Why Do Dukes Fall in Love?
Every summer the cream of society gathers at the
Dukeries,
named for the ducal estates concentrated in one small
corner
of Nottinghamshire. While the entertainments include
parties, balls, and a famous boat race, the ducal hosts
and
their guests find adventure, passion, and happy ever
afters.
Four heartwarming stories from four bestselling authors
of
historical romance.
MAY I HAVE THIS DUKE? by Grace Burrowes
The trouble with houseparties...
Gerard Hammersley, Duke of Hardcastle, is dragooned by an
old friend into attending a house party, though
Hardcastle
refuses to fall prey to the matchmakers who relish such
gatherings. He recruits his nephew's prim, prickly
governess, Miss Ellen MacHugh, to preserve him from being
compromised by the conniving debutantes, and offers in
exchange to deflect the drunken viscounts who plague
Ellen.
Is that they must end.
Ellen agrees to Hardcastle's scheme for two reasons.
First,
she's been attracted to His Grace since the day she laid
eyes on him, and knows that behind Hardcastle's lack of
charm lies a ferociously loyal and faithful heart.
Second,
she's departing from Hardcastle's household at the
conclusion of the house party, and two weeks safeguarding
His Grace's bachelorhood is as much pleasure--and as much
torment--as she can endure before she leaves him.
WAITING FOR A DUKE LIKE YOU by Shana Galen
There's no such thing as the perfect hero...
Nathan Cauley, tenth Duke of Wyndover, is so handsome
ladies
swoon--literally swoon. His blond hair and blue eyes
certainly draw attention at the Duke of Sedgemere's house
party, but Nathan doesn't want a fawning young miss for
his
duchess. He stumbles upon a bedraggled woman sleeping
under
Sedgemere's bridge, and his protective instincts stir.
When
he recognizes her as the princess he fell in love with
eight
years before, he's determined to win not only her
affections
but her heart.
Or is there?
After revolutionaries massacre Princess Vivienne's
family,
she and the head of her guard flee to England. Before
they
can reach London to beg asylum, assassins kill the last
of
her defenders. Vivienne is alone and on the run when the
Duke of Wyndover comes to her rescue. She barely
remembers
meeting him years before, and isn't comfortable with
gentlemen who are more attractive than she is. Nathan is
more than a pretty face, though, and when the assassins
return, he might just prove to be the duke Vivienne has
been
waiting for.
DUCHESS OF SCANDAL by Miranda Neville
Too Many Scandals
After months of marriage, the Duke of Linton agreed to
live
apart from his wife. Thrown together due to a scheduling
error, Linton finds Althea still has the power to make
his
heart race. Linton seems different from the critical,
indifferent man Althea married. But though she burns for
him
as a lover, can she trust him to be the husband she
needs?
AN UNSUITABLE DUCHESS by Carolyn Jewel
Is she an unsuitable duchess, or the perfect lover?
The Duke of Stoke Teversault has well earned his
reputation
for bloodless calculation. Indeed, recently widowed
Georgina
Lark has no idea he's loved her since before her late
husband swept her off her feet. Stoke Teversault means to
keep it that way. The cold and forbidding duke and the
blithe and
open Georgina could not be less suited in any capacity.
And
yet, when Georgina and her sister arrive
at his home, his ice-bound heart may melt away.
Georgina Lark has never thought of the Duke of Stoke
Teversault as a man capable of inducing passion in
anyone.
He's long disapproved of her, but she will be forever
grateful to him for his assistance after her husband
died.
It's been a year since she's realized he's not the man
she
thought. Can she find a way to convince him to open his
heart to her?