A Hand for the Duke by Meredith Bond

Can the Ladies of the Wagering Whist Society help an impoverished modiste win the hand of a sought-after Duke?

Tina Rowan is beautiful, talented—and wants nothing more than to be free of her past. The illegitimate daughter of a baroness, she is being blackmailed by her own foster-father. She must rely on her flair for designing dresses to earn enough to pay him off. Starting a business dressing the ladies of Regency society isn’t easy for a nobody. But Tina has three aces up her sleeve—her own amazing talent, her well-connected biological mother, and the helpful (if meddlesome) support of the Ladies’ Wagering Whist Society.

The handsome, arrogant Duke of Warwick has grown up schooled in the “proper” way for a nobleman to behave. Rule number one: do not fraternize with people of the lower classes. But when he has to introduce his beloved sister to society, he finds himself completely reliant on the beguiling woman he’s hired as his sister’s modiste. To his astonishment, he finds himself opening up to her and enjoying her company far, far too much.

When Tina discovers the true man behind the ducal title, her heart might very well be lost. But can the duke set aside his façade and allow himself to love the only woman who could possibly make him happy?

It will take the combined efforts of the Ladies’ Wagering Whist Society to see this difficult hand well played.