A desperate woman fleeing chaos from the French Revolution blackmails a powerful noble in Anna Cowan's smoldering sapphic Regency romance, The Duke. In Cowan's England, women can inherit and hold titles, and her female characters are every bit as dissolute or ruthless as the men who populate classic historical romances.
Kate, the Duke of Howard, has single-mindedly fought her way to a level of power that no one can challenge. But she has a secret: she's responsible for her family's death due to accusations of treason stemming from a foolish prank letter she wrote in her youth. When a bedraggled Celine arrives at her door claiming to have the letter, Kate has no choice but to agree to Celine's demands that Kate introduce her in society and secure her a comfortable marriage.
Former mistress and sex worker Celine has been under the thumb of powerful men since childhood and knows exactly how to use her prodigious skills to charm the ton and the duke. Kate is harsh, unyielding, and determined to rid herself of Celine and the letter for good--if only the two women weren't so drawn to each other.
Cowan (Untamed) employs time-honored romance tropes to great effect, gender-swapping the archetype of the brooding aristocrat with fantastic thighs to create the same dynamics in a sapphic relationship. Fans of romances by Loretta Chase and Sarah MacLean and readers who dream of tall, powerful women brought to their knees for the women they love will adore The Duke. --Suzanne Krohn, librarian