Capturing the Duke's Heart

By Rebecca Jones

Amazing value Regency two-story collection. Jam-packed with romance, love, and adventure.

Charming dukes with attitudes and kind hearts. Lovely ladies who want to find love. You'll find all of this and much more in this collection.

The collection includes:
1.The Duke’s Reluctant Bride

Jane is talented at many things, though being desired as a wife is not one of those talents.
Jane and her sisters are what her parents consider prizes to be won. They are eager to marry their daughters off to the highest bidder but Jane wants to travel to Italy instead. Though it is a dream, Jane longs to spend time studying art and improving her drawings. She wants to spend her days and nights drawing and watching her work sell across the world. However, her parents do not approve of her dream and insist that it is far beyond time that she settle down.
Much to her displeasure, Jane is given an ultimatum. She will marry by the end of the season to a man of her choosing or her mother fill find a man for her.
Since birth, Jane and Peggy have been attached at the hip. When Peggy gets married, Jane is more than happy though it means that she is losing her favorite sister. At the wedding, she meets one of the most aggravating men she has ever met.
The man will not be cowed by the woman with a tongue as sharp as her mind. Instead he is intrigued by her but at every turn she pushes him further away. Before long, everything has become too much for Jane to deal with.
One fateful Sunday after Jane discovers that her father has accepted a proposal on her behalf, she packs her bags and runs away, potentially ruining her future forever.

2.Governess for the Charming Duke

Cora Masterson is a governess running from a wealthy past. With no family to speak of and a desire to own a little cottage by the lake, Cora is eager to take on employment with James Buckler, Duke of Ellerhouse.
The pair soon discover that they are like oil and water, neither wanting to bend or give. Though James does not make her life easy, Cora finds herself completely enthralled with her young charges who need a parent in their life far more than they need a governess.
Life is quickly becoming more unbearable with James challenging her at every turn but Cora is not one to be toyed with. Equal parts intelligent and spirited, she is not about to allow the duke to walk all over her without a fight.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rebecca Jones
• Release date: Oct 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005972745

Rebecca Jones

Rebecca Jones has a lifelong love of history, especially English and American. Her romances range in setting from Medieval times to the Twentieth Century. She writes entertaining books for her readers to enjoy.She loves walks in the countryside and having afternoon tea with family and friends.When not writing, you can find her trying to keep up with her husband and three kids and exploring the different parts of the world.

Book preview

CAPTURING THE DUKE’S HEART

Copyright © 2020 Rebecca Jones All Rights Reserved

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

THE DUKE’S RELUCTANT BRIDE

Chapter One

Rain poured outside the window. Charlotte sat at the piano, her fingers drifting over the ivory keys. Jane looked at her sister and sighed. She would make someone a fine wife one day. Charlotte was accomplished in all the ways that Jane was not. Charlotte could sing and dance and play several instruments, all the things that men found suitable within a wife. Jane? Well she could draw and wanted to travel to Italy and become one of the greats.

Already, several wives from the neighborhood had commissioned work from her. She had made a tidy little profit, keeping the coin in hopes of purchasing her own little cottage in Italy. She would drink wine all day and paint. Her work would be sold across the countries. Her mother disagreed, insisting Jane settle down like her older sister Peggy.

Peggy entered the room, a flurry of trailing skirts and long veil. Jane sighed and gathered her own skirts, standing and giving chase to her older sister.

Jane found Peggy in the grove, pacing among the trees. She held her wedding dress high, keeping the train from dragging in the mud. Jane kept her own skirts above her ankles as she walked to her sister.

What is the problem, Peggy? Jane grabbed her sister’s wrist and forced her to stop moving. You should be happy. It is your wedding day.

"Do not tell me how I should feel Jane. You know as well as I do that this is all one giant farce arranged by our parents to settle their daughters off to suitors of high standing. I’m three and twenty. That is a spinster by any rights. Yet here is a man who wishes to marry me. What do you expect his motive to be?"

I expect him to be a widower who simply seeks a new companion. How can you find fault in that, dear sister? Has he not been exceptionally kind to you thus far? From all I have seen he means you no ill will. In fact, he seems like a rather charming man and at the very least Father is impressed with his position in life and his decorum.

This is all true, he has been kinder to me than I ever could have hoped for. Young Miss Williamson down the road said her betrothed is absolutely dreadful.

Jane grinned and looped her arm through her sister’s. I have met the man on several occasions and I would be inclined to agree. He is a rather uncomely brute. The sort of man I would not wish to spend the rest of my life with.

The sisters laughed as they walked back toward the house. Charlotte had changed in the time they were gone, her dress a simple powder blue and the bodice decorated with miniature beads in the shape of feathers. Charlotte took the time and the pocket money to make her clothes appear more splendid than the family could ever hope to afford. Jane was not sure how she managed but suspected her baby sister of creeping off late at night to perform for rich lords and ladies.

You look stunning Peggy, Charlotte said as she descended the steps and pulled her sister into a tight embrace. I am glad that the dress fits you will, I had been fearful that we would not be able to lace the corset tight enough to provide the silhouette I intended.

Jane held her tongue and watched Charlotte fidget with the beaded design on Peggy’s dress. It had taken Charlotte months to create the lace that adorned the entire ensemble. It would have taken less time but Charlotte refused any help offered, insisting that it would not be perfect unless she did it herself. Jane had been more than happy to step aside. Sewing and needlework were