Ten Things I Hate About the Duke - Loretta Chase

 

A Difficult Dukes Novel – Book 2
Avon
ISBN: 978-0-06245-740-0
December 1, 2020
Historical Romance

England, 1833

Cassandra Pomfret, Lord deGriffith’s eldest daughter, is a passionate, outspoken public troublemaker as she advocates for fairness for women. She is feisty and bossy, which has given her a poor reputation among England’s elite. Most men avoid deGriffith’s ‘Gorgon,’ so at twenty-five she is unmarried. Her father makes the ultimatum that her younger sister Hyacinth cannot complete her first season in London until Cassandra marries.

Lucius Beckingham, the Duke of Ashmont, is inebriated after a duel with the Duke of Ripley (book 1, A Duke in Shining Armour), one of his two best friends. Ashmont, Ripley, and their close friend the Duke of Blackwood are known as their dis-graces for their many pranks and fights in London at both elite and lower-class events. While drunk he causes a carriage accident where the woman driver, her maid, and her groom are all thrown from the damaged vehicle. Lucius tries to help the three in the carriage accident, but his inebriation hinders him. The woman driver is disrespectful to Lucius, but he recognizes her groom Keeffe who was an excellent jockey until he was seriously injured in a race. Keeffe is injured now, too. During the ensuing mess, Lucius discovers Cassandra is a caring and thoughtful friend to Keeffe, but his uncle warns him to leave. Ashmont knows why. In this debacle, even though he would pay for all the damages, he would be unable to save the young women’s reputation—unless he marries her.

Cassandra knew Lucius before he became a duke. She still has fond memories of when she was eleven and visiting her aunt. Lucius told her about the stars and their stories and then defended her from some bullies. She had worshiped him for a long time before events led her to an opposite opinion. Yet he begins to capture her thoughts and feelings again. And Lucius? The outrageous girl attracts him more and more, but factors are working against their union. The story changes between Cassandra’s and Lucius’s viewpoints showing Cassandra’s wary attraction and Lucius’s growing self-awareness of what he wants to become. Can a dis-grace duke be rehabilitated into a caring, loving husband? And can Cassandra’s passion overcome her awareness of the danger in loving Lucius? Their future is also impaired as others work to prevent any union. Their dilemma becomes an emotionally convoluted love story.