With this Regency romance, the author of Devlin’s Luck again “keeps readers in eager anticipation as she skillfully unwinds her cleverly conceived plot” (RT Book Reviews). Marcus Heywood, the new Duke of Torringford, must take a wife in three weeks or lose the country estate he’s unexpectedly inherited. His brother, Reginald, suggests placing an advertisement for a bride in the papers, which Marcus considers ridiculous—until a wine-fueled evening inspires him to write an ad in jest. Now, the notice has been printed, and Marcus is mortified. At all of twenty-one years, Penelope’s spinsterhood seems confirmed; she’ll never find a man she can marry. But her half-brother thinks otherwise. Without her knowledge, he answers the Duke of Torringford’s advertisement on her behalf. When an announcement of her upcoming wedding to the Duke appears in the papers, Penelope knows she must take her place as his wife, or her honor will be ruined. But it will be a marriage in name only, of that she’s sure—until the handsome looks and warm smile of her new husband make her heart race in a most unsettling way . . .

A viscount is enraptured—but gossips might get in the way of romance—in this Regency tale by an author acclaimed for “absorbing storytelling” (Booklist). Despite having proposed to more than a dozen women, Viscount Frederick remains one of London’s most eligible bachelors. The debutantes simply don’t find him dashing enough for their tastes. His pride stinging from his latest rejection, Freddie leaves London for his country estate. After six years abroad, Anne Webster has returned to New Biddeford with a child at her side—a child whose unruly red hair and mischievous green eyes leave society gossips quite sure of the identity of his mother. Though five-year-old Ian is really Anne’s nephew, nothing could quiet the scandal or erase the stigma once the ton started talking. Anne’s childhood companion, Viscount Frederick, was the only person to offer friendship—and then, a rapturous love. But how could Anne allow Freddie to destroy his life by marrying a woman with a tarnished reputation such as hers?