elegant Occasions to help launch his sister into society.

I found the origin story for Elegant Occasions interesting, and it painted a picture of three resourceful and strong women who stood by each other when they had to reinvent themselves. Verity stole every scene that she was in and I’m very much looking forward to reading her story.

Diana constantly challenged Geoffrey to be better and to do better. The private moments between them felt so intimate, like they were in a bubble while everything else went on around them. It’s like a story within the story and a bit removed from the other parts of their lives.

The scandal was a bit iffy in my opinion, it’s possible to blow it full of holes if you really wanted to.
Overall, I quite enjoyed A Duke for Diana. The writing is compelling and I really wanted Diana and Geoffrey to succeed. I can definitely recommend this is if you like historical romance with a good dose of hotness. It’s the first book in the new Designing Debutantes series.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to her parents scandalous marriage and subsequent divorce, Lady Diana Haper and her sisters (Lady Verity and Lady Eliza aka Mrs. Pierce) are all but shunned by the ton. Thankfully her older sister Eliza married before their mother ran off with her lover and was able to sponsor her sisters. But their marital prospects are practically nil and when they get the opportunity to help the Countess of Sinclair plan a ball, the idea to start their own business blooms, and when their brother-in-law leaves to fight in the war and Eliza is widowed, they move in with her and Elegant Occasions becomes reality.

Geoffrey Brookhouse, the new (and unexpected) Duke of Grenwood arrives in town intending to marry his sister, Rosabel, off as quickly as possible, to protect her from the scandal that is sure to break if anyone ever finds out his secrets. The problem is, that neither Geoffrey nor his mother knows anyone in London or knows anything about “high society” and so he has hired Elegant Occasions to plan his sister’s debut. Geoffrey is not sure what he expected, but it certainly wasn’t an immediate attraction to Lady Diana, especially since he is not in a position to marry himself at this time.

Diana has never met anyone who affected her the way Geoffrey does, she has given up on marriage because she believes she is cold, but after meeting Geoffrey, she decides that it might be time to find out if she really is cold and sets out to seduce him – for research purposes – too bad Geoffrey is thinking marriage (just not right now) and resists “ruining” her. Can Diana figure out Geoffrey’s secret and find a solution or are they doomed to be star-crossed lovers?

This was an interesting book, which was, as always, well written and paced nicely, but it was a bit blander than the typical Sabrina Jeffries story which resulted in what I would call a “gentle read”. The book has great characters, scandal, secrets, low angst, interesting historical tidbits, a great setup for the rest of the series with wonderful secondary characters, and finally a HEA complete with an epilogue. I enjoyed this book and am already looking forward to Eliza’s story!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*

A Duke for Diana is the first book in Jeffries's new historical romance series - Designing Debutantes, which is based around three sisters who, after finding themselves in difficult situation due to no mistake of their own, decide to take their futures in their own hands and start the party planning enterprise under the name Elegant Occasions.

Book 1 focuses on Diana, the middle sister, who is putting her knowledge of fashion and good taste in effect by helping other ladies find the perfect garments.
Geoffrey Brookhouse is a self-made man who unexpectedly inherits a dukedom. He is hoping to marry off his sister and secure her future before the secret that may ruin his family comes to light. In that, he needs the help of an expert, that is of Elegant Occasions and the company's fashion expert. He is intrigued by Diana, and she doesn't know what to make of the man who is everything opposite of what a society person should be. Soon these two will realize that they are not that different after all...

This book definitely made me think of how I should read more of Sabrina Jeffries! I love her humor, and the fun way in which she weaves the plot and the characters. This novel is a good start to the new series, it has an interesting concept and I'm looking forward to seeing where it will go with the next books!

I have to say though, I had a difficult time connecting with the characters, especially the heroine. She didn't seem consistent through the story with how she was presented at the beginning, and I don’t mean it in a way that she grew as a character, actually it's the opposite. It's just confusing and I don’t get the idea what the author wanted to do with her character.

Overall it's an enjoyable read, with the interesting concept of sisters starting their business to get out of a bad situation being a big refreshing plus. That said, it's more of a 3 than 4 star read!

I voluntarily received a copy of a Duke For Diana via NetGalley and thanks to TLC Tours. All opinions are my own.

This is the first book of a new series called the Designing Debutantes following three sisters who after being victims of a horrible scandal find a new purpose in life running a business.

Diana thinks she'll never marry especially after her parents scandal but when an Engineer turned Duke, Geoffrey, shows up at their door with his sister and mother in tow outside visiting hours her outlook begins to change. Especially as she chastises him for swearing and his poor fashion... and then his delectible lips touch hers and they are both goners.

Despite a potential looming scandal this is a sweet low angst way to start a new series. The relationship goes from friends to lovers and despite terrible communication they find themselves easily back together.

Jeffries also does a lovely job laying potential ground work for the next books! Definitely curious what the sisters stories will entail.

Sabrina Jeffries is one of the best historical Romance writers and if you haven't read her yet you are certainly missing out.

I enjoyed reading this book. I love a gruff, rough around the edges hero and it's even better when they are a Duke. I don't know why but there is something about Dukes that I can't resist.

This is a great book to lose yourself in.
I received an arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Self-made man, Geoffrey Brookhouse, is new to the Duchy and as he and his family hadn’t been brought up in high society, he decides to find someone who can help him. Elegant Occasions, a party planning enterprise, was created by 3 sisters to help people navigate the treacherous waters of balls, debuts and fashion. Lady Diana Harper is used to scandal and knows how to deal with it, between her and her sisters they have it covered. The new Duke decides this is who will help his sister come out into society and find an appropriate husband. Little does he realise that he will get more than he bargained for in Lady Diana…

Having read lots of good things about Sabrina Jefferies I was very excited to read this book, and I did enjoy it. I just didn’t LOVE it, I felt there was something missing for me and I can’t quite put my finger on what it actually was. Maybe it was the fact that Jefferies is so highly rated in the world of historical romance that I just felt a bit let down.

*I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

What a Delight this book is! I loved this story from start to finish The characters were likable and charming and the storyline fresh and different. Our heroine, Diana , and her sisters are daughters of an Earl, but the sins of their parents make them outcasts of society. The clever ladies take lemons and make lemonade when they develop a lucrative Company of their own catering to the very elite of the ton called “Elegant Occasions”. Their business provides all the services of preparing a debutante for her come out followed by putting on the events themselves. That’s where Diana meets her Duke, Geoffrey! He’s so unpolished and new to his title that the refined Diana must take him on as well as his sister ‘s preparations. The developing relationship and romance between the couple is so sweet and the dialogue and banter sassy and fun. Well done!

After Lady Diana Harper and her two sisters suffer the effects of the scandal caused by their parents and are shunned the London ton, they decide to band together and form Elegant Occasions are party planning enterprise aimed at helping debutantes through a London season. Their efforts prove to be a success and Lady Diana resigns herself to becoming a spinster, seeing no hope that any presentable society gentleman would ask for her hand. But then Geoffrey Brookhouse, a commoner, middleclass tradesman inherits a dukedom. Geoffrey has never worried about appearing proper in society but he realizes his sister must marry well in order to protect her and their mother from a potential scandal that may arise from their father's death. Knowing he needs help he hires Elegant Occasions to perform makeovers for his mother and sister and to quide her through first London Season. Sparks begin to fly immediately between prim and proper Lady Diana and the very nproper Duke Geoffre. Diana decides Geoffrey needs a makeover and lessons on how to behave in olite society himself and she finds herself, much to her surprise very willing to be his teacher.
I enjoyed this book. It was easy to read, it is a very light read, the characters interact well with each other and fit the roles they are cast in. But if you are looking for a deeper meaning or complex situations this might not be one for you. It is very light, one-dimensional even, but it is entertaining and a quick fast-paced read.
I am looking forward to the next installment in the series.
I would like to thank the publishers at Kensington Books and Net Galley for the free ARC, I am leaving my honest review in return.

Wonderful read! Humor, drama, polite society scandal, tension, and dark secrets will keep you engaged in this story. Lady Diana and her sisters because of family scandal were outcasts of society but chose open a business to support themselves by planning social occasions for the society. Their services bring the Duke of Glenwood, Geoffrey to them because he wished to find his sister a suitable marriage. Between their warring stubbornness and underlying sexual tension the sparks fly Geoffrey and Diana's story is a fun delightful read.

After watching her parents destroy each other and their marriage publicly, Diana has little desire to marry and little ability to find a husband with the shame her parents divorce has brought to their family. She and her sisters start a business helping the Ton with their parties and events throughout the season. Diana had settled into her spinster life with her sisters when Geoffrey stumbles into her life and, for the first time, made her want things she never had before.

Geoffrey has been dealt a hard hand; his father died, he was thrust in to a Dukedom, and he has to take care of his sister and mother. He decides the best way to protect his sister from her father's sudden death is to take her to London and get her married to a gentleman. He seeks out the ladies at Elegant Occasions to help since he hasn't a clue what to do. Geoffrey is grumpy with the stress and pressure he is under, but Diana is now cowed and pushed back at him.

This book was a fun read and it felt different from a lot of historical romances I've read. I'm sure the plot is not anything new, but the way it read was refreshing and exciting. The secondary characters were fantastic and I can't wait to read their love stories.

Tropes
Historical Romances, Regency Era, Season/Marriage Mart, Ton Society, Beta Hero, Titled Hero, Bluestocking Heroine, Independent Heroine, Virgin Heroine, Working Heroine, Carriage Steam, Desk Steam, Slow Burn, Instant Attraction, Workplace Romance, Sudden Nobility/Rags to Riches,