PROJECT DUCHESS

After his stepfather’s death, a duke with complicated family ties must face his difficult past, especially if he hopes to win the special woman he meets when his mother summons him to the funeral.

The Duke of Greycourt doesn’t know how to feel when he learns that his stepfather—his mother’s third husband, who’d recently inherited a dukedom and returned to England after years serving abroad as a diplomat—has died. Maurice was the closest thing to a father he’d ever had, but his relationship to him, his mother, and his four half siblings was strained when Grey was sent back to England to be raised by his father’s brother when he was 10, a painful, tense situation that Grey is still working through. Spending time with his loving but challenging family makes Grey reconsider his feelings, but meeting Maurice’s niece Beatrice is truly life-altering. Immediately attracted to her, he offers to help her prepare for a long-delayed season and soon is completely smitten, though it takes him a while to figure it out. Meanwhile, it becomes clear that Maurice’s death wasn’t an accident, and his son—Grey’s half brother and Beatrice’s cousin Sheridan—is increasingly convinced her brother Joshua was responsible. Grey and Beatrice seek the truth and fall in love, but the road to happiness has a few bumps along the way. Jeffries begins a new series with a large, charming cast and a unique backstory plus subtle hints at future pairings. Readers will love Grey and Beatrice, and the nicely paced, intriguing plot will keep them engaged, though the core conflicts lack bite and the intensity and immediacy of the couple's sexual awareness feels slightly modern for the rest of the story.

An appealing historical romance from a fan favorite.