My One and Only Duke
Series: Rogues to Riches #1
Author: Grace Burrowes
Published November 6th 2018 by Piatkus

Goodreads Synopsis
New York Times bestselling author Grace Burrowes introduces us to the unconventional Wentworth family in this charming Regency romance with a Cinderella twist.

A funny thing happened on the way to the gallows...
One minute, London banker Quinn Wentworth is facing execution. The next, he's declared the long-lost heir to a dukedom. Quinn has fought his way up from the vilest slums, and now he's ready to use every dirty trick he knows to find the enemy who schemed against him.

There was just one tiny problem...
Jane Winston, the widowed, pregnant daughter of a meddlesome prison preacher, crosses paths with Quinn in jail. Believing his days are numbered, Quinn offers Jane marriage as a way to guarantee her independence and provide for her child. Neither thinks they'll actually have a future together.

They were wrong.
He's a wealthy gutter rat out for vengeance. She's a minister's daughter who must turn a marriage of desperation into a proper ducal union. Are they doomed from the start or destined for a happily-ever-after?
Goodreads

Review
After being arrested on trumped up charges, banker Quinn Wentworth is facing the hangman's noose. When the pregnant daughter of the prison preacher, Jane Winston, appears in his cell one day, he offers her marriage. His aim is to give her his name, guarantee her independence away from her controlling father, and provide for the baby, even if he won't be here. However, it's soon revealed Quinn is the heir to a defunct dukedom, and he's spared the noose. Now married, but never expecting to be together, Jane faces the prospect of becoming a duchess, a mother, and a wife, all to a man who she knows next to nothing about.

I discovered this in my local library one day and the synopsis so intrigued me I knew I needed to borrow it. Jane and Quinn are characters who have a past, and both are protective of their loved ones. For Jane, she's the daughter of an uptight and pompous preacher, who married without his permission and is recently widowed. Her father refuses to accept that she was married, and treats her abominably for being pregnant. She needs to get away from him, and Quinn was the perfect choice. Quinn, and his younger siblings, were all abused by their alcoholic father in their youth - even so far as leaving permanent injuries to Stephen - and Quinn managed to drag himself, and later his family, out of the gutters of York to make something of himself. Because of this, and his prowess as a banker, he's made enemies in his time, and one is the reason behind his imprisonment and death sentence. I loved the mystery element of the story, to discover who was out to get Quinn, and the Wentworth's, and their plot to bring them down. Jane and Quinn's relationship was lovely to read too. It started off stiff, as they were complete strangers when they were thrust into society as the new Duke and Duchess of Walden, but they put up a united front, and soon sparked up a budding friendship. They fell for each other incrementally, but realistically, and I felt like their romance was perfect for them as a couple. I hope we see more of them in the subsequent books, and can't wait to see what else is in store for the rest of Wentworth clan.

Dates Read:
October 22-23, 2020

Rating
4 Stars