Blame It on the Duke

Nicolas, Lord Hatherly, is the heir to the Duke of Barrington, and his father has just lost him in a card game. The winner is a social-climbing merchant, and the prize is marriage to the merchant's daughter, Miss Alice Tombs. Nick never meant to marry or pass on the "mad" Hatherly line, but if he refuses to honor the debt, the family estate is forfeit.

Alice wants no part of it. For three seasons she has driven off suitors, and she has done it spectacularly, because she wants to be free to travel the world. A notoriously wild marquess handed to her over a hand of cards is the last husband she would choose, and she intends to scare him away like the rest.

Nick answers with an offer instead. They spend one summer together as husband and wife to prove the marriage is genuine. After that Alice is free to go wherever she likes, and Nick spends the time he has left enjoying himself before the Hatherly Madness takes hold of him.

This is a historical romance with a marriage-of-convenience premise and a light, playful tone. The pretend marriage is meant to be easy to leave after a few months, and the book follows the two of them as the summer's nights prove otherwise. It is published by Avon Romance.