I DARED THE DUKE

A savage duke meets a wallflower who won’t wilt.

When Elizabeth Lacey agreed to serve as a companion to the Dowager Duchess of Blackshire, she knew she’d have to deal with her notorious grandson eventually but didn’t think he'd disrupt them so soon. Alexander Savage, the Duke of Blackshire, is furious to find yet another person under his roof, especially when he’s returned home to whisk his grandmother to the country for her own safety. Beth and Alex already know each other by reputation—she as a wallflower, he as a rake—and clash at their first meeting, during which Alex tells Beth she'll have to leave. Having survived a fire that killed the rest of his family as a boy, he now finds that an anonymous antagonist is trying to kill him, and he wants his grandmother to be safe—but Beth assumes he's looking for more privacy for his assignations. She agrees to help him convince his grandmother to move to the country but only after he grants the dowager three wishes. As they work together to make the wishes come true, of course, their attraction surges. The stubborn heroine and brooding hero come to life on the page through their chemistry, especially in several steamy scenes in stolen moments. This second book in Bennett’s (My Brown-Eyed Earl, 2016) Wayward Wallflowers series allows its secondary characters to blossom, too, and is all the better for it. Regency fans will be more than satisfied with this pitch-perfect addition to the genre.

Bennett brings new life to traditional Regency stories and characters.