Agent: Stefanie Lieberman, Janklow & Nesbit. But he's returned home from his latest voyage to find a naked earl - quite inconveniently deceased - tied to his missing sister's bed. This merry-go-round, emphasis on merry, is guaranteed to charm Regency fans. Captain Maximus Harcourt, the unconventional tenth Duke of Alderidge, can deal with tropical storms, raging seas, and the fiercest of pirates. He’s not as keen on that as he is on uniting with her in a very carnal way. In one of Bowen’s signature diverting happenstances, Elise stumbles on the errant duke hiding away on a farm and employs all her wit and charm to convince him that he should reunite with his family. He may be dead, he may be estranged from his mother, or he may be alive now but slated for death by his feckless cousin Francis, who has his eye on the dukedom. They end up on a wild goose chase when they’re contracted to locate Noah Ellery, the Duke of Ashland.

The acknowledgement that in the past, as now, people didn't always follow the rules, and still survived is refreshing. To keep order in London’s high society, mysterious Elise deVries and her professional cohorts at Chegarre & Associates specialize in smoothing over scandals, both petty and major. Max, Duke of.Alderidge, is an East India captain who comes home after a 2 year trip to find his sister missing and the dead earl in her bed, and Ivory dealing with it.

In her second Season for Scandal novel (after Duke of My Heart), Bowen once again sets up one of her fabulous Regency-era women in such unusual circumstances that it’s no wonder the eponymous duke finds her irresistible.

Duke of my heart by kelly bowen