Rise of the Duke

Emma McKinnon must escape an unwanted suitor and his manipulative sister, who won’t take no for an answer. Marriage might save her from destitution, but she’d only be trading one nightmare for another. As a penniless vicar's daughter, she has nothing to lose except ownership of her heart. Emma takes a position as a governess on Star Frost, an elusive island off the coast of Cornwall.

From the moment of his birth, Calvin Stanley West, Duke of Renvere, was blessed. But none of his successes and wealth could have prepared him for the fire that killed his wife and left him and one of his daughters horrifically scarred. Worse still, the same glittering aristocratic society that had bowed in his presence now whispered cruel insults about his children. He abandoned his life, his prestige, and secreted his daughters away to a place where no whispered barbs would reach their precious ears.

THEY CAN’T HIDE FOREVER

Calvin’s prayers are answered when a governess arrives on his doorstep, but this is no ordinary governess. She’s young, beautiful, and she stirs a passion inside him he thought had been burned away forever. Emma swiftly becomes enamored with Star Frost and her new charges. But the duke, though scarred and intimidating, is also kind, dedicated to his children, and the most handsome man she’d ever seen. He makes her long for things she’d been raised to never feel. Is it a trick of the mysterious island or is the duke the one man her heart has yearned for all along? Just when she feels safe and the attraction between them ignites into a passionate affair, the people she ran from have hunted her down, shattering her hopes.

Emma’s instinct is to run again, but if she does, she will have to give up everything she loves or stay and fight for her heart’s desire. The choice should be easy, but is desire enough for her? Can Calvin love her in return or will the memory of his wife turn their passionate affair to ash?