THE WORST DUKE IN THE WORLD

A wayward duke must choose: will he be the bad hero in a love story gone awry, or the brave and clever hero who risks everything for true love?

Life's no bowl of cherries for Anthony Farr, the Duke of Radcliffe. Duty demands he remarry to provide a spare to go along with the heir - and eligible ladies keep trying to finagle him into a proposal. All he wants is to be a good father to his 8-year-old son, see the Duchess (his truly terrific pig) win first prize at the harvest fête, and stay single. Even if that makes him a Bad Duke. Maybe the Worst Duke in the World.

Then Miss Jane Kent, a long-lost relation of the illustrious Penhallow family, arrives in the neighborhood and is promptly befriended by the Duke's son. Jane, Anthony comes to realize, is smart and fun and also very kissable and dazzlingly desirable. Still, that's not enough to melt his resistance to marrying again. He made a stern promise to himself and promises must, of course, be kept.

But what if that's just his head talking, and his heart... is saying something entirely different?

Lisa Berne read her first Georgette Heyer book at fourteen, and was instantly captivated. Later, she was a graduate student, a grant writer, and an investment banker, but is thrilled to be returning to her roots and writing her own historical romance novels. She lives with her family in the Pacific Northwest.