How to Catch a Duke

Grace Burrowes

Apr 2021 · Sold by Forever

About this ebook

A fake engagement and plenty of charm keep the pages turning in this delightful Regency romance which the USA Today bestselling author Julia Quinn hails as "terrific."

"I have come to ask you to kill me, my lord."

Miss Abigail Abbott desperately needs to disappear—permanently—and the only person she trusts to help her do that is Lord Stephen Wentworth, heir to the Duke of Walden. Stephen is brilliant, charming, and—when he needs to be—absolutely ruthless. So ruthless that he proposes marriage instead of "murder" to keep Abigail safe.

Stephen was smitten the instant his sister introduced him to Abigail, a woman with the dignity and determination of a duchess and the courage of a lioness. When she accepts his courtship of convenience, he also discovers she kisses like his most intimate wish come true. For Abigail, their arrangement is a sham to escape her dangerous enemies. For Stephen, it's his one chance to share a lifetime with the lady of his dreams—if only he can convince her his love is real.

Ratings and reviews

2-2.5 Stars! Not a fan of this one. I think I missed something. I was very confused while reading this one. I’d say you COULD read it as a standalone but I wouldn’t recommend it. If you’ve read the previous books in series, the ‘Rogues to Riches’ series (this is book #6 in said series), you’d most likely enjoy this book more than I did. Other than feeling I missed the first few chapters, I also felt like an idiot because I had to Google the definition of a fair amount of ‘big words’. I understand that some of it was simply using historically correct language but I’d prefer the author ‘dumb it down’. Confusing, the feeling of missing the beginning of the story, sesquipedalian - long worded (yes, I looked up a ‘big word’ & hopefully used it correctly!), anti-climatic ending with main characters I wasn’t interested in & they had absolutely zero sexual chemistry and/or romance. That sums this book up. However I did enjoy the surprise revelation at the end. *I received this book at no charge from NetGalley & I voluntarily left this review.*

Abigail asks Stephen to help her fake her death. Instead, he offers to fake an engagement with her. Her death won't stop the marquess who's trying to steal her letters—but Stephen's protection just might. As the heir to a dukedom, Stephen's influence ranges farther than even the despotic marquess's does. But is that enough to save Abigail? And what's Stephen to do when he realizes he can't live without her? This book is frolicking fun, with an intriguing mystery, strong characters, and steamy love scenes. Abigail is independent, self-possessed, and normally capable of taking care of herself. Stephen is clever and randy and a force to be reckoned with despite his leg injury and his façade as a frivolous heir. The book is a delightfully complex, low-angst read full of insight and subtle humor. Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Absolute perfection! When a book's opening line has the heroine saying to the hero, “I have come to ask you to murder me, my lord.” You know you're going to be in for a wild ride! Once again, I'm swept away by the exquisite literary experience of a Grace Burrowes romance. This author truly is gifted with words, a lexicographer's dream who deftly arranges just the right expression to fit the story, the historical timeframe, and the gravitas of the emotions being conveyed. For that alone, her books are a joy to read. The story itself is more than worthy of the effort. Stephen is the last single Wentworth, a man with more than enough cause to be a selfish reprobate who can't help being kind, generous, and loyal. Abigail seeks his help to extricate herself from a situation involving a member of the peerage who is seeking to do her harm, but as she and Stephen get deeper into the secrets underlying the subterfuge, they also fall deeper into each other's hearts. Abigail is a simple woman of inordinate intelligence and more than a few insecurities. Stephen is certainly her intellectual match, and while he has his own demons to battle, insecurity isn't really one of them. Their carefully-orchestrated dance around their mutual attraction reveals so much about their hearts and their histories, and I was amazed at the many intersections their lives had shared even before they knew each other. And just when it looks like ALL the secrets have been laid bare, the author drops the biggest secret imaginable! One that I didn't see coming at all, though in hindsight the author certainly left enough hints to support its plausibility. I was truly stunned, and couldn't wait to figure out how they were going to salvage their HEA from this. Of course their HEA was triumphant and in perfect harmony with the characters' true natures. The way this played out was in perfect step with everything Abigail and Stephen had built into their relationship right from the start, and I absolutely loved these two all the more for how well they work together. If you love historical romance, you owe it to yourself to read this and every book by Grace Burrowes. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

About the author

Grace Burrowes grew up in central Pennsylvania and is the sixth of seven children. She discovered romance novels in junior high and has been reading them voraciously ever since. Grace has a bachelor's degree in political science, a bachelor of music in music history (both from the Pennsylvania State University), a master's degree in conflict transformation from Eastern Mennonite University, and a juris doctor from the National Law Center at George Washington University. Grace is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who writes Georgian, Regency, Scottish Victorian, and contemporary romances in both novella and novel lengths. She enjoys giving workshops and speaking at writers' conferences.