He’s controlled. Meticulous. Immaculate. No one would expect the proper Duke of Westmead to be a member of London’s most illicit secret club. Least of all: his future wife. Having overcome financial ruin and redeemed his family name to become the most legendary investor in London, the Duke of Westmead needs to secure his holdings by producing an heir. Which means he must find a wife who won’t discover his secret craving to spend his nights on his knees – or make demands on his long scarred-over heart. Poppy Cavendish is not that type of woman. An ambitious self-taught botanist designing the garden ballroom in which Westmead plans to woo a bride, Poppy has struggled against convention all her life to secure her hard-won independence. She wants the capital to expand her exotic nursery business – not a husband. But there is something so compelling about Westmead, with his starchy bearing and impossibly kind eyes -- that when an accidental scandal makes marriage to the duke the only means to save her nursery, Poppy worries she wants more than the title he is offering. The arrangement is meant to be just business. A greenhouse for an heir. But Poppy yearns to unravel her husband’s secrets – and to tempt the duke to risk his heart. "An astonishingly good debut...The whole book is a breath of fresh air, both a complex, layered story and a soaring romance with two very real people at its heart." -- The New York Times Book Review Author’s Note: Dear readers, please be aware this is an angsty, twisty book written in the style of a gothic romance, and there are some dark moments along the path to a happy ending for our characters. No spoilers here, but if you are a sensitive reader please do consult the reviews before diving in. Yours, Scarlett 2018 Romance Writers of America Golden Heart ® Winner for Best Historical Romance "Desert Isle Keeper...The alliance is unexpected, fascinating and a refreshing departure from typical Regency romances, and I never wanted The Duke I Tempted to end." -- All About Romance "Peckham’s meticulous character work pays off in spectacular, grandly romantic fashion and The Duke I Tempted ends with particularly cathartic and hard-won happily ever after." -- BookPage "Gothic romances are tempestuous by definition, but this one is dramatic even by those heightened standards...If you want something to speed your heart and stop your breath as you read beneath the covers, with only the meager flashlight beam warding off the enveloping night — then you have a rare treat in store." -- The Seattle Review of Books "A one-sitting, late-into-the-night read, The Duke I Tempted ran away with my heart." -- Book Ink Reviews

A historical romance about a fierce lady botanist, a marriage of convenience...and a secretly submissive duke.

He's controlled. Meticulous. Immaculate. No one would expect the proper Duke of Westmead to be a member of London's most illicit secret club. Least of all: his future wife. Having overcome financial ruin and redeemed his family name to become the most legendary investor in London, the Duke of Westmead needs to secure his holdings by producing an heir. Which means he must find a wife who won't discover his secret craving to spend his nights on his knees - or make demands on his long scarred-over heart. Poppy Cavendish is not that type of woman. An ambitious self-taught botanist designing the garden ballroom in which Westmead plans to woo a bride, Poppy has struggled against convention all her life to secure her hard-won independence. She wants the capital to expand her exotic nursery business - not a husband. But there is something so compelling about Westmead, with his starchy bearing and impossibly kind eyes -- that when an accidental scandal makes marriage to the duke the only means to save her nursery, Poppy worries she wants more than the title he is offering. The arrangement is meant to be just business. A greenhouse for an heir. But Poppy yearns to unravel her husband's secrets - and to tempt the duke to risk his heart.

He’s a minister to whores... She’s a fallen woman... Lord Lieutenant Henry Evesham is an evangelical reformer charged with investigating the flesh trade in London. His visits to bawdy houses leave him with a burning desire to help sinners who’ve lost their innocence to vice—even if the temptations of their world test his vow not to lose his moral compass...again. As apprentice to London’s most notorious whipping governess, Alice Hull is on the cusp of abandoning her quiet, rural roots for the city’s swirl of provocative ideas and pleasures—until a family tragedy upends her dreams and leaves her desperate to get home. When the handsome, pious Lord Lieutenant offers her a ride despite the coming blizzard, she knows he is her best chance to reach her ailing mother—even if she doesn’t trust him. He has the power to destroy her... She has the power to undo him... As they struggle to travel the snow-swept countryside, they find their suspicion of each other thawing into a longing that leaves them both shaken. Alice stirs Henry’s deepest fantasies, and he awakens parts of her she thought she’d foresworn years ago. But Henry is considering new regulations that threaten the people Alice holds dear, and association with a woman like Alice would threaten Henry’s reputation if he allowed himself to get too close. Is falling for the wrong person a test of faith ...or a chance at unimagined grace? Content Warning: Fair readers, a note on content, for those who like to know. (If you prefer to be surprised, skip this part!) This book contains explicit sex; kink and hierophilia (look it up!); feelings of guilt and shame concerning sex; prostitution (both practitioners of and debates about the legality of); parental mortality; toxic families of origin; religious faith, including questioning of and alienation from; allusions to body image issues; and quite a lot of truly despicable cursing.

She's beautiful, rich, and reckless...When Lady Constance Stonewell accidentally ruins the Earl of Apthorp's entire future with her gossip column, she does what any honorable young lady must: offer her hand in marriage. Or, at the very least, stage a whirlwind fake engagement to repair his reputation. Never mind that it means spending a month with the dullest man in England. Or the fact that he disapproves of everything she holds dear.He's supposedly the most boring politician in the House of Lords... Julian Haywood, the Earl of Apthorp, is on the cusp of finally proving himself to be the man he's always wanted to be when his future is destroyed in a single afternoon. When the woman he's secretly in love confesses she's at fault, it isn't just his life that is shattered: it's his heart.They have a month to clear his name and convince society they are madly in love...But when Constance discovers her faux-intended is decidedly more than meets the eye--not to mention adept at shocking forms of wickedness--she finds herself falling for him. There's only one problem: he can't forgive her for breaking his heart.

Lady Phaedra Northampton is a proper English miss -- but burdened by a dark secret. She's buried her shame in running her wealthy brother Lord Nash's household while hiding behind a sharp wit and dull wardrobe...until a reckless village maid's disappearance pulls her into London's seedy underworld. A former mercenary and jaded spy-for-hire, Tristan Talbot, Lord Avoncliffe, now does little, and manages to do it scandalously. Though Tristan's an out-and-out rogue, when his dying father begs him to delve into the secrets behind a notorious brothel -- a perfect task for his talents! -- Tristan can't refuse. Is the brothel a front for a notorious Russian spy ring? Tristan is on the hunt -- until his path collides with the oh-so-tempting Lady Phae. Soon what should be a simple assignment becomes deliciously complicated...when deception and desire lead to an explosive passion -- and deadly foes!

Horses, gambling, and secrets are the game played by the men of the Stud Club—until love raises the stakes in Twice Tempted by a Rogue. Luck is a double-edged sword for brooding war hero Rhys St. Maur. His death wish went unanswered on the battlefield, while fate allowed the murder of his good friend in the elite gentlemen’s society known as the Stud Club. Out of options, Rhys returns to his ancestral home on the moors of Devonshire, expecting anything but a chance at redemption in the arms of a beautiful innkeeper who dares him to take on the demons of his past—and the sweet temptation of a woman’s love. Meredith Maddox believes in hard work, not fate, and romance isn’t part of her plan. But when Rhys returns, battle-scarred, world-weary, and more dangerously attractive than ever, the lovely widow is torn between determination and desire. As a deep mystery and dangerous smugglers threaten much more than their passionate reckoning, Meredith discovers that she must trust everything to a wager her heart placed long ago.