Esme has no choice but to tell Marcus the truth: She’s a spy for the Crown, and she believes that Victoria’s life is still in danger. When Marcus follows her one night, they have a dangerous altercation with criminals that injures them both.

Marcus cannot trust this independent, strong-willed woman who is definitely keeping secrets, and he’s horrified by his attraction toward the woman who was his father’s lover. He contacts his father’s mistress, Esme Lancaster, certain she has information about the extent of his father’s involvement in the conspiracy. A year later, Marcus begins to investigate his father’s crimes, determined to restore the family’s name. The family is stripped of their land, wealth, and titles, leaving Marcus and his siblings disgraced and penniless. Marcus Stanwick was next in line to the Dukedom of Wolfford when his father was arrested and executed for plotting to kill Queen Victoria.

But giving into temptation comes at a cost, and they must decide if love is worth the risk of losing their one chance for redemption.A man tries to exonerate his father and reclaim his title. Soon, they’re unable to deny their growing desire for each other. She doesn’t trust Marcus but can’t deny the handsome devil makes her wonder if she does indeed possess a heart, one he could very easily steal.Īs their hunt for the truth leads them into danger, Marcus finds Esme isn’t cold and calculating as he’d assumed but fire and brimstone, with courage and determination to match his own. Harboring secrets, Esme Lancaster has her own reasons for wanting to discover who’s behind the conspiracy that’s still afoot. His search forces him to turn to a woman he despises for her unforgiveable betrayal-a woman known as the heartless harlot. Vowing to return honor to his family, he seeks to expose the others involved in the treasonous plot and bring them to justice. When his father, the Duke of Wolfford, is hanged for an assassination attempt on Queen Victoria, Marcus Stanwick is stripped of everything. In the thrilling third book in bestselling author Lorraine Heath’s Once Upon a Dukedom series, the dashing son of a disgraced duke teams up with a sultry beauty to thwart an assassination plot against Queen Victoria.

The return of the duke lorraine heath