How to Lose a Duke in Ten Days

Starred review from April 15, 2014
Five years ago, with her reputation in tatters thanks to a callous, privileged cad, American heiress Edie Jewell fled to England and struck a life-changing bargain with the world-traveling Duke of Margrave: her money to set his estates to rights in exchange for marriage and a promise he would leave England and never return. Edie thinks it's an unimpeachable plan--until a wounded, newly serious Margrave comes home, determined to accept his ducal responsibilities, start a family, and win Edie's love. Edie wants him to go, Margrave intends to stay, and the outcome depends on a wager--a single kiss freely given by Edie...and in only ten days. VERDICT A spirited yet emotionally fragile heroine and a resourceful hero find love in this flawlessly written, lushly sensual tale that balances sexual abuse issues with flashes of humor and treats readers to a beautifully depicted and tender courtship. (Of course, it always helps when the villain gets his comeuppance!) A thoroughly satisfying Victorian historical. Guhrke ("When the Marquess Met His Match") lives in the Northwest.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 1, 2014
Stuart Margrave promised Edie Ann Jewell he would take her money and run. That is the only reason she proposed to him in the first place. Stuart would get Edie's substantial dowry, which he could use to pay off his family's debts and restore the Margrave estate, and then he would leave for Africa to resume his life as a noted explorer and big game hunter. Edie would then assume her duties as the new duchess of Margrave and thus be spared the horrors of having to return to America and endure a lifetime of whispering about the scandalous mistake she made in Saratoga. But now, after five perfect years of a husband-free marriage, Stuart is back in England, and from the looks of all his luggage, Edie fears her husband has plans to stay. RITA award-winner Guhrke follows up When the Marquess Met His Match (2013) with another superbly written historical that takes a classic romance story line, a marriage of convenience, and, through witty writing and skillfully nuanced characterization, makes the whole thing seem fresh and new.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)