Love at first smile…

Charmingly wicked, Johnny Winter has spent his adulthood drifting from scandal to scandal. However, inheriting the dukedom of Dearham has him considering his responsibilities, one of which is to right the wrong done to a distant cousin twenty years ago. His search takes him to Maida Pleasure Gardens, where he is distracted by an unusual and intriguing beauty.

The first time Kitty saw the gentleman with the bone-melting smile, she lost her heart.

When, more than a year later, she finally dances with him, the moment is spoiled by having to tie him up at gunpoint. For Kitty is the niece of the infamous Bill Renwick, who owns Maida Gardens and lives too close to the edges of the law. And Johnny has seen too much.

So begins an impossible attraction – made all the more dangerous by the duke’s belief that she is his long-lost relation.

Torn between the only family she knows and her longing for the duke, Kitty’s quandary is taken out of her hands by an attempt on her life. Learning to be a lady in the duke’s household brings further complications, not least her increasing obsession with her unconventional host, the man behind the mask he shows the world.

The duke sees beyond the mystery of Kitty’s origins, but can she? And having finally found the love of his life, can he keep her safe and still find a way for them to be together?