{"id":26631,"date":"2026-04-26T18:25:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T22:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=26631"},"modified":"2026-05-08T22:19:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T02:19:01","slug":"the-duke-at-hazard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/26631","title":{"rendered":"The Duke at Hazard"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Duke at Hazard<\/em><\/a> (2024) KJ Charles<\/a> (The Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune #2)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>Set in England in ~1810s<\/p>\n

The Duke of Severn inherited at age six, and since that day has never been allowed to be anything except the Duke.<\/p>\n

The Duke had been Harmsford since his birth. He had become Severn at the age of six and that was his name now, when he wasn\u2019t Your Grace.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

An embarrassing misfortune followed by an argument with his cousin leads Severn to attempt to see if he can manage on his own for one month.<\/p>\n

And maybe become something more than just The Duke.<\/p>\n

The Duke of Severn was obliged to take an uncompromising line on what constituted acceptable behaviour, without making allowances; perhaps Mr Cassian might be more understanding.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Daizell Charnage has been a disgrace every since he was sent down from Eton for running a gambling ring, and things only went downhill from there. Now he has nothing but the clothes on his back and his charm to keep him fed and off the streets.<\/p>\n

Daizell liked people, and liked to be like.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A chance meeting has Daizell helping “Mr Cassian” in his quest to recover his ring, and perhaps become a competent human.<\/p>\n

I really really liked Severn. <\/p>\n

He allowed people to push him around, but the people who were pushing and being difficult truly were trying to do what was best for him. <\/p>\n

And there was affection that peeked through.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s a long story which I shall tell you presently, but\u2014\u2019 He needed the big guns. \u2018Harum-scarum, Lou.\u2019 <\/p>\n

It was the term they had used as children, the one that commanded utter loyalty in the teeth of authority.
\n…
\nLeo had invoked harum-scarum on the never-to-be-sufficiently-bemoaned-by-Uncle-Hugo occasion they\u2019d decided it was necessary to walk round the complete span of the castle atop the battlements, and the Duke had even claimed it was his idea when retribution descended.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love the whole idea of that–as well as that the cousins would have of course<\/em> walked around the entire castle atop the battlements. <\/p>\n

I also loved the little bits of sibling snark that snuck through.<\/p>\n

\u2018Might I suggest everyone put their cards on the table?\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u2018Over dinner,\u2019 Louisa added. \u2018Leo is both more pleasant and more intelligent when fed.’<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And Daizell was also lovely, for all he had been painted as a scoundrel, very much a reminder that we are more than the sum of our worse deeds–are far more than the sins of our parents.<\/p>\n

I also loved what she did with the point-of-view and self-identification in the story.<\/p>\n

Honestly, this is one of only a couple of books with a duke as the main character that I have thoroughly enjoyed.<\/p>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Vernon Fortescue Cassian George de Vere Crosse, the fourth Duke of Severn, the Earl of Harmsford, Baron Crosse of Wotton, and Baron Vere
\nCassian \/ Severn, Daizell Charnage, Miss Eliza Beaumont, John Martin \/ Martin Nichols, Cousin Leo Crosse, Cousin Matthew Crosse, Lord Hugo Crosse, Mrs Louisa Kentridge, James Kentridge, Sir James Vier, Sir Francis Plath, Waters, Aunt Amelia, Aunt Hilda, Tom Acaster, Sir Benjamin Acaster, Jed Browning, Tony Marston, Kenilworth, Forster, Mowbray, Lady Evangeline Wintour, Mr. Robin Loxleigh, Sir John Hartlebury<\/p>\n

Cover design by Tom\u00e1s Almeida & Joanna Ridley<\/p>\n

Publisher: Orion Books<\/p>\n

Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Duke at Hazard (2024) KJ Charles (The Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune #2) Set in England in ~1810s The Duke of Severn inherited at age six, and since that day has never been allowed to be anything except the Duke. The Duke had been Harmsford since his birth. He had become Severn at the age […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[191,30,938,292,204,33,148,26,56],"tags":[50,942,476,544],"class_list":["post-26631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-british","category-dual-point-of-view","category-ebook","category-good","category-historical","category-queer","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-boinking","tag-gentlemen-of-uncertain-fortune","tag-kj-charles","tag-mm"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-6Vx","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26626,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/26626","url_meta":{"origin":26631,"position":0},"title":"The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting","author":"Michelle","date":"April 26, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting (2021) KJ Charles (Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune #1) Set in London in the Regency(?) Era The siblings had agreed that Alice needed a little town-bronze, which was to say a little knowledge of humanity\u2019s infinite capacity to disappoint, before it became common talk that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/The-Gentle-Art-of-Fortune-Hunting.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9225,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9225","url_meta":{"origin":26631,"position":1},"title":"No Good Duke Goes Unpunished","author":"Michelle","date":"August 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"No Good Duke Goes Unpunished (2013) Sarah MacLean Set in England in 1831 Temple is called the killer duke, accused of murdering his father fiancee. Disparaged by society he became one of the four partners of The Fallen Angel. The Angel\u2019s founders had created a single path of redemption for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/No-Good-Duke-Goes-Unpunished.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13658,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13658","url_meta":{"origin":26631,"position":2},"title":"The Duke Who Didn’t","author":"Michelle","date":"December 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Duke Who Didn't (2020) Courtney Milan (Wedgeford Trials) Set in England in 1891. Chloe Fong may have spent time pining, but she is certainly not doing so any longer. She is going to help her father sell his sauce and get back at the men who stole his formula\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Duke Who Didnt","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The-Duke-Who-Didnt.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":413,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/413","url_meta":{"origin":26631,"position":3},"title":"Cast In Secret","author":"Michelle","date":"August 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Cast In Secret (2007) Michelle Sagara Cast In Secret is the sequel to Cast in Courtlight, and takes off not long after the events of that book. Kaylin is still learning magic--and still not succeeding very well in her attempts. She terms with the fact that Severn is both her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/Cast-in-Secret.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4982,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4982","url_meta":{"origin":26631,"position":4},"title":"No Good Duke Goes Unpunished","author":"Michelle","date":"December 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"No Good Duke Goes Unpunished (2013) Sarah MacLean This is the third Rule of Scoundrels book, and tells the story of how Temple ended up fighting in the basement of the Fallen Angel, despite being a Duke. Can't say this was my favorite. The characters were fin, but nothing amazing,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"No-Good-Duke-Goes-Unpunished","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/No-Good-Duke-Goes-Unpunished.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11419,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11419","url_meta":{"origin":26631,"position":5},"title":"No Good Duke Goes Unpunished","author":"Michelle","date":"January 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"No Good Duke Goes Unpunished (2013) Sarah MacLean Set in London in 1831. William Harrow, Marquess of Chapin and heir to the dukedom of Lamont, known to the world now as Temple, the killer duke, is a partner in the Fallen Angel. Although there was no proof, it was believed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/No-Good-Duke-Goes-Unpunished-e1511012080124.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26631\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}