Regency Reader Question
I’m desperately to find a book. A widow is looking for a husband and meets a Duke but she thinks he is a man of business and he start helping her find a husband from a list she’s drawn up. His not on the list and when he suggests she adds him she says his too old. He uses his middle name St Muir or something like that. His household staff also try to prevent the relationship because they don’t think she’s right for him.
| Source of Question | Reg Rom Book |
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Hi Miri and thanks for the question!
It sounded familiar, but I wasn’t sure, so I asked for help on Twitter and fellow Regency Readers confirmed that the book in question is most likely Elizabeth Boyles’ Mad About the Duke. Click the title link to be taken to an old review of the book and link (cover image) to purchase on Amazon.
Here is a synopsis from Ms. Boyle’s website:
Never judge a duke by his cover…
Level-headed Lady Elinor Standon will not allow her greedy stepfather to wed her younger sister to the highest bidder! The only way to stop this evil plan is for Elinor to to gain control of her sister’s guardianship, but to do that she needs to get married. Convinced that nothing less than a duke will do, she hires Mr. St. Maur, Esq. to help her land her lofty lord… However her plans go awry as she discovers that beneath her solicitor’s rumpled coat and haughty demeanor is a man all-too-desirable to ignore and she finds herself falling for more than his unconventional legal advice.
James Tremont, the ninth Duke of Parkerton, is astonished by the freedom and anonymity he’s gained simply by donning his brother’s ill-fitting jacket, especially when an exquisite, peer-hunting beauty mistakes him for a solicitor… Now he finds himself tangled up by more than her legal woes. For until he can undo the straight-laced yet delectable Elinor, his identity must remain a mystery — because by not having revealed it immediately, this dedicated bachelor may have already sabotaged his one chance for the madness of finding his one true love.
If you read and discover that this is not in fact the book you were thinking of, let us know! We have a couple of other suggestions for similar plots.
