When the Duke Loved Me
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4.3 • 102 Ratings
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Publisher Description
They are both pretending to be someone else for the night...
When Catherine Forster asks a handsome stranger to lead her out of the ballroom and into the Tremberley gardens, she hopes to glimpse its renowned Roman ruins…and maybe steal a kiss. But when she and her delectable escort are discovered in a scandalous embrace, Catherine is horrified to learn that she has been kissing John Breminster, heir to the man who ruined her family.
Given that the Forsters are his sworn enemies, John had no choice but to walk away from Catherine that night. But he has never been able to forget their close encounter—and, even years later, still longs for her touch. Worse, when his father dies, John, now the Duke of Edington, finds himself with a problem that only Catherine can help him solve.
Catherine agrees to aid him in his quest…for a price. On their journey, they soon begin to give into temptation, even as they uncover troubling revelations about the past. Will John and Catherine overcome this shared history? Or will its secrets tear them apart forever?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lloyd's immersive Regency debut and Rake Chronicles series launch begins in 1808, when John Breminster shares a kiss with Catherine Forster at a party. Their romantic moment abruptly shatters, however, when they learn each other's names, the Forsters and the Breminsters having been sworn enemies ever since an affair between Catherine's aunt and John's father brought disgrace on both families. Seven years later, John, now the duke of Edington, seeks Catherine's help: his father's will requires him to find her aunt and have her accept an annuity. Catherine is near destitute, making ends meet by selling articles to newspapers using a male pseudonym, so she agrees to help track down the aunt she hasn't heard from in years in exchange for £10,000. As the pair travel from London to Dorset, posing as a couple on the road for propriety's sake, their long dormant desire reignites. Lloyd adds depth to Catherine and John's forbidden attraction by gradually revealing their most appealing characteristics, especially their kindness towards others, propelling the sexual tension between them into a more enduring love. This sizzling historical promises good things from the series to come.
