Finding a dead earl in your debutante sister’s bed is NOT what you want after a long journey back from India

Captain Maximus Harcourt, the reluctant tenth Duke of Alderidge, comes home after several years away in India to discover that there is a big ball at his house, his younger sister is missing without a trace, and there is a naked earl tied to his sister’s bed with red ribbons. Oh, the earl is very much dead. Already in the room is Miss Ivory Moore, a society fixer working for Chagarre & Associates. She was hired by the duke’s aunt and intends to make sure that not a whiff of scandal attaches to the duke’s household or his debutante sister’s reputation. Her first order of business is to get the earl dressed and placed in a different bed, so that his body can be found by a servant later in the evening, making it seem as if he was taken ill and died, completely unconnected to anything to do with the young lady of the house. She makes sure a double wearing a wig and the girl’s dress is seen in the distance by enough people at the ball that her whereabouts will not be questioned.

Harcourt is appalled by Ivory’s cold and business-like manner and he certainly doesn’t enjoy being ordered around. He quickly comes to realise that she is his only chance at finding his sister, who may or may not have been taken from his house by force. Unlike other nobles who hire Chagarre & Associates, Harcourt doesn’t intend to just sit back and let others do all the work. He insists on working with the exasperating Miss Moore, and the more time they spend together, the harder it is for him to get her out of his mind.

I always enjoy discovering a new romance author. Here’s what I thought of the book.