This was a cute book. I enjoyed reading it, even though the plot was very cut and dry for something of this genre.

The story follows Jon, the new Duke of Falconridge, who finally returns home after 11 years of being a prisoner of war during the Napoleonic Wars. He finds out his father and two elder brothers who succeeded him have passed, and he now carries the burden of being Duke. In the midst of this, we are introduced to Victoria, or Tori, who is governess to Jon’s younger sister Chloe. Jon is lowkey traumatized from his years at prison, where he was accompanied by Chloe’s father, his tutor. To make amends for circumstances that happened at the prison and the internal guilt he feels, he makes up a dowry to give Tori for a chance to marry into good standing, but she is unwilling to accept the money as she doesn’t want to be married… she wants to open an art school. And thus the romance begins.

I thought this book was super cute with a few spice my scenes sprinkled through, although they weren’t super intense. It is written pretty well but some of the characters have some cringy dialogue sometimes lol. It was written in dual pov, but I feel like there wasn’t enough yearning or tension for me to be OBSESSED with it… it was a bit too instalove/lust and the 4th act brake up was very expected and unnecessary.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first NetGalley historical romance, and it was almost entirely enjoyable. I really liked the different angle of focus on the Napoleonic wars. I had never heard of the detenus and civilian prisoners, including nobles like Jon. It was both easier and harder to read about his PTSD struggles without having fought in the war. He hadn't been trained or aware of the dire situation he faced as a decade-long prisoner. I thought the novel gave a good amount of focus to reentering society and taking up ducal duties as a younger son never expected to inherit. Jon has quite a bit of emotional baggage while relearning how to be a lord, son, and brother.

As for Victoria, I thought she was a great character for the independence-minded heroine that authors like Liana de la Rosa and Diana Biller have introduced. She has the education of a highborn lady, but the freedom given to an orphaned young woman working as a companion/governess. Her devotion to family and her artistic pursuits were relatable and refreshing.

I thought our lead couple's romance was well-paced and quite steamy. I would say there were 3-4 truly spicy scenes in multiple non-traditional locales, which was delightful. I liked that Tory had some knowledge of The Marriage Duty (from her mother), but also that she asked questions and Jon talked her through the acts. Much better than how the Bridgerton men got things going, IYKYK.

Finally, a few things I didn't like. There were too many ellipses during Jon and Tory's intimate moments. I get what the author was going for, but it read more like fanfiction than professional novel dialogue. Also, Tory as a nickname raised the historical Tiffany problem for me. Not least that Tory became a real British policial party not soon after this time period.

I would read the next book in the series and follow the further developments of Jon and his friends as they emotionally recover from their detenu time in France.

The Napoleonic war is over and Jon has returned home from the French prison he's been in to find that rather than being a Duke's third son, he is a duke, and his sister's governess, Tory, is the daughter of his mentor who died in France. Jon is committed to finding Tory a suitable husband, even if she doesn't want to wed and he finds himself drawn to her.

I've never read a book about detenus before. I thought the history of this book was really interesting about Jon experience in France and his adjustment back into English society. There was so much going on with that, as well as Tory's backstory, that sometimes the characters and their romance felt a little flat to me, but overall I really enjoyed learning about this part of history, and I appreciated the author's note at the end with more resources to learn about detenus.

I normally love Sabrina Jeffries but the MMC really wasn’t for me. Too much angst and the intrigue wasn’t very compelling. Despite that I will still probably read her books as soon as I can when they come out!

Hazardous to a Dukes Heart is the first in a new series by Sabrina Jeffries, centered around a group of friends who bonded as "détenus" during the Napoleonic Wars of the early 1800s. As the book opens, Jon Leighton is at his mentor Dr. Morris's bedside, as he is dying from an infected wound he received while trying to escape from the detention camp with Jon and his friends. Jon is tasked with returning to England and helping Morris's daughter Victoria make a good marital match. Upon his return Jon finds that he is the duke of his family's estate after his father and 2 older brothers have died, and Tory (Victoria) is his sister's governess. Tory is resistant to his attempts to convince her to marry, with undisclosed reasons why she will never marry. All of this sets up a classic Regency romance novel.
I have previously very much enjoyed Sabrina Jeffries books and was excited to read this one as well. The entry in history about détenus is not something I was familiar with, and I honestly would have enjoyed learning more about Jon's time in the detention camp and prison in France, beyond the brief flashbacks we are given. With regards to the romance between Jon and Tory, we are told they are instantly attracted to each other and of course have to work through their mutual issues before finding their happily ever after, but for me, their portrayal lacked the characteristic chemistry and tension I was expecting in this type of book. The book itself if very short, and the third act break up felt lacking and could have been developed and dragged out a bit more. It almost felt too easily resolved. Overall, I did find the book enjoyable and will certainly pick up the future entries in the series.
Thank you to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

The war in France has ended, Jon’s mentor died, and he returns home to find out he has inherited a dukedom. His sister has a governess, Victoria, and he is smitten at first sight. Victoria is his mentor’s daughter and Jon agreed to find her a husband. Jon’s brothers had been managing his estate and left it a mess, so Jon has his work cut out for him. Victoria has no plans to marry and wants to use her dowry for a woman’s art school. Victoria and Jon have secrets to keep which adds a lot to the story. I loved how Jon tried to ignore his feelings for Victoria and how they managed their concern for each other. Jon’s desires to help those in his estate was admirable. Great love story

This was a fun and entertaining read for me! I enjoyed the added elements of history surrounding the imprisonment of Englishmen during the Napoleonic wars as well as development of women artists in England. As a special educator, I was intrigued by the added plot element of a child with disabilities and the general attitudes around children with these challenges in historical times. The interwoven history made this book captivating and I completely bought into the romantic plot as well. I am eagerly awaiting the next installment so I can have my questions answered about the betrayal and read about the love stories hinted at during the end of the book. I would recommend this book to my friends as an enjoyable novel with historical and romantic elements.

This is a fun read! I certainly had no idea that British citizens were being held by the French so that was a fun twist!

The idea that a person could come back in that day and age without really any communication, social media etc is wild to think about! A fun read/clean romance.

This was a very engaging and well written historical romance that was set in the time of Napoleans defeat. It is full of so many interesting and entertaining plot twists, emotional issues, intrigue, and mystery that kept me very entertained. I enjoyed the characters and how determined, selfless, strong-willed, and likable they wete. The wit and passion and such a beautiful love and happiness were perfect. I highly recommend reading!

This is an inspiring story of loyalty, love, friendship, and new beginnings.
Jon and Tory have an instant attraction, but they each have secrets that are keeping them apart. But, when everything is revealed it seems that love can truly conquer all!
Truly enjoyable story for all who love a good historical fiction romance. Looking forward to more.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to like this so much. Jon being a prisoner of war is something I haven’t read before in historical romance, and I was excited to see how that would change the story. Unfortunately, it didn’t bring a lot of interest to the novel. I was bored for a lot of this book, and I found who I assume are the MMC’s of the next books in the series to be more exciting. I do look forward to the next books in the series, and I think this is a good place to start.

What a thrilling story! I could not put this book down!! I loved hearing from both Jon and Tory’s perspectives. While I found Tory very relatable, I found Jon somewhat unbelievable. The storyline was fantastic. I love how Jeffries kept certain things from the readers, only to reveal them just in time. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for my ARC. I love this author and was excited to see she had written the start of a new series. The story kept me engaged enough to finish. However, I never could feel fully immersed and invested in the plot and the romance between the main characters. I loved the premise of the book, but some of the romance just did not feel believable to me. I felt some of the intimate scenes were a bit too much and unnecessary. I did love the some of the supporting characters, so I plan to read the next book in this series.

This book was a perfect combination of history, and romance. The situation of the détenus in France is something vaguely mentioned in other historical fiction books. As a reader you get the wounded soldiers, the diplomats, etc. but not much about the civilians retained in France for so many years that were not able to leave the country and were severely separated from their families, ruined and tortured, if the French person in charge felt like it. They were the collateral damage, not important enough to be negotiated by England in the middle of a war.

Lord Jonathan Leighton has been forced to stay away from his family for many years in France while the war against Napoleon was happening. The horrors lived there is something that shaped him and also every decision he made while trying to escape, leaving traumatic consequences that followed him even after his return. The guilt of something he had no control of, but believed to be responsible for, would almost threaten to make his forever a perpetual misery.

Victoria Morris’ father was hired to guide Lord Jonathan Leighton during his grand-tour in order to make the youngest son of the Duke of Falconridge behave exemplary by correcting his foolish conduct. After Dr. Morris was being detained in France for so many years with his pupil, his family was left in dire situation, finally forcing Victoria to accept the job as a governess for Lord Jonathan’s sister. That’s the situation Jonathan encounters upon his return. His life after that is surrounded by mystery and secrets he needs to discover in order to free his tormented soul and maybe find the HEA he doesn’t believe he deserves.

The plot’s main mystery is left unresolved probably for Jonathan’s best friend and comrades to discover some of it in their own stories following in this series. That´s is a cliff hanger that you may not appreciate depending on you reading preferences.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. This is my voluntary and honest review.

This book was filled with history and intrigue, It kept me on the edge of my seat wondering how our protagonists could find their HEA amidst the horrors of wartime. Our hero is a bit difficult to assess. Jon was a captive among many Englishmen who endured horrible conditions as prisoners in France for years. Upon returning to England, he is on a quest to mitigate some of his feelings of responsibility for his mentor's suffering and death by helping the man's daughter. It is a fine line between the best intentions and the need to withhold all of the facts. His penance comes in falling in love with her even though her heart is still so connected to those suffering in France. He wants to steer clear of anything to do with the war cause and she is heartsick and wanting to be of service. Therein lies the challenge for them and for the reader to come to terms with imperfections in the human character. Will love conquer all?

Wanted to love this - Napoleon era sounded so promising! But the romance felt pretty generic. Great historical premise that never really took off. Wish the author had dug deeper into the fascinating detenue context instead of just using it as a backdrop.
Interesting idea, meh execution. ★☆☆☆☆

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for an ARC of this book. All opinions are honestly and my own.

I’ve been reading historical romances, including novels by Sabrina Jeffries, since I was in 8th grade.

And for reference, I am 36 years old now… so I’ve been an avid fan of the genre (and this author) for a LONG time.

I loved the premise of this book. I have read books set in the Napoleonic time period before, but I didn’t know much about the detenus. I thought this was a great concept for our cast of characters.

I also really loved the FMC in this book. Tory is smart, loyal, and passionate.

However, I didn’t love the MMC (Jon) who came across as quite staid.

The dialogue, especially during the intimate scenes, also came across very forced.

We were also promised that the characters would be thrust into danger, and unfortunately I felt like this didn’t live up to that promise. I love a looming villain or danger to keep the plot moving in a romance book.

Overall, while I was so excited to read this book, it didn’t have quite the same pizazz as her previous books.

However, some of the side characters were extremely interesting, especially Scovell, so I am looking forward to reading the upcoming books in the series.

SUGGESTED SNACK PAIRING: plum cake

Triggers: sexual content, injury detail, death, birth trauma, sexual assault, imprisonment, PTSD, stalking

There is nothing wrong with a classic regency romance! In these types of stories a lot of half truths and miscommunication can become tiresome but I think the author gave a good amount of detail to keep the reader intrigued as to what was coming next. There was defiantly a lot of “Will they? Won’t they?” throughout the book. Our main characters were both keeping secrets from one another that eventually came out which was done in a satisfying way. I was not expecting the spice to be as hottt which was a pleasure surprise!!! Overall very good read!

Hazardous to a Duke’s Heart is the first book in Sabrina Jeffries’ Lords of Hazard series.

Lord Jonathan has been away from England for over a decade, having been detained in France during the Napoleonic Wars. He returns home to find he has inherited a dukedom. He is also grieving the death of his tutor and friend, having lost him just before being free to leave France. He is determined to do right by his tutor’s daughter. He’s surprised to learn she has been governess to his sister. Victoria has some secrets of her own and is also an artist. She wants to set up her own art school, however Jon is determined to follow through on the promise he made to her father and help her marry.

This book captured my attention from the very beginning. I liked the initial setup of the book (and series, I imagine) and the characters were great.

I’ve read a fair amount of regency romance books, but this is the first I’ve read that include the détenus, British citizens who were in France when Napoleon came to power and were forced to remain in France, some for many years. What a fascinating time in history, not to mention the perfect setting for our returning hero.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for making this book available. All opinions are my own.

I thought I was picking a clean regency romance to read, but I wasn't! This book has a good plot, but there are several holes and parts of the story that didn't match up to me. The characters started to get interesting but then they fell flat. The intimate scenes were awkward and didn't fit the story, the characters or the time period. The graphic sexual scenes really ruined the book for me. I will not be reading any more books by this author.

Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the advanced reading copy of this book.