I received this book for free from Avon in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
How to Lose a Duke in Ten Days by Laura Lee Guhrke Also in this series: Catch a Falling Heiress, No Mistress of Mine, When the Marquess Met His Match
Series: An American Heiress in London #2
Published by Avon on April 29th 2014
Genres: Historical Romance, Regency Era
Pages: 371
Format: eARC
Source: Avon
ISBN: 0062118196
From USA Today bestselling author Laura Lee Guhrke comes the story of a bargain, a marriage of convenience...and the chance for love to last a lifetime.
They had a deal...
From the moment she met the devil-may-care Duke of Margrave, Edie knew he could change her life. And when he agreed to her outrageous proposal of a marriage of convenience, she was transformed from ruined American heiress to English duchess. Five years later, she's delighted with their arrangement, especially since her husband is living on another continent.
But deals are made to be broken...
By marrying an heiress, Stuart was able to pay his family's enormous debts, and Edie's terms that he leave England forever seemed a small price to pay. But when a brush with death impels him home, he decides it's time for a real marriage with his luscious American bride, and he proposes a bold new bargain: ten days to win her willing kiss. But is ten days enough to win her heart?
Stuart made a arrangement with Edie, to leave England once they married and her fortune paid his family’s debts and that he would never return. So its been five years, and Stuart has been in Africa, but when a lioness attacks him and he almost dies, there is one face that kept him alive, his wife Edie. So he has a new purpose in life, to return to England and win her heart. Edie left America to escape a scandal that was forced on her, and when she first saw Stuart she knew he was the way to get her independence, but knew she could never be intimate with him. Its been five years, and she has managed all of his estates, and dealt with his distant relatives, and trying to send her younger sister to school. Then he shows up right in front of her, and she can’t believe that her husband is in England, when she didn’t expect to ever see him again. Stuart knows he has a battle to win with Edie, and he forms a agreement with her, if he can get her to kiss him in ten days then she will stay in England and be his wife, but if he can’t get her to kiss him then he will sign separation forms. So Stuart begins a slow seduction of his wife, wanting to coax her into opening to him, to trust him with a secret that he knows she is hiding, and make her believe that he loves her and will anything to keep her in his life, the battle is on!!
How To Lose A Duke In Ten Days is the second book in the latest series by Laura Lee Gurhke. For some reason I don’t think I have read the first book, which is strange considering how much I adore this author, I will read anything she writes. Ever since I read “Marriage Bed” I was fascinated with this author, and I have enjoyed every book she has written, so its not surprise I fell in love with Stuart and Edie. Before I had a chance to read this, I read some fantastic reviews on this story, and I was very excited to start it. This is a story that is one of my favorite set ups in regency romance. A injured hero, needing reconciliation with his wife, and a slow seduction–oh boy, did I love these two. Edie is stubborn and almost leaves England before really talking with Stuart, she is a fighter, and wants her independence and freedom, and at first you think she seems a bit high handed and eccentric. Who runs from a handsome scoundrel of a husband that wants her body and soul right? When you realize the secret that Edie has kept secret, and to herself, you start to understand her in a different light. Stuart is a delectable hero of this story. I just loved him from the beginning, you see how much he is willing to do to gain Edie’s trust. He is a bit injured, and I loved how he handles his injury, and the way he forms a bond with Edie, and their chemistry is slow but strong and it was a very stimulating experience seeing these two come together.
There was so many beautiful and tender scenes that wrung my emotions, and I did need a tissue or two. The steam level in this book is under “warm”, passionate but not over kill and I felt like it the whipping cream on the most tasty treat. What really got to me was the growth of their relationship emotionally. Especially the later half of the story, I could barely keep a grip on my emotions, I was all over the place. When these two start to develop a trusting relationship, and desire flares, that is when things get heated and highly involved and what a variety of spices and flavors of passion and love. I would recommend this book to anyone that loves a tender love story, endearing characters, and rich in emotion and drama…A DELIGHTFUL TREAT TO WARM YOU ALL OVER!!!
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