A Seaside Seduction
(Gilded Age Belles Romance)
Born into an old Knickerbocker family, Madeleine de Gruyter was raised to expect the very best that life had to offer, but a series of poor investments destroys her parents’ fortune, leaving Madeleine in search of a wealthy husband to save them from destitution. When the Duke of Helmingham arrives in Newport for the summer, Madeleine fears this handsome, athletic nobleman is the answer to all her problems.
After suffering a family scandal, Alisander, Duke of Helmingham, leaves London with his sister to let the gossip die down. Relaxing by the seaside seems the perfect solution, but the pretty belles of New York society are desperate to entice him into matrimony. Curiously, one young lady seems reluctant to snare him—Miss de Gruyter, the only woman he wants.
Can Madeleine defy her family’s scheme to seduce Alisander, knowing he is too honorable to be entrapped at the altar? Or will the couple’s undeniable attraction force them to throw caution to the wind and dive headfirst into love?