This was a great entry in the Drop Dead Dukes series, it had everything that I wanted from the description. Anna Bradley has a great writing style that had great characters within this universe. It had a great time-period and worked well overall. It left me wanting more in this series and glad I got to read this.

Did avowed rake Jasper truly swindle Pru's father out of a fortune? No matter; the real question is if these two can keep their hands off each other. In Damned if I Duke, the reader is delightfully immersed in discovering Jasper's backstory and whether these two star-crossed lovers will find happiness.

Jasper, a rake, is furious when he has to make a marriage of convenience. Forced by society to marry, Prue just wants to be left alone and to spend her days working with her cousin. Thinking he got a quiet manageable wife, Jasper figures his married life won’t be much different as his single life. Prue will not be managed however. When her cousin is kidnapped they must work together to find him. It is when danger threatens that they realize how much they care for each other. I received an ARC from NetGalley and Zebra for my honest review.

Prue has come to London to find a husband as her beloved father is in debt to Jasper the Duke.
They clash at every meeting as she hopes to blackmail him into forgiving the debt. Jasper has his own trials with a vindictive former mistress. As their contentious relationship evolves, they understand each other and try to make amends but someone is always interfering making life difficult.
Lots of scandalous happenings, an unexpected betrothal, and twists in the story.

This proved to be an immensely entertaining tale of enemies turned lovers. Prue finds herself in a precarious situation as her father accumulates a substantial gambling debt owed to Jasper. Employing a set of alluring and somewhat scandalous jewelry (yes, jewelry, believe it or not) as leverage, Prue attempts to blackmail Jasper. The narrative takes an unexpected turn as they eventually find themselves in a marriage of convenience, and the ensuing dynamics unfold predictably.

Prue, a spirited and rebellious character, captured my affection. What set her apart was her genuine passion for activities like riding, shooting, and fencing—skills instilled in her by her military father. Unlike trends in recent books aiming to portray characters as excessively "fierce," Prue's interests were authentic and intrinsic. It was refreshing to witness her blend of soft-hearted sweetness and unwavering spirit.

Anna Bradley is good at writing ton-centric historical romances that really sell you on the attraction between the main couple as they interact during a series of society events. In this case, Prudence is predisposed to hate Jasper because she believes he essentially swindled her father out of his fortune because Jasper figured her dad was bad at cards. Unfortunately, her friend Francesca's (previous heroine) husband Giles is best friends with Jasper so they keep coming across each other. Cue Prudence's slapdash blackmail attempt that somehow ends with Jasper being shot in an.... indelicate place, and then holy matrimony.

Jasper is a good example of a rake hero. He's a louche aristo-type who has series of meaningless society affairs, he has a natural sex appeal that Prudence is not indifferent even though she hates him (who knew a runaway horse rescue scene could have so much sexual tension?), he has potentially compromising nudes set in pieces of jewelry, etc. etc. Of course in natural rake fashion, he's thoroughly bewildered by his attraction to Prudence, and even more horrified after their marriage when he realizes there are Feelings involved.

Jasper is intent on not falling for Pru and is convinced he'll make a terrible husband, so he attempts to place distance between them after their wedding (it's pretty similar to Julia Quinn's The Viscount Who Loved Me in this way, sans the bee-string death trauma). Meanwhile, Prudence who is an unconventional sporty type and loves to ride and hunt, wants nothing more than to take fencing lessons at a usually all-male establishment. Jasper HATES this, which is why a bet is struck up between them: if he can't seduce her within 10 days, she can attend fencing classes forevermore. This might arguably be the best part of the book just because of how increasingly desperate Jasper gets— man's fully banging on her bedroom door by day two(?). Again, Pru isn't unaffected which is why I'm pretty sure they wordlessly decide oral doesn't count.

Here's the thing about Pru being a sporty gal: it actually has plot ramifications in that a blackmail plot nearly succeeds only because Prudence is uninformed about the hymen/virginity myth while being an enthusiastic horse girl. While I could buy her lack of education to a degree, I didn't super enjoy how much the plot hinged on this one fact.

My final note: If there's one thing a year of reviewing historical romances has taught me to appreciate, it's the sniffers, and Prudence does not disappoint when she sniffed the pillow on the chair Jasper was sitting on not once, not twice, but three times before panic-hurling it away.

The sex:

I enjoy Anna Bradley's sex scenes. She does such a thorough job of building up the tension between the couples so the payoff is always good. The wedding night scene in particular was excellent, and that's in part because Jasper comes with, and I quote, a "defeated groan", (my new favorite phrase) on their wedding night presumably because the pussy was that good and he just lost all willpower. And it only goes downhill from there (downhill for him; uphill for us): Their next encounter, his hands are literally shaking with lust. By the time he's four days into a celibacy streak due to the bet, he gets hard because Prudence touched his arm. It's so great.

Overall:

This is another solid addition to Anna Bradley's Drop Dead Dukes series; it certainly gave me a laugh and also gave me good sex scenes and chemistry between the hero and heroine. I look forward to the next book in the series, which features Jasper and GIles's friend Stoneleigh who is (also) vocally opposed to marriage...

Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

Anna Bradley is one of my favorites and "Damned If I Duke" was a great way to pass an afternoon. Prudence Thorne was raised by an ex-soldier father who taught her to ride and shoot but nothing about feminine arts. Then he went and lost everything in an ill-advised wager with Jasper St. Vincent, Duke of Montford. Montford is one of the BFFs of the husband of Prue's BFF, so she ends up seeing him more than she would like. A drunken encounter leads to a plot of blackmail, which leads to more interactions, which leads to more disasters - and a rising attraction.

The disasters are funny, and the chemistry appealing. The duo end up in a marriage of convenience (somehow even in the face of their mad attraction to one another) and Jasper quickly shows his whole arse as he runs from his feelings. Prudence's unwillingness to be anyone but who she is is admirable and touching. And the pair's eventual HEA is incredibly sweet.

A solid 4 stars. Bring on Grantham! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary ARC of this book. The opinions herein are my own.

Her books are always so good!! Prue is a headstrong woman who isn't looking to get married, until she is. Her life turns upside down when she meets Jasper. It becomes a battle of wills. They can't agree on anything, until they do. Loved this book, until I didn't. JK!! It's great!!

This is an easy 4 stars for me. Loved the two main characters and while the plot was predictable, the writing was fresh and the pace good that I read through in 2-3 sittings. Would read the next in the series too.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley, this doesn't change my opinion in any way.

A fun, slightly spicy romance! I liked the protagonist and the love interest, and it moved at a great pace. I will definitely be reading more books from this author! This was a very fun period romance, and was hard to put down!

I wish I could read this book again for the 1st time. Japer needed Prue to see what being a grown man was all about. He certainly got an education.

This was a really fun enemies to lovers story. Prue's father owes a huge gambling debt to Jasper and Prue is using some scandalous sexy jewelry (yes, jewelry lol) to try to blackmail Jasper. Eventually they enter into a marriage of convenience and well, you can imagine how it goes.
I loved Prue and how much of a hellion she was. However she wasn't just rebellious for the sake of it. She was raised by a military father and so there was a reason for her to have been trained and interested in riding and shooting and fencing and I really liked that these were just genuinely her interests, it wasn't an attempt by the author to make her seem more "fierce" like so many books are doing recently. Prue was still very soft hearted and sweet.

I want to say I've read Bradley before and I've liked her, but I can't recall. I will say this book was passably boring; that is to say I only got 40 percent into it before finally giving up. I realized early on that each scene takes up pages of the book at a time, and the timeline is day by day instead of over time. It's dreadfully boring to read every single step the character's take! Leave SOMETHING for the imagination.
And there is no major conflict...not at the point that I left the book, which was almost halfway. All the characters were nice! There was no villain, except maybe a pissed-off x mistress. But even then..it's nothing.

The sexual tension was meh too. But it was there, just not hot enough for me.

#2 in the Drop Dead Dukes series is a bummer because looking at her website, I did read the first one in this series and I think I liked it so much more than this book.

When FMC is faced with the prospect of marrying the MMC, a Duke, in order to pay back a gambling debt owed by her father, she rebels and instead attempts to blackmail him.

He, of course, turns the tables and they instead find themselves attracted to each other.

While the plot is in no way original, the characters are developed enough to hold the readers attention, and the many side characters are a nice addition.

A simple, enjoyable, quick read, easily finished in an hour.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in return for my honest opinions.

I will read anything Anna Bradley writes so I was so excited to get this ARC. Jasper and Prudence don’t like each other. Well, she doesn’t like him cause her father lost a bet to him and now she has to marry a man she doesn’t love. He thinks she is too smart with her mouth, and those hazel eyes? Too lovely.

This books is enemies to lovers with a whole lotta fun thrown in. I thought this book was great. I was smiling and laughing. Can’t wait for the next one.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC!

Dammed If I Duke is the second book of Drop Dead Dukes series by Anna Bradley.

This book, which can be read as a standalone, is about Jasper St. Vincent, Duke of Montford and Miss Prudence Thorne who are the dear friends of the Duke and Duchess of Basingstoke.

Jasper is the typical young Duke who lost his parents at a young age and even though he’s been raised by his maternal grandfather, still has lots of unresolved emotional issues in his life.

On the other hand, Prue, short for Prudence, can’t stand Jasper since he is part of the reason his dear father is about to lose everything they have, forcing her to find a husband when that’s the last thing she wanted to.

Jasper, and Prue are forced to face their unwanted attraction and the consequences of their decisions.

At the begging the attraction between Jasper and Prue seems somehow forced to me. However, towards the middle you could see the relationship better established with the story. There are lots of funny and hot moments between the main characters. Definitely an enjoyable reading.

really enjoyed this one! it felt a little slow in the beginning with a lot of groundwork being laid for later revealed plot points but it didnt drag in a negative way. i wish there had been a bit more chemistry building between prue and jasper and a little more from the colonel but oberalli enjoyed the book!!!

This was a perfectly good historical romance. Nothing about it really blew me away but I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I found it to be a quick one day read and to be very entertaining. I did feel like some of the actions the characters did were a bit out of no where but they may be because I did not read the first book. Overall a fine book.

I was extremely fortunate to receive an ARC of Damned If I Duke by the incredible amazing Anna Bradley via Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.  Where do I start with the review of this book... it left me speechless and in awe of Ms. Bradley's extraordinary writing. Prudence Thorne is trying her best to find a way to pay back Jasper St. Vincent, the Duke of Montford, a gambling debt owed him by her father. She has the option of marrying a Lord with money, but that particular option to a certain gentleman leaves her in a state of shambles with just the thought of spending the rest of her life with this sanctimonious self-absorbed man. Her stumbling on to.some incriminating and shameful items of this Duke makes her believe she can blackmail him into forgiving her father's debt. Little does she know that it's just not in her to be or do bad, and that the consequences of her actions will lead to the unthinkable. The Duke has no intention of ever marrying because he believes it's not in him to be good or ever love anyone. However, when Prudence attempts to blackmail him, and he learns the reason why, he is tempted to take matters into his own hands and turn the tables. This is a fabulous story of recognizing one's ability to redeem oneself not only for our own self, but also for the people we love.

Damned If I Duke by Anna Bradley was the second book in the Dropped Dead Dukes Series. The novel focused on Prudence and Vincent. Prudence’s father lost a bet with an amount of money that he could not afford, but being a man of his word, he sold everything to pay the price. Vincent didn’t realize that the man he played cards with could not afford to lose money. Once he realized he wanted to get the money back to Prudence’s father through her, but even the best of plans failed.

However, what didn’t fail was that Vincent (even being a Duke) attracted his grandfather’s curiosity about Prudence. The grandfather enjoyed meeting her and decided that they would suit and marry immediately. Vincent can’t not do what his grandfather wants. The problem is they don’t like each other. Guns might have been involved and a sore butt.

What makes the story wonderful is how Vincent and Prudence work through all the struggles in their first days of marriage. There are jealous creatures, spiteful people and secrets to overcome. Damned If I Duke is a fun read by Anna Bradley.