“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 an 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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