Title The Last Duke She’d Marry: Scoundrels of London Book 3
Author Anna Campbell
Genre Historical Romance
Book Blurb
She wants to be a duchess. Just not HIS duchess!
Pure and proper Lady Juliet Frain was born to be a duchess. Everyone says so. Now society awaits the announcement of the elegant beauty’s engagement to the dignified and honorable Duke of Granville. However all Juliet’s plans go awry when she meets the scandalous but sinfully attractive Duke of Evesham. The wild libertine is the last man Juliet wants to find irresistible, yet somehow she can’t keep her hands off him. And suddenly to her chagrin, nobody is calling Juliet either pure or proper!
He’s no Romeo…
After ten riotous years on the Continent, Lucas Hebden, Duke of Evesham, has returned to London, trailing a well-earned reputation as a rake and a reprobate. But an unexpected loss in a card game finds him far from London’s fleshpots and playing at amateur dramatics in the country. Even worse, he’s starting to confuse the poetic passion in Romeo and Juliet with the real-life passion that has him pursuing his disapproving but breathtakingly lovely leading lady. It’s clear that Lady Juliet Frain has no time for bad boys, and any sensible man would give up – but then nobody ever called Evesham sensible!
When Juliet’s suitor Granville arrives to propose, it’s the battle of the dukes! Once the curtain falls, which duke will emerge victorious and take the starring role in Juliet’s heart?
Excerpt
Juliet had been sure that she was immune to romantic silliness.
It turned out that she’d spoken too soon, confound it.
Because much as she wanted to despise the Duke of Evesham, she couldn’t control the fizz in her blood or the awareness of how tall and powerful he was. A masterpiece of virility like a hot-blooded stallion. He was everything she abhorred, yet it seemed he was also everything that reminded her she was a woman with a woman’s needs.
What in the name of heaven could she do?
Given that against all the odds, His naughty Grace seemed just as interested in her. Of course, it was likely that his eyes brightened when any nubile female appeared. This temporary madness didn’t blind her to his dreadful reputation.
She tried her best to freeze him out, if only to hide his overwhelming effect on her. But even she could tell that every needling remark, every snub, betrayed that she was drawn to him like a cat to catnip. Or a drunkard to brandy, given how her mind reeled.
If she could summon her usual placid calmness, she suspected that she’d soon bore him to death. But placid calmness had moved to the North Pole, the moment the Duke of Evesham appeared.
Honestly, she wanted to give this new and unfamiliar version of herself a good kick. Twenty-six years of prudence couldn’t compete with an hour in a charming rake’s company. It just wasn’t fair.
His Grace caught up with her with a couple of paces of those long legs. “Please stop fuming. You’re spoiling a lovely day.”
Juliet was tall for a woman. Evesham towered over her. In truth, he was imposing, whichever way she looked at him. But his extraordinary physical condition conveyed an impression of strength and agility, rather than hulking size.
The gravel path through the copse had never before seemed too narrow. It seemed absurd now that it shrank to leave barely room for her and a far too impudent nobleman.
“A lovely day? It’s a disaster,” she bit out, then wanted to cut off her tongue.
All her life, she’d maintained an unruffled exterior while continuing an indiscreet inner conversation. Something about Evesham flushed every imprudent remark out into the open.
“I think you must accept my presence, my lady.”
She sighed and stopped, as they emerged from the trees and onto a lawn leading up to a pretty wooden structure in the Chinese manner. The summerhouse had always been one of her favorite places on the estate. She could already tell that memories of His Grace’s company would spoil that. “You must think every member of my family is a lunatic.”
“So far, Lady Portia appears reasonable. But of course, I can only claim the most casual acquaintance with your sister.”
“Actually she has her own eccentricities. Until today, I’d have said I had the steadiest head in the family.”
“Oh, dear,” he said with such exaggerated alarm that despite all her turmoil, she couldn’t help laughing.
When Juliet caught her breath, she felt a little better. She was fretting herself into a decline. And there was no need. Surely she could restrain herself from leaping on this picturesque scoundrel. He made her aware of her femininity in a way that she didn’t appreciate. But he’d be gone in a week, and she could go back to being the even-tempered woman she’d always been.
Amusement played around his expressive mouth in a beguiling way that she struggled not to notice. She’d heard so much about the wicked Duke of Evesham. She’d imagined someone oily and worn out with sin, not this attractive, vigorous, humorous man with laughing brown eyes and a smile that set her heart on fire.
She refused to burn for Evesham. She outright refused.
Buy Links
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-last-duke-shed-marry-anna-campbell/1144779685?ean=2940167677418
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-last-duke-shed-marry-scoundrels-of-mayfair-book-3/id6477316349
Author Biography
ANNA CAMPBELL has written 11 multi award-winning historical romances for Hachette Grand Central Publishing and Avon HarperCollins. As an independently published author, she’s released more than 35 bestselling stories, including her 3 popular series The Dashing Widows (7 books), The Lairds Most Likely (10 books), and A Scandal in Mayfair (4 books).
Anna has won numerous awards for her Regency-set stories including RT Book Reviews Reviewers Choice, the Booksellers Best, the Golden Quill (three times), the Heart of Excellence (twice), the Write Touch, the Aspen Gold (twice) and the Australian Romance Readers Association’s favorite historical romance (five times).
She's currently engaged in writing a new series set in Regency London called Scoundrels of Mayfair. The first 3 books, The Worst Lord in London, The Trouble with Earls, and The Last Duke She'd Marry, are now on sale. Look out for The Duke Says I Do later in 2024.
When Anna isn't traveling the world in search of inspiration for her books, she has a great time living in inner-city Brisbane in Australia.
Social Media Links
Website http://www.annacampbell.com/
Twitter/X https://twitter.com/AnnaCampbelloz
All Author https://annacampbell.allauthor.com/