Avon
Featuring: Charles de Lacey, Lord Gresham; Tessa Neville
384 pages ISBN: 0062025341 EAN: 9780062025340 Kindle: B007HBH6B6 Paperback / e-Book Add to Wish List
Apparently, this book is the third in a series by Caroline
Linden's newest series. I look forward to reading the first
2 of this series in the near future. The series is about
three brothers lives, about the women they fall in love
with and their destinys.
The three stories weave a tale of the family saga of the
three brothers whose ducal father, the Duke of Durham,
tells them in a post mortem letter that they may not be
legitimate and that he was also being blackmailed before his
death. This confession, if true, will ruin not only the
three brothers standing in society but also their fortunes.
The first and second story's are about the middle brother
Edward and the younger brother Gerard. Edward is the estate
business man, while the youngest brother, Gerard, is a
soldier, both now settled with the women they love. That
leaves the eldest brother Charles de Lacey, Earl of Gresham
and heir to the dukedom.
THE WAY TO A DUKE'S HEART is third book of the series and
tells the story of Charles
de Lacey, the eldest brother. In the previous two stories
the brothers try to discover the truth of their legacy
without success. In THE WAY TO A DUKE'S HEART, Charles is
left to solve the mystery of legitimacy and who the
blackmailer is himself. The last clues lead Charlie to Bath
where he meets the lovely Tessa Neville. Mrs. Neville is
traveling with her cousin on a mission for her brother to
discover if an investment in an area coal canal is sound.
Tessa is a woman who is proud of her own intelligence and
the ability to survive on her own. After she forsakes her
former finance on their wedding day, she shuns the state of
matrimony. She goes through the motions of life by becoming
an investment "wiz" for her brother at the cost of hiding
her feelings and emotions.
Charles, (likes to be called Charlie), meets Tessa at a
Bath hotel where he quickly suspects she may be involved in
the blackmail. Along the way, Charlie falls in love with
Tessa and she he. The story takes off with both becoming
more and more involved in each other's lives.
I loved the characters, the spice of life, lust, mystery's
to solve. Before this Charlie was the biggest Rakehell in
all of London. He's used to easy women, but Tessa is cut
from a very different cloth. She's intelligent of matters
that he should know by now. But Charlie was out living it
up, now he must face the music, be a man and find the truth
for him and his brothers.
Meanwhile, Tessa is a sympathetic character who has
suffered silently because she was different from a typical
society lady.
The mystery of the blackmail and the question of legitimacy
are handled with aplomb and skill by Linden. I enjoyed
this read very much and look forward to reading the first
two of the series....A must read!
Charles de Lacey, Lord Gresham, has had his life turned
upside down. Instead of inheriting his father’s ducal
crown, he’s got a messy scandal that could strip him of
his title and his fortune. After years of pleasure-
seeking, he suddenly finds himself required to track down
a blackmailer, discover the truth about his father’s first
marriage, and defend his right to a dukedom from a
grasping relation. But he has no idea where to start,
until a tart-tongued beauty inadvertently leads him to the
possible blackmailer.
Tessa Neville is a businesswoman, plain and simple. She
gets off on the wrong foot with Lord Gresham, and then the
blasted man follows her across England. He makes friends
with her companion. He makes her laugh even when she wants
to dislike him. And, worst of all, he somehow sees the
darkest secrets of her heart in a way she never would have
expected from a man of his wicked reputation. Tessa knows
he’s the wrong sort of man for her. If only the thought of
losing him didn’t make her heart break.