Tag Archives: The Rake Chronicles

April Showers and Springtime May Flowers – Plus New Tule Romance Releases!

May 2, 2025 · Posted by Tule Publishing

GIVEAWAY: Because who doesn’t love FREE books?

We will pick ONE winner to receive a digital book of their choice from the May romance releases.

Comment down below saying which book you’re looking most forward to reading! Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY. The winner will be randomly selected and announced at the end of the month.

Good luck and happy reading!

A Texas Soldier’s Love

by Julie Benson

When the past comes knocking…

Owen Crawford vows to return to active military duty after he’s injured by a bomb that also killed his childhood best friend. Sent home to Texas to heal and facing possible forced retirement from Special Forces, Owen’s on borrowed time. He needs a miracle, and the best physical therapist in town is his high school sweetheart, who’s never forgiven him for leaving.

Carly Maddux can almost taste freedom. She’d promised her dying mother that she’d raise her baby brother and now that he’s a senior in high school, Carly can’t wait to resign as director of the Equestrian Therapy program her mother founded and leave Service Texas far behind. And then Owen arrives, injured, humbled but still hotter than ever, convinced she can make him whole.

She’s definitely saying no. She’s spent her entire life sacrificing her dreams for others. But then one hot kiss from Owen has her rethinking her dreams, and who’s in them.

Challenging Her Protector

by Charlee James

He vows protection. Anything more is impossible…

SEAL vet Jordan “Iron” Holt is a man torn between heaven and hell. Following the death of a teammate and his medical discharge, Iron has kept himself separate until he’s asked to help his friend rescue his girlfriend’s sister from a forced marriage. Iron’s game, but quickly out of his depth as the sheltered heiress is unlike any woman he’s ever met. Naïve, thoughtful and kind, Iron’s entranced, but knows his attraction is wrong. Vivienne is young and on the cusp of freedom.

For the first time in her life, Vivienne is free to do what she wants, think what she wants and eat what she wants. For twenty-six years, every detail of her life had been meticulously mapped out and scrutinized by her controlling parents. Freedom is heady, but Iron’s soul speaks to her. Her new life is a gift, but she’s determined to keep Iron in it.

When Vivienne asks Iron to help find her friend that her family disappeared after she helped Viv escape, danger comes to their doorstep, and they will need each other to survive.

When the Marquess Needed Me

by Lydia Lloyd

The Marquess of Leith is notorious for never keeping a mistress longer than two weeks. While society views his rule as evidence of his depravity, he sees it as the best way of ensuring that his personal affairs remain neat and tidy. Therefore, when his best friend, Montaigne, asks Leith to take Miss Beatrice Salisbury as his next mistress, everything in him protests. Beatrice is too rustic, too opinionated, and far too shrewd.

Ever since she was ruined six years ago, Beatrice Salisbury has been living happily in the country with her mother and siblings, free from the constraints of society. But now financial calamity has struck, and her ancestral home is in jeopardy. So she turns to the only money-making scheme within her grasp: becoming a courtesan.

From the beginning of their stint as man and mistress, nothing goes according to plan. Leith is not at all the libertine Beatrice imagined, and her appetites awaken wild desires that he has long denied. Soon, their physical entanglement has become so much more—but will they be able to make their love last for more than a fortnight?

Montana Medic’s Match

by Eve Gaddy

Can a one-night stand become the love of a lifetime?

Veteran and flight paramedic Connor McFarland relishes his playboy reputation. He has zero interest in settling down until one red-hot hookup in Vegas kick-starts his heart. For the first time, he’s not ready to walk, but when they part, Connor realizes that with only her first name, it will be nearly impossible to find his dream woman again.

When celebrating her divorce, Sierra Evans acts out of character and indulges in a sexy, mind-blowing one-night stand. But Sierra’s too wary of men to date and can’t risk being hurt again. Starting over as a flight nurse in Marietta, Montana sounds perfect until she learns that the man she still fantasizes about is now her co-worker.

Connor is ready to commit, but Sierra wants to keep it casual. Then her ex comes to town intending to woo her back and Sierra faces a choice—should she let her fears rule her or trust that the bloom of love she’s found with Connor can blossom into a life together?

Holding Out For a Hero

by Dakota Harrison & Fiona Marsden

Marina di Maggoli knows exactly what she wants in a future partner. After years of failed matches, it’s time to look for the right kind of man to take his place beside her in Kurrajong Crossing society. Besides, with all her former friends settling down and starting families, Marina is ready to compromise on finding love for the sake of ending her unbearable loneliness.

Briar Appleton has no intention of ever having a relationship or children. He lost his mother and grandmother far too young to cancer and refuses to pass that risk onto a future generation. Teasing and tormenting the snarky, uptight Marina is something he is up for. They’ve been circling each other for years—long before he started delivering organic produce to her mother when he was a teenager and caught her looking down her nose at his recycled vintage clothing.

When the teasing turns into something more, Marina and Briar have to make choices they never planned on and take risks they always shied away from. Can they find a way to be happy together—for the sake of their new family?

The Seal’s Promise

by Stella Holt

He never expected to return to his hometown, but now he can’t leave her behind again.

Dr. Dalton Hart left his small Southern beach town fifteen years ago to become a Navy SEAL. Now he’s back, and Sandy Point is buzzing over his return. He thought he came home to help his family, but his oldest brother will barely speak to him and his childhood friend is trying to avoid him. Worse, if he wants to stay, he’ll have to face the secret that’s haunted him ever since he left.

Brooke Garcia can’t believe this ripped, blue-eyed SEAL is back in her life or that she’s stuck working with him. She’s no stranger to smooth-talking hometown heroes—she married one, and he broke her heart. Now a single mom, she doesn’t have time to indulge in walks down memory lane. Brooke never forgave Dalton for the way he left town without even saying good-bye, and she’s not interested in making amends.

But soul mates have a way of finding you…even when you’re not ready.

Reckless with the Cowboy

by Elsa Winckler

Cowboy Becket Weston likes women, plural, and has a reputation for breaking hearts. His bad-boy behavior masks a deeper need to atone for past mistakes. His side-hustle—using a pseudonym and posting comic drawings of ranch life on social media—lets him explore life, love, and grief without being exposed. He even has a following! But no amount of introspection can explain his fascination with Eleanor Campbell—Main Street, Marietta’s newest shopkeeper. She’s definitely not his type, so why does she keep turning up in his drawings?

Ellie Campbell isn’t one for staying long in any one place, but when she inherits money from her grandmother and decides to open a yarn store in small-town Marietta, it feels like she’s putting down roots. She’s not looking for a relationship after one too many hard knocks, literally, but Becket Weston gets under her skin like no other, igniting passion that’s impossible to ignore.

He’s a bad boy playboy and everyone knows it, but there’s something about him that just doesn’t add up. Does Ellie have the courage to stick around and find a way into his heart?

Lydia Lloyd’s newest Rake has entered the chat and he’s got it BAD for our resilient beauty in WHEN THE EARL DESIRED ME..

May 14, 2024 · Posted by Tule Publishing

I am Lydia Lloyd and today is release day for my book, WHEN THE EARL DESIRED ME. The third in my Rake Chronicles series, this book is a high heat, second chance Regency romance between Lord Augustus Carrington, the Earl of Montaigne, and Olivia Watson, the resilient, curvaceous beauty who he has never been able to forget.

What can you expect in this one? When Olivia Watson was twenty years old, she was working as a maid in the London townhouse of the Earl of Montaigne—and before long finds herself in a torrid affair with the man himself. She thinks that they have not only passion but love, until he abruptly dismisses her from her position. Devastated but not one to wallow in heartbreak, Olivia accepts a position working for a wealthy woman bound for France, assuming that she will never again return to England. But, then, thirteen years later, her employer decides that her daughter needs to make her debut during the London season, so Olivia has no choice but to go back to her native country. Of course, she almost immediately runs into Lord Montaigne—and, to her great surprise, he seems intent on winning her back. She would love to reject the man coldly, and she tries, but he is persistent, and the same attraction that once crackled between them still lights up their interactions. Can Olivia forgive and forget? Or will the rakish earl, known in society as the Downstairs Menace for his serial seduction of servants, only break her heart again?

I am so delighted that this book is now out in the world. It is such an emotional love story and while I adore Olivia, I had even more fun writing the hero of this book because of the twist his character takes from the prior books in the series. I introduced Montaigne all the way back in book one, WHEN THE DUKE LOVED ME. Each hero in this series belongs to the same friend group of high-ranking noblemen, dubbed the Rank Rakes by society for their scandalous ways, and Montaigne has been a story I have been so excited to write since book one. To celebrate the release of Montaigne’s book, I’ve highlighted my three favorite things about him below!

#1) He is obsessed with Olivia & would do anything for her

You’ll have to read the book to see how obsessed I actually mean—but he is down bad for this girl from day 1 and never lets up, even though they are separated for thirteen years. I won’t reveal the extent of his devotion, but I will give a little hint of it: early in the book, he throws a ball just to get closer to her!

#2) He is a Rank Rake—but he actually isn’t a rake at all

WHEN THE DUKE LOVED ME introduces the world of the Rank Rakes through the perspective of its hero, John, the Duke of Edington. As far as John knows, he and his friends are all rakes who flout convention. What he doesn’t know is that Montaigne hasn’t exactly been truthful with the group about his actual erotic activities—and so Montaigne’s story is a sort of reversal of what John and Trem have presented to be true about the group in books 1 and 2. Not only does Olivia find out the truth about Montaigne, but the other Rank Rakes do, too.

#3) His sweet relationship with his family

In the first two books in the series, the reader only sees the roguish side of Montaigne. But in this book, I really highlight the sweet relationship he has with his tight-knit, Bridgerton-esque family. John and Trem (the heroes of book 1 and 2) are both orphans and are dealing with the fact that their families have been fractured or broken. But Montaigne is different—he comes from a big family and is close with his mother and siblings. The sweetness he shows them is core to his character. When his family is introduced, it is the first big clue that Montaigne is not what he has seemed in book 1 and book 2.

Thank you for reading! I hope you find a chance to pick up WHEN THE EARL DESIRED ME, especially if you love high-heat Regency romances!

xoxo,
Lydia

About the Author.

Lydia Lloyd writes high-heat historical romance set during the Regency period. She enjoys creating love stories between roguish heroes and complex heroines that are driven by authentic conflict and steamy encounters. Lydia holds a PhD in nineteenth-century British literature and, when she isn’t writing historical romance, works as a teacher and scholar.

Unveiling Tule’s Romance Releases of the Month! (Plus a Giveaway!)

May 1, 2024 · Posted by Tule Publishing

GIVEAWAY: We will pick ONE winner to receive a digital book of their choice from the May romance releases. Comment down below saying which book you’re looking most forward to reading! Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY. The winner will be randomly selected and announced at the end of the month.

Check out our new romance releases for May!

Happy Mother’s Day: A Bundle of Contemporary Small Town Romances
Featuring Stories By: C.J. Carmichael, Nan Reinhardt, Sinclair Jayne, E. Elizabeth Watson, Kris Bock and H L Marsay

The Eight Second Wedding by Anne McAllister
Cowboy, Come Home | Book 4

The Cowboy’s Mail-Order Bride by Megan Crane
The Careys of Cowboy Point | Book 1

When the Earl Desired Me by Lydia Lloyd
The Rake Chronicles | Book 3

Bayou Redemption by Susan Sands
Louisiana | Book 4

Enchanted by the Highlander by Gerri Russell
Guardians of the Isles | Book 6

Sworn to Honor by Charlee James
Sworn Navy SEALs | Book 2
The Cowboy’s Bride by Barbara Ankrum
The Hardestys of Montana | Book 1

WHEN THE VISCOUNT WANTED ME: Release Day Blog Post Featuring Author Lydia Lloyd!

January 16, 2024 · Posted by Tule Publishing

Hello everyone!

I am Lydia Lloyd and today is release day for my book, WHEN THE VISCOUNT WANTED ME. The second in my Rake Chronicles series, this book is an ultra-steamy, older brother’s best friend/brother’s best friend, age gap romance—it is a total romp, with a good amount of humor, a splash of angst, and a lot of spice.

What is it about? Henrietta Breminster is the belle-of-the-ton, but she has just made a mistake that could jeopardize everything. Tired of watching everyone else have fun while she is constrained by the rules for Regency debutantes, Henrietta decided to take her friend, Justin, the Earl of Hartley, up on his offer of a night of no-strings-attached pleasure. Unfortunately for her, after their tryst, Hartley reveals that he is actually in love with Henrietta and tries to pressure her into marriage—and Henrietta does not feel AT ALL the same way and is running out of ways to put him off. Enter her brother’s best friend, Hugh Aldershot, the Viscount of Tremberley, aka Trem. Trem hears Hartley talking about his night with Henrietta in their gentlemen’s club. He assumes that the earl is lying about his liaison with Henrietta and steps in to shut him up. When Trem confronts Henrietta about his claims, she finds herself confessing her sins to the handsome viscount, for whom she has always nursed a wicked crush. Once Trem vows to help her out of this delicate situation, they are drawn closer together than ever before. Henrietta and Trem soon realize that they might be perfect for each other…but, to make their relationship a reality, they must contend with a world (including her brother!) that does not want to see them together.

I am so excited to introduce this book to readers—it was so fun to write and is very much the daring, bold historical romance that I myself want to read. To give you a better sense of the book and celebrate its release, I present my five favorite moments from WHEN THE VISCOUNT WANTED ME below: the steamy, the sweet, and everything in between!

#1) When Trem DRAGS a passed-out Hartley to Breminster House

This moment is right at the beginning of the book and it really sets the tone for the wild fun to follow. Trem wants to punish Hartley for drunkenly blabbing about Henrietta in the premier gentleman’s club in London—but then the man stone-cold passes out from drinking. So Trem, along with the help of a friend of Hartley’s who he intimidates into submission, loads the inebriated earl up into his carriage and takes him to Breminster House to be dealt with by him and John, Henrietta’s brother. Of course, when he arrives there, he realizes that John is out and only Henrietta is at home.

#2) Henrietta’s response to Trem’s hypocrisy

When Trem finds out about Henrietta’s tryst with Hartley, he expresses his dismay at her actions—and asks how she could do something so irresponsible. Henrietta, however, does not waste any time clapping back and turns the tables on Trem. She asks him how he could do any of the irresponsible and reckless things that he has done over the years (he is a rake, after all!) and if he is really going to be that hypocritical. To Trem’s credit, he quickly sees her point and apologizes.

#3) The Drawing Room scene

Once they are thrust together by circumstance, it is not long before Trem starts to realize that his feelings for Henrietta have (even before this incident) begun to take on a distinctly non-brotherly cast. With Hartley still trying to court Henrietta despite her disinterest, Trem becomes increasingly infuriated by the young earl. When he comes across Hartley in Henrietta’s drawing room, he intimidates him into leaving—and then a very steamy scene between Henrietta and Trem ensues.

#4) Trem’s marriage proposal to Henrietta

The next day, Trem and Henrietta dance at a ball—and then sneak off onto the balcony. Trem wants to propose marriage to Henrietta because he can’t stand the idea of having anyone else as his wife or her marrying any other man (and she has a lot of suitors!), especially now that they’ve been intimate. Henrietta knows that he wants to propose, but she thinks it is only out of a sense of honor and because he wants to do the decent thing, particularly because she is his best friend’s sister. I won’t give away what exactly happens on the balcony, but I can guarantee it is very spicy and they come back to the ballroom engaged!

#5) Mr. Foxcroft

When Henrietta goes back to Trem’s estate towards the end of the book for their wedding, she meets his steward, Mr. Foxcroft, who is like a father to him. Trem has been an orphan since his parents died in a carriage accident when he was two years old and Henrietta knows that Trem tends to be very unsentimental about his parents’ deaths. However, when she meets Mr. Foxcroft, he reveals to her that, when Trem was a child, he made him recount the same story about what his parents were like over and over to him. Both Trem and Mr. Foxcroft remember every word of it even now—and they recite it to her.

Okay, so, as I wrote this list, I realized that I could have easily picked another five scenes and called them my favorites—such is my love for this book.

If you want to learn more about this book, the whole Rake Chronicles series, or just like talking historical romance, I encourage you to come over to my Instagram. I hope you love reading this book—and come back for the third in the series, WHEN THE EARL DESIRED ME, out May 14!

xoxo,
Lydia

About the Author.

Start the New Year Off Right! Check out our January 2024 Releases (Plus Giveaway!) Now!

January 1, 2024 · Posted by Tule Publishing

Read more about our new releases for January!

GIVEAWAY: We will pick ONE winner to receive a digital book of their choice from the January releases. Comment down below saying which book you’re looking most forward to reading! Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY. The winner will be randomly selected at the end of the month.

A Little Highland Magic
by Gerri Russell (Muse)

Release Date: January 9, 2024
Guardians of the Isles, Book 5

To have a future, she must face her past…

Half human, half fairy, Aria traveled to the human realm seeking safety with her family, the powerful MacLeods, where she is welcomed and accepted as a warrior. But her happiness will be short-lived if they discover her inadvertent role in their beloved mother’s death and the kidnapping of their infant brother, Kieran, by the cruel fairy king. Still, Aria plans to right the wrong by rescuing Kieren, but traveling to the fairy realm is dangerous and potentially a betrayal, for she must use the legendary Fairy Flag and its one last miracle to barter Kieran’s release.

Graeme Duff and his ancestors have served as flag bearer and protectors of Clan MacLeod for centuries. It’s his duty to guard the Fairy Flag, and when the beautiful, fierce, and intriguing Aria proposes using the flag to negotiate Kieran’s freedom, Graeme suspects treachery. He determines to accompany her, vowing to ignore the passion she evokes.

Can two independent warriors learn to trust? Or are they risking the destruction of everything they know and love?

Killer Close to Home
by Carol Light (Tule Mystery)

Release Date: January 11, 2024
Cluttered Crime Mysteries, Book 3

Not all clutter is visible to the human eye…

Professional organizer Crystal Ward’s latest client, her neighbor Roscoe Tremaine, is changing his will, an announcement that sets off an explosive reaction within his family. That same night, a gas leak ignites, destroying his house, killing him, and rocking the Ward family at its foundation.

Her husband, Rick, is injured in the blast, so Crys hires Roscoe’s former caregiver, Wink Keller, to help him recover after surgery. But trouble is just beginning. Both Crys and Wink are beneficiaries in Roscoe’s will, and their alliance sends accusations flying from the Tremaines’ side of the fence.

Crys has her hands full dealing with her client’s not-so-grieving relatives, a teenaged girl stalking Wink, and a suspicious fire inspector. But when threatening “gifts” left on the Wards’ doorstep escalate, Crys is forced to sort through a tangled web of relationships, including her own, to keep her family safe.

Was Roscoe’s death just an accident, or is there a killer close to home?

When the Viscount Wanted Me
by Lydia Lloyd (Muse)

Release Date: January 16, 2024
The Rake Chronicles, Book 2

Her reputation is at risk. He vows to help…but soon finds resisting her the greatest challenge of all.

When Lord Hugh Aldershot, the Viscount of Tremberley, overhears the drunken Earl of Hartley claiming to have bedded Lady Henrietta Breminster, his best friend’s little sister, he is livid. He drags the passed-out earl to Breminster House to face punishment for his blathering, only to find himself face-to-face with Lady Henrietta in a sexy night dress and little else.

When Lady Henrietta Breminster sees the Viscount of Tremberley dragging the unconscious Earl of Hartley to her doorstep, she panics. Not only was she indiscreet with the earl, but she has long nursed a flaming tendre for her brother’s best friend. Now she must ask Tremberley to help her keep her biggest mistake from the gossips of the ton.

Drawn closer by their efforts to subdue the jealous earl, Trem and Henrietta soon discover their own forbidden attraction. But even as Henrietta discovers true passion with Trem, she knows she could never marry for anything less than love.

Lucky Strike
by Janine Amesta (American Heart)

Release Date: January 23, 2024
Love in El Dorado, Book 3

Is finding an unexpected gem a lucky strike?

After getting a late jumpstart in life, Luna Lanza isn’t afraid to get what she wants, including the place of her dreams. When she loses out on the perfect duplex and settles for a standard apartment, she’s disappointed. But Luna remains determined to make it work, even if it sparks a contentious relationship with her new landlord– the same guy she accidentally kissed in an impromptu photo shoot.

Still grieving the sudden death of his brother, reformed bad boy Sam Sunderland feels trapped managing his father’s rundown apartment building. When the spunky beauty, who unexpectedly kissed him, moves in full of ideas, he can’t help being intrigued– that is until she starts changing things behind his back, endangering his position and the relationship with his father.

Sam and Luna wrangle over rules and misunderstandings while fighting against the undeniable attraction between them. It’s a hard lesson to learn that ‘perfect’ can take many different forms. But will the renovations they do together lay a foundation to something more?

A Stolen Shadow
by H L Marsay (Tule Mystery)

Release Date: January 25, 2024
Chief Inspector Shadow, Book 7

This winter, the York pantomime opens as a farce but closes as a murder scene…

Chief Inspector John Shadow returns from a rare holiday to Italy but before he can unpack, he’s investigating the theft of an antique sabre. Everyone involved assumes it’s a prank, however later that evening, a reluctant Shadow attends the local pantomime—his least favorite form of entertainment—with his star struck sergeant. They watch stunned as Prince Charming dies on stage. Shadow suspects poison and launches an investigation. When he discovers the missing sabre backstage, Shadow realises the theft was no joke and the entire cast and crew are murder suspects. Then another body is found….

John Shadow is a man of contradictions. A solitary figure who shuns company but is a keen observer of all he meets. A lover of good food, but whose fridge is almost always empty. He prefers to work alone but is assisted by the eager Sergeant Jimmy Chang. Together, the two men must work through an ever increasing list of jealous husbands, angry fathers and spurned lovers to discover the identity of the killer.

Someone Rotten Riding the Rails
by Kris Bock (Tule Mystery)

Release Date: January 30, 2024
The Accidental Detective, Book 6

Kate Tessler and her crew of misfits set out to blow the whistle on two feuding crime families . . .

Former war correspondent Kate Tessler has solved multiple murders since returning to her Arizona hometown, to the grudging appreciation of the local police. Now Detective Padilla and the FBI approach Kate with a proposal. Two Russian crime families have rented a private historic train to the Grand Canyon for their children’s wedding. The route is scenic and remote. No cell phones. The FBI needs to surveil, but anyone infiltrating the train must be above suspicion.

Kate poses as herself, sent by the newspaper to cover the society wedding, while her sister Jen is the photographer. Their multi-generational and eccentric crew pose as train staff. The goal is to observe, but that quickly derails when the groom disappears, and a search for him turns up a dead body. Everyone’s a suspect and trapped on the train.

The mob families won’t contact the police, so it’s up to Kate and friends to uncover the truth before their whole mission goes off the tracks.

this is a Regency romance with spice! But more than that, check out Author Lydia Lloyd’s favorite (non-spicy!) moments!!

August 28, 2023 · Posted by Tule Publishing

Hello everyone!

I am Lydia Lloyd and today is release day for my debut historical romance, WHEN THE DUKE LOVED ME. It is a steamy, tropetastic, enemies-to-lovers road trip romance and, hopefully, a whole lot of fun to read. My hero, John Breminster, and my heroine, Catherine Forster, first meet at a ball and soon find themselves in the gardens sharing a kiss…but soon discover that, due to a mix-up with their identities, they have stumbled into an embrace with the enemy. As it turns out, their families hate one another due to a scandal that disgraced both the Breminsters and the Forsters years before. John and Catherine are only drawn back together when John realizes that he has a big problem that only Catherine can help him solve. In need of cash, Catherine agrees to help him for a price. They set off across the English countryside together—with only their enmity and a whole lot of sexual tension between them.

Along the way, there a LOT of steamy moments between John and Catherine; this is a Regency romance with spice! If you’re interested in hearing about some of those scenes, head over to my Instagram @LydiaLloydRomance, where I’ve been highlighting the extra sultry interchanges between John and Catherine. For this blog post, though, I wanted to do another kind of list—while this book IS steamy, it also has a lot of sweet moments (and some of those steamy moments are super sweet!!). That said, I thought I would use this opportunity to describe my five favorite sweet moments in WHEN THE DUKE LOVED ME. So, here it goes…

#1) The letters between John and Ariel
When Catherine first agrees to work with John, her chosen family isn’t sure what to think. Catherine’s parents died years ago and she has lived since the age of eleven with her father’s friend, Lady Wethersby, and her son, Ariel. When the book opens, Ariel is ten years old and only starting to understand the world around him. When Catherine explains that she will be traveling with John, Ariel is very suspicious. He is super protective of Catherine, who he sees as kind of a combination between a sister and an aunt. So, Ariel sends John a letter threatening to duel him if he does anything to insult or harm Catherine. His letter is hilarious—it is shown on page with all of the misspellings that a ten-year-old would make—and it not quite as scary as Ariel intends. But it does show John how beloved Catherine is to Lady Wethersby and Ariel. And then, when John shows his letter back to Ariel to Catherine and she sees how kindly he responds to his concerns, it totally melts her heart.

#2) When John cleans Catherine’s fingers
Catherine is a scholar and so she is always taking notes, drafting, and editing. Because this book takes place in the Regency period, that means that she frequently has ink on her fingers…and it totally drives John wild. Seriously, he has a total fetish for her ink-stained fingers! When he is trying to resist his attraction to her and they are stuck in a small carriage together, they have a quick luncheon of bread and cheese…and John can’t stand the sight of Catherine’s ink-stained fingers any longer. He also can’t believe that she would eat with such dirty hands. He brusquely commands her to give him her hands and he cleans each of her fingers with the whiskey from a flask in his pocket. It is the first time that they have touched since their kiss in the gardens seven years before!

#3) Catherine and John in the apple orchard
When Catherine and John travel back to his estate, they are both forced to encounter the ghosts of their pasts. Catherine grew up on the estate that borders John’s, but it has long since been sold. After they have fallen for each other, Catherine and John walk in the apple orchard that marks the boundary between his estate and her old one. As they share an early-season apple, they trade stories about their childhoods and recall glimpsing each other at rare intervals when they were kids. Catherine tells John that she once saw him and his father walking together and remembers a snippet of conversation that she overheard. Her memory is super meaningful for John because his father has recently died and he remembers their walks in the orchards together, but he can’t recall what he and his father actually said to each other. Catherine gives him back a piece of his childhood in this scene and it really shows how they complete each other on so many levels.

#4) The Extra £500
When John and Catherine are traveling for hours in the carriage, they, of course, end up talking quite a bit. As John fails at containing his feelings for Catherine, he begins to ask her quite a few probing questions about her past, including whether she has ever had ~carnal relations~ with anyone. Of course, she refuses to dignify this question with a response…that is, until he offers to pay her £500 for the answer. With so much money on the table, she does answer (and you’ll have to read the book to hear her response!!). Much later in the book, when so much has happened since this moment and Catherine thinks that she and John can’t be together, he sends her the payment he promised her at the beginning of the book. She notices, however, that he has paid her an extra £500 and, at first, she is confused. Then, she remembers their conversation in the carriage and has to laugh—he has remembered his absurd promise to pay her a truly ungodly sum to answer his invasive question. It gives her a little bit of hope that they’ll find their way back to one another.

#5) John’s Grand Gesture
Okay, I am going to leave this moment a little bit of a mystery because I don’t want to spoil it. But I can say that this grand—and it’s quite grand!!—gesture happens in the epilogue. Let’s just say real estate purchases might be one of John’s love languages.

Well, that concludes my list. Thank you so much for reading. If you want to learn more about WHEN THE DUKE LOVED ME, the whole Rake Chronicles series, or just want to talk historical romance, I encourage you to come over to my Instagram. I hope you enjoy this book—and come back for the second in the series, WHEN THE VISCOUNT WANTED ME, in January!

xoxo,
Lydia

About the Author