Love, the Duke

A lady must uncover the scoundrel who stole a precious artifact under her family’s care to save their, and her own, reputation. When the Duke of Hurstbourne dismisses a letter from his childhood friend, Winston, asking him to marry his sister, Hurst’s decline comes back to haunt him in a most unsettling way. He always believed in love at first sight and felt he would know the woman he would marry. But the well–heeled person attired in tailored finery, standing in front of his desk, heightens his interest, and his quick instinct tells him this is no man. Rather, it is a woman disguised as a man and a very superb disguise at that. Ophelia can hardly breathe, much less speak. When the duke asks who she is, she reveals she’s Ophelia Stowe, Winston’s sister. Ophelia claims she had no choice but to try and dupe Hurst by her attire, because she has to speak to him alone and can’t be hindered by society’s propriety. She needs the duke’s help. Something of value has been stolen, and its loss threatens the good name of the Stowe family. Ophelia needs entrance into the homes of noble gentlemen to find the perpetrator. When the duke offers to help her, Ophelia never dreamed it would be through a marriage of convenience that would make the duke her cover by pretending they’re having lovers’ trysts in dark corners. But she certainly wasn’t counting on the passion that ignites between her and her new husband—or how real the marriage is beginning to feel.