Undercover Duke: A Witty and Entertaining Historical Regency Romance (Duke Dynasty Book 4)

This series started when after the deaths of 3 husbands and her brother-in-law, the Duchess of Armitage’s children begin to wonder if foul play was involved and set out to discover the truth. After a lot of frustration and dead ends, the siblings have narrowed their suspects down to three ladies that were present at the time of the deaths of the duchess’s first two husbands. One of the ladies is the Duke of Greycourt’s aunt, but with his wife entering confinement with their first child, Grey tasks his half-brother Sheridan Wolfe, the Duke of Armitage with interviewing his aunt, Lady Eustance. With no real reason to call on her, Sheridan forms a plan to pretend to woo her daughter, Vanessa Pryde. An idea that takes wings when Vanessa agrees to play along if Sheridan will help her make the playwright, Konrad Juncker jealous enough to offer for her.Vanessa has no interest in Mr. Juncker, Sheridan has always been the man she wanted, but he has never paid any interest in her at all and has made it clear that he is not looking to marry any time soon. She is hopeful that if he spends time with her, she can change his mind. But what she doesn’t know is that Sheridan’s heart was broken years ago and he refuses to risk it again – no matter how much Vanessa tempts him. But when they are caught in a passionate embrace, the only way to protect Vanessa is to marry her. Sheridan rationalizes his eagerness by thinking that he is keeping her out of the clutches of the rakish Mr. Juncker, that her dowry will help shore up his failing estate and he will have credible access to her mother for questioning – that is his story and he is sticking to it!After they marry, Vanessa learns the real reason he started wooing her and is hurt, but she wants to clear her mother’s name and offers to help. But Sheridan was not the only one with secrets and these two will have to come clean and open their hearts to get their HEA, assuming that the killer doesn’t strike again before they get the chance!This was a good book, well-written and nicely paced with wonderful characters and the conclusion to a series-long, well-thought-out, and perfectly executed murder mystery. The book is full of secrets, steamyish love scenes, great characters, cameos from previous heroes/heroines, a hero with a broken heart, a heroine who knows what she wants, and a nail-biter ending as well as a very sweet and satisfying epilogue. I enjoyed this book and am happy to recommend it. This is the fourth book in the series and while it could be read as a standalone, I would strongly recommend reading the series in order for the best reader experience.*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own. *

Sheridan is a duke. He has two brothers who are also dukes. His mother is a dowager duchess. She married 3 times and each time she married a man who became a duke. Now, Sheridan and the family realize that each of her late husbands were murdered. They believe they have narrowed the possible villains down to 3 women. Nearly everyone in the family is involved in investigating and gathering information. Thus far, they have not found any definitive clues to point to the actual murderer.Sheridan has been assigned to gather information from Lady Eustace. And at the same time he will be spending time with her daughter, Vanessa. Lady Eustace is one of the worst characters I have encountered in quite some time. She is mean and cruel to everyone and she has no regard for anyone except herself. If one looked up the definition for “self involved”, it would have a picture of Lady Eustace. She treats Vanessa cruelly and always has.Sheridan has known Vanessa for quite some time. She is a good friend to his brother Grey. She and Grey are like brother and younger sister. Sheridan does not consider Vanessa to be a younger sister. He is attracted to her. And Vanessa has been enamored of Sheridan for a very long time.This is a lovely story. There is mystery and danger. There is romantic attraction and love. But, most of all there is love of family.. Sheridan’s family is affectionate, caring and supportive of one another. And that is everything that Vanessa never had in her life. She falls in love with Sheridan’s family when she is welcomed into their circle.Ms Jeffries writes plots which move at a good pace. There are no slow spots in this book.The characters are well developed and complete people. The secondary characters are important parts of the story. Although this is the final part of a series, it works well as a stand alone read. The characters and past events are explained fully to the reader.Vanessa and Sheridan are very human. Both have insecurities. Both are intelligent and strong willed. Most of all, both are kind and good hearted people. They each have a sense of honor along with a well developed sense of humor. In short they are perfect for one another.I enjoyed this story very much. It is a well done final installment in an entertaining series.

Such clunky writing. One almost wonders if it wasn't written by an assistant. The relationship was full of overdone and clunky romance tropes. The development of the romance was tortuous. The only thing interesting was the denouement of the mystery. The series needed much stronger development, content, and copy editing. It seems like the author and publisher pushed the books out the door without putting in the necessary time to create quality books, knowing her fans would just buy them. It's sad yet another favorite author seems to have given up quality in the rush to get books out the door and make more money. Time to move on.

Another winner from Sabrina Jeffries.

Wonderful, intriguing tale of Sheridan Wolfe, the Duke of Armitage and Vanessa Pryde as they navigate an investigation into Sheridan's father's death as well as their feelings for each other. Loved these characters and enjoyed seeing the other siblings in this story. Although this is part of a series it can be read as a standalone. Very enjoyable read, highly recommend.