Racy Regency romance with a twist!

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by Darcy Burke   


                              

A jilted young woman, a scandalous Duke rumoured to have murdered his wife, the Duke's ducal friend turning his back on his fiancé to pursue his one true love, an atrocious father, and a hastily undertaken journey of a week or more. All the ingredients for a rather laughable, yet enjoyable romance. A note of seriousness underlies the playfulness. The tea sipping Duke of Ruin cannot face himself let alone others. He's convinced he killed his wife but is unsure of exactly what happened. He's been running from himself and others ever since. Diana Kingman has had all her choices stolen from her, mostly by her emotionally and physically abusive father (after all women are little more than bartering goods), and now her once fiance is opening her up to even more gossip and abuse. This is the last straw. When Simon Hastings, the Duke of Romsey, aka the Duke of Ice, offers to take her to a safer place to mull over her choices, she accedes and therein our tale begins. I'm not sure if this is a Shakespearean tragedy or a romantic farce. Of course they are drawn to each other and the journey to their HEA ending is filled with all sorts of road blocks and just as many green lights.
An enjoyable, and rather racy romp that sometimes made me blink. Ah well!

A NetGalley ARC

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