My Dearest Duke by Collette Cameron

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Seductive Scoundrels, #13 (Originally Published as Loved by the Lyon)

Release Date: November 20, 2023 (reissued)

Vanessa Becket is mere days away from gaining her inheritance when her odious step-brother Owen Elligon goes too far. For weeks Vanessa has known that Owen has been stealing from her, but she has turned a blind eye, until now, when he stole an heirloom left to her by her mother, that has passed from mother to daughter for generations, and with the recent death of both her brother and mother, she cannot lose anything else connected to her true family. So Vanessa tracks Owen to Fortuna, a notorious gaming hell and social club, owned by the infamous Mrs. Dorrian-Lane aka The Wicked Widow of Whitechapel, a well-known matchmaker for the elite. Vanessa makes her way into the club and manages to find Owen, but before she can confront him, she is caught by an employee and comes face to face with a man she hasn’t seen in years – Kingston Barclay, her late brother Gabriel’s best friend. When Owen arrives on the scene, declaring himself Vanessa’s guardian and promptly informs her he has promised her in marriage, Mrs. Dorrian-Lane gets involved and offers another idea, that Vanessa marry Kingston, after all, he was there to hire her to find him an heiress.

Kingston returned from the war a changed man, not just because of the wounds he endured, he also harbors incredible guilt over the death of his best friend, Gabriel Becket, that guilt was magnified upon learning that his father passed away leaving his siblings penniless and alone to fend for themselves. Kingston is the heir presumptive to the Duke of Caerleon, but the duke hates him and won’t help his family, leaving Kingston with no choice but to marry a heiress. But because of the vow he made upon Gabriel’s death and the secret Kingston must keep from her, there is no way he can marry Vanessa, or is there? When Vanessa proposes a temporary marriage, it seems like the perfect solution, until he falls in love with the one woman he can never have.

This was a well-written, nicely-paced story with very likable characters and a lot of emotion. Kingston and Vanessa have a great rapport, making it very easy to root for their happily ever after. The story has a lot of emotion, some heartache, secrets, family, healing, very mild to almost closed-door love scenes, forgiveness, and finally their HEA complete with an epilogue. I did feel like Kingston’s secret was built up to be a major plot point and ended up being anti-climatic, but ultimately it didn’t diminish my enjoyment and I would happily recommend this book to my fellow HR readers. This book was originally published as Loved by the Lyon and is now being republished as a part of the Seductive Scoundrels series, with ties to several other series.

4 stars

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*