The Good, the Bad, and the Duke

October 15, 2018
MacGregor’s fourth Cavensham Heiresses historical (after The Luck of the Bride) effervesces with lighthearted romance and holiday cheer. Lady Daphne, sister to a marquis, is accidentally left behind at Christmastime when her boisterous family decamps from London to their country estate. Choosing to make the best of the situation, she spends quality time with her journal, the keeper of her deepest secrets. When that journal is stolen, she ends up on the steps of a notorious gambling hell with only her brother’s estranged best friend to save her from infamy. Paul, Duke of Southart, dedicated his life to scandal until the untimely death of his father and older brother. Now his goal is to repair his image. When he finds Daphne about to lead herself to ruin, he steps in to save her from herself—and possibly repair his relationship with her brother. This romance is sweet and sultry in equal measures, and endearing characters bring the story to life. Agent: Pam Ahearn, Ahearn Agency.

January 1, 2019
All a spinster wants for Christmas is a charming rake to call her own.Paul Barstowe, the Duke of Southart, was a dissolute second son known for his disreputable behavior. The deaths of his father and elder brother days apart gave him the title and a new determination to change his ways. To start burnishing his reputation, he bids on a property where he hopes to establish a charity hospital, but temptation arrives in the form of heiress Lady Daphne Hallworth, the sister of Paul's best friend-turned-enemy. Home Alone style, Daphne is abandoned in London by her family in their rush to depart for the Christmas holidays. She decides to get started investing her fortune and energies to found a charitable home for unwed mothers. Interest in the same property puts Paul and Daphne in close proximity, as does the loss of her reticule containing a journal in which she shared not only her family's secrets, but some of her own, including a longing, since childhood, for the handsome Paul. Daphne's trust in Paul to help her avoid scandal shocks him. As they become closer, "Something shifted within him. A crack opened up, allowing a want to crawl out from the depths of his soiled soul and emerge, shaking every manacle free." MacGregor (The Luck of the Bride, 2018, etc.) weaves a compelling story redeeming Paul from rakish behavior depicted in previous installments of The Cavensham Heiresses. Paul works his way back into the good graces of his family and friends as Daphne discovers her independence and strength beyond the genteel, circumspect, and invisible good sister and good daughter she has always been. MacGregor's prose is wordier and her plotting more leisurely than necessary, but Paul and Daphne are very appealing characters.A rake is redeemed and a spinster unspun in a sweet historical romance.

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November 1, 2018
After a street thief absconds with her reticule, Lady Daphne Hallworth is beside herself with worry. It isn't so much that Daphne cares about losing her handbag as it is what's inside it: her diary. That contains every one of Daphne's private thoughts, desires, and memories, and the idea that it might now be the subject of public gossip is a disaster of epic proportions. Fortunately, Paul Barstowe, the Duke of Southart, is willing to help Daphne retrieve her diary for a price. She must help him repair the friendship he once shared with Daphne's brother, Alex. If all goes according to plan, they will each get exactly what they want. Of course, neither Daphne nor Paul factored a bone-melting kiss into their new partnership. With a surfeit of sizzling sensuality and a remarkable flair for crafting compelling characters, MacGregor (The Luck of the Bride, 2018) continues to enhance her literary reputation with this emotionally rich, exquisitely wrought tale that superbly celebrates the redemptive power of love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)