“She
intended to be the mistress of her own fate. And there was one thing
she knew with absolute certainty from observing the ways of the
world: one did not get that kind of power by marrying it.”
THE
DUKE I TEMPTED by Scarlett Peckham is out this July!
About
THE DUKE I TEMPTED
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.
On Sale in Digital: July 31, 2018
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Read
and exclusive excerpt from THE
DUKE I TEMPTED:
The
Duke of Westmead cleared his throat. “Given I rebuked you for your
lack of transparency, Miss Cavendish, honor obliges I disclose to you
that I became rather dismayed when I learned you were betrothed. I
suppose I thought, how dare she? How dare she squander her
gifts on so middling a creature as Mr. Raridan? Or, more to the
point, on anyone?”
Poppy
didn’t speak. She couldn’t, because her breath was caught. She
had never heard herself described in such terms by anyone. How could
she, when the local gentry who had known her all her life told a
different story about her? One of an eccentric spinster who coarsened
herself with commercial enterprise. An arrogant, unlikeable woman,
unhealthily obsessed with plants.
“Thank
you,” she said, hoping her voice did not convey how deeply what he
said affected her. It would not do to seem overly moved.
He
shrugged, as though his words were unremarkable. As though such
assessments of her worth were lobbed at her all day.
The
carriage she had been waiting for at long last appeared through the
stable gates and rolled up to the bottom of the steps.
“Miss
Cavendish, in light of my lapse of judgment, I fully understand if
you do not wish to return to Westhaven. But if my sister believes me
guilty of ruining her plans I shall have to live with her mortal
disapproval. I don’t suppose I could prevail on you to reconsider
finishing your work? I assure you that I will not attempt to
intercede in so much as the placement of a vase.”
The
contours of his face should not have a say in her decision and yet
she could not help but admire them, as the fading light danced across
the planes that made him sometimes handsome, sometimes fierce.
Or
perhaps it was only the way that he looked at her. As if her respect
meant something to him. As if she did.
“Very
well,” she said. “I shall return in the morning. For Lady
Constance’s sake.”
After
just a beat too long, he nodded. “I’m glad to hear it. For Lady
Constance’s sake.”
And
then he smiled.
Boyishly
and quick and warm, like the sun darting out from a bank of clouds.
It was so unexpected and disarming that without thinking, she craned
her face towards his to get a better view of it. Their eyes met, and
a chill ran down her spine. Because for just a moment, she thought he
might lean in, close the distance, and kiss her.
No.
Not thought he might. Wanted him to.
She
wanted him to kiss her.
Instead,
he folded his mouth back into its usual grim line, bent in a deep bow
and offered her his hand to help her into the carriage.
But
it did not escape her notice that he held her fingers just a beat too
long as he said: “Be well, Miss Cavendish.”
Author
Bio:
Scarlett Peckham fell
in love with romance novels as a child, sneaking paperbacks from the
stash in her grandmother's closet. By the time she came of age
she had exhausted her library's supply and begun to dream of writing
one of her own.
Scarlett studied
English at Columbia University and built a career in communications,
but in her free hours always returned to her earliest obsession:
those delicious, big-hearted books you devour in the dark and can
never bear to put down. Her steamy historical romances about alpha
heroines have been finalists for the Golden Heart® Award four times.
Her debut book, THE DUKE I TEMPTED, will be out July 31, 2018.
Scarlett splits her
time between London and Los Angeles. When not reading or writing
romance she enjoys pretending to know about wine, discussing The
Real Housewives, and cooking enormous pots of soup.
Scarlett is
represented by Sarah Younger at the Nancy Yost Literary Agency, and
spends far too much time on Instagram
and Twitter.
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