Cherish and the Duke

Sometimes, the best-laid plans go awry in the best way.

Gawain Burton, the Duke of Bromleigh, is a Silver Duke, and everyone in the ton knows these exceptionally handsome forty-something men with some gray salted in their hair have no intention of ever marrying. However, carrying on the Bromleigh title is important, and Gawain is determined to find a proper wife for his nephew and heir. To that end, he attends a house party at the country estate of his cousin, Lady Shoreham, who claims to have found his nephew the perfect wife. Gawain heartily agrees with her choice, for Lady Cherish Northam is intelligent, soft-spoken, has a lovely sense of humor, and is beautiful. Her hair is the color of molten honey and her eyes are a dark brandy brown. The only problem is that she is shy, and Gawain must help her overcome that shyness and put herself forward so that his nephew notices her. Gawain certainly has noticed her…and, dear heaven, she seems to be noticing him. Will his heart allow him to give up Cherish?

Lady Cherish Northam’s life has taken a turn for the worse after the death of her parents. She finds herself reduced to little more than a servant in what was once her own household. Her uncle, the new Earl of Northam, is a toad who means to keep her on as unpaid help. So when her friend and neighbor, Lady Shoreham, invites her to her house party, Cherish leaps at the chance. She needs to marry to claim the trust fund inheritance her father left in the control of her uncle, but what seems a simple decision becomes quite complicated when she falls in love with Gawain. He is a Silver Duke and everyone knows these gorgeous-as-sin dukes do not marry. Can she harden her heart and marry his nephew? She doesn’t think so. But what choice does she have? Unless… Can she possibly win Gawain’s heart?