The Duchess Hunt

The Duchess Hunt is the second novel in Lorraine Heath's Once Upon a Dukedom series, a Victorian-set historical romance. Hugh Brinsley-Norton, Duke of Kingsland, needs a wife to help restore a dukedom his father left in ruins, and has no time to court one himself — so he places an advertisement inviting the ladies of the ton to make their case, and leaves the final choice to his trusted secretary, Penelope Pettypeace.

Penelope is in love with Kingsland herself, and knows it can never be more than that: their different stations, and secrets from her own past, stand in the way. When an anonymous note threatens to expose what she has hidden, Kingsland is drawn into the danger at her side, and begins to realize the duchess he has been hunting for was in front of him the whole time.

Told from both points of view, the novel builds through mutual longing and quiet devotion before its secrets come due — a slow-burn romance between an employer and the woman who has run his household and his life.