They call him the Duke of Ruin.To an undaunted wallflower, he's just the beast next door. Wealthy and ruthless, Gabriel Duke clawed his way from the lowliest slums to the pinnacle of high societyβand now he wants to get even. Loyal and passionate, Lady Penelope Campion never met a lost or wounded creature she wouldnβt take into her home and her heart. When her imposingβand attractiveβnew neighbor demands she clear out the rescued animals, Penny sets him a challenge. She will part with her precious charges, if he can find them loving homes. Done, Gabriel says. How hard can it be to find homes for a few kittens? And a two-legged dog. And a foul-mouthed parrot. And a goat, an otter, a hedgehog . . . Easier said than done, for a cold-blooded bastard who wouldnβt know a loving home from a workhouse. Soon heβs covered in cat hair, knee-deep in adorable, and bewitched by a shyly pretty spinster who defies his every attempt to resist. Now sheβs set her mind and heart on saving him. Not if he ruins her first.