Kelly Bowen returns to her Season for Scandal series with A Duke to Remember, in which a woman, who seems to be a magnet for drama, tracks down a man who is desperate to stay out of the limelight of London society.
Elise deVries loves to play a character both on and off the stage. By night, she graces the stage as one of London’s most talented actresses—but her day job is far more interesting. Hired by Chegarre & Associates, an agency that makes scandals disappear overnight, Elise works undercover, using her fondness for playing roles and knack for creating disguises to help collect information for the company’s clients.
Elise first appears in disguise as a doctor—a male doctor—as she investigates the claim that the Duchess of Ashland is being unfairly detained at the Bethlem Royal Hospital, also known as Bedlam. The duchess insists that her son—Noah Ellery, the Duke of Ashland, who has long been missing and is presumed dead—is still alive, but the assertion only makes the claim of her insanity even more plausible. However, Elise knows that something isn’t right, and she sets off to find the missing Duke.
A Duke to Remember has everything you want in a romance.
Noah Ellery is enjoying his life of quiet solitude in hiding in the English countryside. He’s all too happy to give up the title of Duke of Ashland if it means leaving high society and its gossip behind. But when Elise turns up, explaining that his mother has been sent away to an asylum and his awful cousin is claiming the title of duke, Noah knows he can’t escape his responsibilities any longer.
Noah is hopelessly sweet, and while he longs to help his mother, the bad blood between him and his family is pretty extensive. A quiet child who stumbled over his sentences, a boy who seemed unworthy of a title, Noah was a disappointment in his father’s eyes. So he was hidden away by his family. The fear and wariness Noah feels at claiming his title of Duke of Ashland is heartbreaking, but he can’t seem to resist the pull of Elise’s gentle patience and earnest plea for his return.
With a lovely balance of playful moments and moments of reflection and confessions, A Duke to Remember has everything you want in a romance: a confident heroine, an earnest and loving beta hero and a truly satisfying happily every after that will leave you misty-eyed.
