Dueling Duchess

Cecile Tremblay, a French émigré, was driven from her homeland by the Revolution and lost her family and fortune in the upheaval. She never expected to earn a living as a markswoman, yet she now performs as a sharpshooter at a London circus, where the troupe has become her household, her kin, and her prospects.

Her path crosses that of Gaius Darlington, whom the gossip pages call the Darling of the Ton. Weeks earlier, Cecile refused his crude offer to keep her as his mistress, and he soon became engaged to a wealthy heiress. Now he returns and asks for her help. She agrees to teach him what honest labor involves and how a gentleman should behave toward a woman.

Guy's comfortable life falls apart when a long-lost heir surfaces to claim his title, estates, and wealth, and his fiancée abandons him to marry the newcomer. The upheaval has one unexpected benefit: he no longer needs a rich bride to save the dukedom, so he is free to marry the woman he loves, provided he can win back her trust. Resentment and desire sit close together, and Guy knows how to stir Cecile's passion.

This is the latest of Minerva Spencer's Regency romances, which examine women's place in a society built on male authority, and it belongs to the Rebels of the Ton series. Readers who enjoyed Spencer's earlier novel Notorious will find the same blend of sharp, dry humor and sensual tension.