Tempting the Brooding Duke: A Historical Steamy Regency Romance Novel (Tarnished Ladies Book 1)

I have survived poverty, scandal, and my father’s guinea pig farms. I think I shall survive one brooding duke.

It is the only thing that has kept her upright since her father gambled the family fortune away on Peruvian guinea pig farms. On her way to a governess post she does not want, a storm overturns her carriage on the Yorkshire moor and strands her at the one place everyone warned her about: Thornvale Hall, the Gothic monstrosity where a reclusive duke has shut himself away from the world.

Lucien Hawthorne, the Duke of Thornvale, dismissed his entire household two years ago and has been perfectly content to rot in peace ever since, alone with his engineering texts, his disapproving housekeeper, and an unfortunate number of cats. He did not invite a half-drowned, infuriatingly cheerful woman into his home. He certainly did not expect her to start rearranging his furniture, his routines, and his carefully guarded heart.

But one storm becomes a week. A week becomes an impossibility. And when Marianne’s odious cousin arrives to drag her away, ranting about ruined reputations, Lucien finds himself proposing the one solution guaranteed to upend both their lives: marriage.

It is meant to be a matter of convenience. A bargain. Nothing more.

Except the duke who swore he was finished with feeling cannot stop wanting his sharp-tongued, impossible bride. And Marianne, who has spent her whole life being sensible, is discovering there is nothing sensible about the way Lucien Hawthorne looks at her in the firelight.

A steamy Regency romance featuring a brooding duke, a fearless heroine, and a marriage of convenience that turns into an all-consuming love. Perfect for readers who love grumpy heroes, sunshine heroines, slow-burning desire, sparkling banter, and emotionally intense romance with a fiery, unforgettable payoff.

No cheating. No cliffhangers. Just a passionate, deeply satisfying happily ever after.

Also available with Kindle Unlimited!