What the Duke Desires

Book excerpt: From the New York Times bestselling author who “delivers lively lovers” and “entertaining, sensual historical romance” (Booklist) comes the first in her new series The Duke’s Men, featuring the Duke of Lyons and the illegitimate daughter of a viscount. They are the Duke’s Men—an investigative agency born out of family pride and irresistible passion...and they risk their lives and hearts to unravel any shocking deception or scandalous transgression. Maximilian Cale, the Duke of Lyons, accepted long ago that his kidnapped brother was dead. When a cryptic note from investigator Tristan Bonnaud claims otherwise, Max seeks out Tristan’s sister, Lisette—and is infuriated to learn that Tristan has mysteriously vanished. Have the siblings perpetrated an elaborate hoax? Or is the fiercely protective beauty as innocent as she claims? Fearful that the powerful duke will destroy Tristan’s career in his zeal for the truth, the clever Lisette convinces Max to accompany her to Paris in a joint search for their loved ones. But their journey takes a seductive twist when they pose as an ordinary husband and wife—not an English duke with a tarnished family name and the illegitimate daughter of a viscount—and discover an exhilarating passion free from the damning secrets of the past. With the line between danger and desire enticingly blurred, they discover that some mysteries, like those of the heart, are answered tenfold in the bliss of a true and trusting love.