Anything But a Duke

March 18, 2019
In Carlyle’s memorable second Duke’s Den Victorian romance (after A Duke Changes Everything), a budding scientist and a wealthy businessman discover they are a perfect match. Diana Ashby wishes to avoid marriage until she can gain recognition for her inventions. When she happens upon a gentleman being attacked, she chases away the ruffians and assists the victim, and they share a brief, unforgettable kiss. A year later, Diana is invited to present her household cleaning system invention at Lyon’s, a gentlemen’s club in London, where she hopes to find a backer. One of the investors she meets is Aidan Iverson, the man she assisted. Aidan agrees to fund her invention if she can help him find a noble bride. Orphaned at a young age, Aidan has achieved great wealth through his business successes, but some doors have been closed to him because of his lack of familial connections. Diana introduces him to marriageable young women, but none holds the appeal that she does. Aidan must decide whether the love he feels for Diana is more important than his future bride’s noble blood. Fans of historical romance with strong, intelligent heroines will adore this novel, in which emotionally vulnerable, highly motivated characters complete the sensuous story. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary.

March 15, 2019
A self-made businessman who wants to climb the social ladder agrees to help a lady inventor find funding in return for her matchmaking skills in early Victorian London.On a rainy night in Belgravia, inventor Diana Ashby is late for a scientific lecture when she spots an altercation in the alleyway. She manages to scare off two ruffians with her umbrella only to find herself looking up at a very attractive gentleman. Aidan Iverson is a wealthy self-made investor and part owner of Duke's Den, a gentlemen's gambling club that also functions as a Victorian version of Shark Tank. Abandoned to a workhouse as a child, he is determined to discover his true parentage while at the same time finding a well-born bride whose social status can raise his own. Diana and Aidan strike a deal: She, a well-connected baronet's granddaughter, will find him a match, while Aidan will locate an investor for her manual vacuum cleaner. Diana is under pressure to make her own match, but an investor could help her family's finances just as much and without forcing her to forsake her one true passion in life. Aidan and Diana are both intelligent, tenacious, and driven. Neither seeks love or marriage for its own sake, but as they spend time together, their own romance blossoms, and their goals shift. The nobleman's gambling den has been overdone in historical romance, although here the plot rests on technology and commercialization in England in the years leading up to the Great Exhibition of 1851. Readers will need to overlook Diana's unusual, and unexplained, amount of unchaperoned freedom. When Aidan admits, "I've never known where I belong," he could be speaking for Diana as well. This is the second book in Carlyle's Duke's Den series, after A Duke Changes Everything.Mature, interesting, and romantic protagonists elevate a familiar story.

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Narrator Karen Cass conveys all the frustrations and triumphs of a lady inventor in historical London in this slow-burn romance. Diana Ashby wants nothing more than to be left alone to work out her ideas, and she has one chance to gain the funding needed for the next step. Devilish Aiden Iverson agrees to back her project in exchange for being introduced to eligible ladies of the ton. What the pair don't expect is that they will be attracted to each other--and more. Navigating a diverse cast with precision, a soft volume, and narrative embellishments, Cass delivers a solid performance that will send listeners looking for other audiobooks in the series. A.L. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine