The Duchess Hunt

Hugh Brinsley-Norton, Duke of Kingsland, has inherited a dukedom his father left in ruins. Restoring it calls for a wife, and he has no time to court one. So he advertises, inviting the ladies of the ton to argue their own case, and hands the final choice to his trusted secretary, Penelope Pettypeace.

Penelope loves Kingsland herself. She knows nothing can come of it: the gap in their stations is wide, and her past holds secrets she has kept hidden. Sorting through the duke's hopeful candidates means weighing women who might have what she cannot claim.

Then an anonymous note arrives, threatening to expose what she has concealed. Kingsland is drawn into the danger beside her. As he works to protect her, he begins to see that the duchess he has been hunting has been standing in front of him all along.

This Victorian historical romance is the second book in the Once Upon a Dukedom series. The point of view alternates between the duke and his secretary, so both sides of the longing are on the page. It is a slow burn between an employer and the woman who has run his household and much of his life, built on quiet devotion.

The question driving it is whether Penelope's secrets will surface before either of them speaks.