Who Wants to Marry a Duke: A Delightful Historical Regency Romance Book

A bit of an eye-roll in the prologue: At a ball Thorn has just been warned of compromising situations by his older half-brother, Grey, yet he is promptly found in an embrace with a young lady. Fast forward 9 years later, he meets her again, whereby she is to help determine if Grey's father was poisoned. The novel moves along quickly. I did not feel the "science stuff" was too much nor did it slow the story. A bit of mystery with romance and overall an enjoyable read. I read an ARC provided by the publisher via netgalley; the thoughts expressed are my own.

I am enjoying this series so much! Two dukes and the daughter and second son of a duke (all sharing the same mother) who choose their spouses, not because of rank, but because they genuinely love each other (not something ordinarily done during the Regency era). Marlowe Drake, the Duke of Thornstock, and Olivia Norley first met 9 years ago at a party where they ended up in the library kissing (quite innocently, of course) but Miss Norley's stepmother walks in on them and blackmails Thorn into proposing marriage to Olivia, unbeknownst to Olivia. Olivia unwittingly foils her stepmother's plan by refusing to accept his proposal. Now, 9 years later, they meet again when his stepbrother, the Duke of Greycourt, hires her for her chemistry skills. She has decided she will be a spinster because no man would allow her to continue practicing her chemistry and she enjoys it far and above anything else. Once they renew their acquaintance, they come to realize that they are well suited and he, again, proposes to her. This time she accepts; but Thorn has a secret that Olivia will discover on her own and, feeling betrayed by the one person she thought knew and loved her for herself, she runs home to lick her wounds. I believe this book could be read as a stand alone, but there is a second story line that runs through the series, so it would be much more enjoyable if you have read Project Duchess and The Bachelor before you read this book. I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Miss Olivia Norley loves chemistry and would be perfectly content to spend her life in a lab instead of attending all of these balls to please her stepmother. When Olivia runs into Marlowe "Thorn" Drake, the Duke of Thornstock the chemistry really heats up and these two get caught in a compromising position. Thorn does the proper thing and makes an offer of marriage for Olivia. To his surprise she turns him down! Nine years later Thorn's half-brother, Grey hires Olivia to conduct some experiments to determine if Grey's father was poisoned with arsenic. Thorn doesn't trust Olivia so he decides to tag along. Of course the more time Thorn and Olivia spend together, the more their feelings continue to grow. When it becomes obvious that someone does not want Olivia to conduct her experiments, Thorn is determined to protect the woman he has grown to love. Now he just needs to let her in on a little secret he has been keeping which may just change they way she feels about him. Just when it looks like a happy ending for Thorn and Olivia.....everything blows up in their faces. It will take a lot of soul searching for these two to find their hearts but in the end it was all worth it. I just adored Olivia. Anytime there is a sassy, intelligent female in a Regency historical romance she usually ends up running the show! Olivia knows that she doesn't need a man in her life, but she certainly didn't mind having Thorn around! ;) I really enjoyed Thorn too. He was a typical alpha male but was still fun and witty. I really enjoyed their story and can't wait to find out the conclusion of the mystery as to who killed all of the dukes