My One and Only Duke

Burrowes opens the Rogues to Riches series with a gentle, optimistic Regency morality tale, promoting the value of looking toward the future over becoming mired in revenge. Quinn Wentworth’s hard-earned money fails to protect him from being framed for murder, but he hopes to put some to good use by marrying Jane Winston, an impoverished, pregnant young widow: when he’s hanged, she’ll inherit his wealth. A last-minute royal reprieve leaves Quinn alive with a ducal title that provides responsibilities, more debt than assets, and a new reason to hate his noble rivals. Meanwhile, Jane is stunned to go from widow to duchess. Jane and Quinn face the challenge of building a marriage in truth, and their mutual fondness and fierce protectiveness are palpable as they work through their emotional scars. Witty and complex secondary characters, particularly Quinn’s gossip-loving manservant, Ned, and his cantankerous brother, Stephen (whose brilliant intelligence and physical disability are clear nods to Stephen Hawking), round out the novel’s appeal. This appealing volume also contains a lighthearted Christmas novella by Elizabeth Hoyt (Once upon a Maiden Lane). (Nov.)