Excerpts & Giveaway: Two Dukes and a Scandal Blog Tour

Two Dukes and a Scandal Tour

It Takes a Scandal by Caroline Linden

How to Lose a Duke in Ten Days by Laura Lee Guhrke

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Redemption of the Duke by Gayle Callen

It Takes a Scandal by Caroline Linden

The second book in a deliciously sexy new series from USA Today bestselling and RITA award winning author Caroline Linden, in which an utterly shocking book--Fifty Shades of Grey for the Regency era-- has all of London talking and gives more than one young miss a mind for scandal.

Sometimes it takes a scandal . . .

Abigail Weston has everything: beauty, wit, and one of the largest dowries in England. Her parents hope she’ll wed an earl. Abigail hopes for a man who wants her desperately and passionately. But the money seems to blind every man she meets-except one.

Sebastian Vane has nothing. He came home from war with a shattered leg to find his father mad and his inheritance gone. He’s not a fit suitor for anyone, let alone an heiress. But Abigail lights up his world like a comet, bright and beautiful and able to see him instead of his ruined reputation. And it might end happily ever after . . .

To reveal your heart’s desire

Until Benedict Lennox begins courting Abigail. Ben is everything Sebastian isn’t-wealthy, charming, heir to an earl. Sebastian won’t give up the only girl he’s ever loved without a fight, but Abigail must choose between the penniless gentleman who moves her heart, and the suitor who is everything her parents want.

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Teaser:

“Don’t mind him,” said a voice. “He won’t hurt you.”

The sound of someone so near almost sent her leaping out of her skin. It took her a moment to locate the speaker. He wore a brown coat that blended with the trees, but took off his hat as he approached.

“He startled me,” she managed to say.

The stranger’s mouth quirked. “He does that sometimes. Sit,” he said to his dog, who obediently sat. “Is that your dog in the bracken?”

“Yes. I mean, it’s my mother’s dog,” she replied. “Milo. He’s only a puppy, but he ran off and I think he might have a rabbit in his mouth.”

He looked toward the whimpering sounds. “A terrier?”

“Yes, a small golden brown one.”

He nodded. “I’ll fetch him out.” He glanced at her dress. “You don’t seem well-dressed for walking in the woods.”

She blushed, and realized she was still holding her gown in a death grip, pulling the fabric tightly around her hips and exposing her legs almost to the knee. “I didn’t plan to walk in the woods. The cursed dog ran away, and I was chasing him.” She released her skirts, fluffing them a bit.

His gaze flicked downward for a moment, following the descent of her skirt. “It looks like a very elegant party you’re attending. I don’t want to keep you from it.” He hung his hat on a branch just over his head and headed into the thicket of bracken and fallen trees, whistling between his teeth as he went. Only when he had to step over a tree branch did she notice he used a cane, pressed tight to his left side.

“Thank you, sir,” Abigail called after him self-consciously.

How to Lose a Duke in Ten Days by Laura Lee Cuhrke

From USA Today bestselling author Laura Lee Guhrke comes the story of a bargain, a marriage of convenience…and the chance for love to last a lifetime

They had a deal…

From the moment she met the devil-may-care Duke of Margrave, Edie knew he could change her life. And when he agreed to her outrageous proposal of a marriage of convenience, she was transformed from ruined American heiress to English duchess. Five years later, she’s delighted with their arrangement, especially since her husband is living on another continent.

But deals are made to be broken…

By marrying an heiress, Stuart was able to pay his family’s enormous debts, and Edie’s terms that he leave England forever seemed a small price to pay. But when a brush with death impels him home, he decides it’s time for a real marriage with his luscious American bride, and he proposes a bold new bargain: ten days to win her willing kiss. But is ten days enough to win her heart?

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Excerpt:

The image of her moonlit face, as luminous and smooth as alabaster, flashed across his mind, as vivid now as it had been that fateful night at Hanford House—so vivid, in fact, that despite his many efforts over the years not to think of her, he’d failed more often than he’d succeeded. It had been her image that invaded his dreams during his delirium-filled fever, not the dangerous events that had nearly killed him. Even now, he could hear her voice clearly, so resolute and uncompromising. That you never, ever come back. Well, as he’d told her then, never was a long time. Circumstances changed, and plans went awry. His certainly had. He turned on the carriage seat, grimacing as he shifted his weight onto one hip and stretched out his leg. The sea voyage from Mombasa to Constantinople hadn’t been too bad, even without Jones. He felt another grimace of pain that had nothing to do with his leg, and he put his valet out of his mind. Jones was gone, and there was nothing he could do about that. He focused on the pain in his leg instead. That was easier to bear. On the ship, he’d been able to move about freely, but trains and carriages were a different matter. The muscles of his thigh had knotted up before he’d even reached Rome, and by now they were so constricted that he felt his right leg must surely be at least an inch shorter than his left.

“What happened to your leg?”

Stuart glanced at the girl seated opposite him. “Do you always ask impertinent questions?”

That made her grin. “All the time. It drives Mrs. Simmons mad.”

“I don’t doubt it. But to answer your question, I was mauled by a lioness.”

Her brown eyes went wide. “Really? How exciting.”

Stuart settled back in the corner of his seat, giving her a wry look. He unknotted his tie and removed his collar stud, something he’d been longing to do ever since he’d put them on. Nothing like a stiff, tight collar to remind a man of all that was wrong with civilization.


“It wasn’t the least bit exciting, my dear girl,” he assured Joanna as he dropped his stud into his pocket and pulled apart his collar. “I almost died.”

Redemption of the Duke by Gayle Callen

USA Today bestselling author Gayle Callen concludes her new series with a tale of generosity, passion, and the true kindness of the heart.

A duke who needs to be tamed…a lady who refuses to be rescued.

Adam Chamberlin was the third son of a duke, known for gambling binges and drunken nights. No one expected anything of him …until tragedy strikes. Now Adam is the new Duke of Rothford, determined to right the wrongs he’s done. Except a secret in his past means helping the one woman who doesn’t want his help at all…

It’s not every day that a duke introduces himself to a woman sitting by herself in Hyde Park. Faith Cooper is even more surprised when Adam offers her a position as a lady’s companion to his elderly aunt. Faith refuses to be beholden to a man again-certainly not this man, who both infuriates and attracts her. But with the simmering passion between them, will Faith surrender to forbidden desire?

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Excerpt:

(Setup: The duke wishes to employ Faith to help her, since he feels guilty about the death of her brother, a fellow soldier. But she’s refused.)

Faith gasped and put a hand to her chest, glancing up and down to see if they were alone before frowning at him.

And they were alone, more so than they’d been in the park or on Bond Street. They were dangerously alone.

“Can Miss Warburton work you any harder?” he asked softly.

She took a step backward. “Believe me, Your Grace, I would fetch a reticule for a sister or friend, why not Adelia? You make too much of how I help her.”

“I don’t think so. I saw your bare hands at dinner.”

She clutched them together, though they were now hidden under gloves. “You could not have—we were too far apart.”

“Not that far. You are embarrassed about their roughness, embarrassed about what you do.”

“I may not like the look of my hands,” she insisted, “but I am not embarrassed by respectable employment.”

“I’ve offered you better employment.”

“And I’ve refused.”

He took a step closer. “I could push the matter.”

She groaned and wished she could childishly stomp her foot. “And I will still refuse. I cannot make you feel better about yourself.”

“That is not the point—I can make your life better.”

She stared up at him in confusion, wondering how long it would be before he’d take her at her word. And then she realized she was standing too close, that he was leaning over her to make his point, that if anyone saw them—

And worst of all, she was actually flattered by his persistence.

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Author Bio’s:

Caroline Linden was born a reader, not a writer. She earned a math degree from Harvard University and wrote computer software before turning to writing fiction. Ten years, twelve books, two Red Sox championships, and one dog later, she has never been happier with her decision. Her books have won the NEC Reader’s Choice Beanpot Award, the Daphne du Maurier Award, and RWA’s RITA Award. Since she never won any prizes in math, she takes this as a sign that her decision was also a smart one. Visit her online at www.carolinelinden.com

Laura Lee Guhrke spent seven years in advertising, had a successful catering business, and managed a construction company before she decided writing novels was more fun. A New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Laura has penned over twenty historical romances. Her books have received many award nominations, and she is the recipient of romance fiction’s highest honor: the Romance Writers of America RITA Award. She lives in the Northwest with her husband (or, as she calls him, her very own romance hero), along with two diva cats and a Golden Retriever happy to be their slave. Laura loves hearing from readers, and you can contact her via her website: www.lauraleeguhrke.com.

After a detour through fitness instructing and computer programming, Gayle Callen found the life she’d always dreamed of as a romance writer. This USA Today bestselling author has written more than eighteen historical romances for Avon Books, and her novels have won the Holt Medallion and the Laurel Wreath Award.

Gayle lives in Central New York with her three children, her dog, Apollo, and her husband, Jim the Romance Hero.

Visit her website at www.gaylecallen.com.

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