The Pursuit of a Duchess

The Ladies of the Aristocracy

by Linda Rae Sande

A young suitor with his eyes on a forbidden love... and an old feud that threatens to tear them apart.

Locked in a secret romance with the stunning Lady Amelia, Philip, the Earl of Crawford, is determined to win her hand in marriage... but if her pompous brother Alfred catches wind, he fears their old University feud will shatter their chance at love.

Michael is no stranger to heartbreak – and he’s dead set on not letting his son Philip experience the same pain. But the reclusive widower’s mission to save their courtship brings him face-to-face with a long-lost love – the Duchess Helena, Lady Amelia’s mother. Can they rekindle their spark after three decades apart? And will Helena ever approve of her daughter’s secretive suitor?

Meanwhile, Philip’s sister Violet hatches a plan to draw both families together. She catches the eye of Helena’s son Alfred – but what begins as a fake courtship quickly begins to become all too real. Is she willing to sacrifice the future for her brother and best friend? Or are these two families fated to remain apart?

Beautifully written as a scintillating Victorian romance novel that charms your heartstrings with themes of forbidden romance and second chance love, The Pursuit of a Duchess transports you into the enchanting world of 19th-century aristocratic society, complete with authentic historical detail and unforgettable characters. Scroll up and grab your copy now...

Genres: Historical Romance

332 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 30, 2024

About the author

A self-described nerd and lover of science, Linda Rae spent many years as a published technical writer specializing in 3D graphics workstations, software and 3D animation (her movie credits include SHREK and SHREK 2). An interest in genealogy led to years of research on the Regency era and a desire to write fiction based in that time.

A fan of action-adventure movies, she can frequently be found at the local cinema. Although she no longer has any fish, she follows the San Jose Sharks. She makes her home in Cody, Wyoming. More information about her books can be found at www.lindaraesande.com.

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thirty years ago Michael, Earl of Crawford & heir to the Marquis of Fenwick & Lady Helena were madly in love but Michael’s suit was rejected as Helena, unbeknown to her, was betrothed to another. So Michael retires to the country & marries a neighbour’s daughter. Now both Michael & Helena are widowed & their daughter are making their society debuts & their sons are in London too. Locked in a secret romance with Lady Amelia, Philip is determined to win her hand in marriage but he has to gain permission from her brother Alfred & they had a huge falling out at university. Philip’s sister Violet hatches a plan to draw both families together. She catches the eye of Alfred – but what begins as a fake courtship quickly begins to become all too real. Add to the mix that Philip & Violet are Michael’s children & Alfred & Amelia are Helena’s children, so the scene is set especially now that Helena is out of her mourning period & Michael returns to London
I thoroughly enjoyed this fun & entertaining romance with not one but three romances. The characters are well portrayed & the pace is good & never lags & the chemistry sizzles. I loved that Michael & Helena finally had their HEA & that they were willing to fight for their children. Philip & Amelia’s romance was straight forward but it was Alfred & Violet’s which was my favourite & they were my favourite characters. He was floundering under the burdens of the dukedom & it was only when he ‘let others in’ that he relaxed & became a very likeable character. She’s resourceful & plans to help her brother but falls for Alfred but when her identity is revealed how will he react
My review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a fabulously entertaining read!
Lady Amelia has a secret romance with Philip, the earl of Crawford. Her brother Alfred and Philip have a bad history since their university days.
Philip's father, a widowed marquess was Amelia's mother Helena's, first love. After Helena's father married her off to a Duke Michael, the marquess, went on with his life. He is now back in London and doesn't want the same thing to happen to his son. He has never stopped loving Helena.
Philip's sister Violet decides to try to unite the two families together through the pompous duke Alfred.
The chemistry between all of the characters is captivating and wonderful.
This book has a lovely second chance romance, a secret romance and a fake to real one.
It is beautifully written and flows together seamlessly with lots of interesting side characters.

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun romp, when three couples find their happiness. They also get a bunch of new relatives. The older couple had to wait 30 years until her first husband, through an arranged marriage, passed on. Fans of romance shouldn't miss this one.

[Linda Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the end Alfred gets his lifelong desire and happiness comes to all…
Oh. My. Word! After I got the swing of having three separate couples’ romances play out in one book, I loved it. With this book you get three tropes: second chance with Michael and Helena; secret with Amelia and Philip; and lastly, the fake trope with a twist. What if only one of them knows that it is fake? There were humorous, serious and frivolous moments with touching, happy or even sad consequences. Very entertaining book! The “bedroom scenes” are less explicit and more romantic or even humorous but still delightful.
I’ll admit that making a chart of the relationships made it easier to follow and so after a while, I didn’t need it anymore. In the beginning it was quite beneficial, especially since their titles are very different than their actual sir names. Then, having each family have one daughter and one son made it challenging. All-in-all I quite enjoyed the intricacies of the multiple romances happening at the same time. This book would make a fascinating stage play. I enjoyed reading a hint of the ending in the “Author’s Notes.” I volunteered to review an ARC of this book.

[Zena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just WOW!
Three amazing tales, all cleverly intertwined so that every participant is linked in some way in a single story.
I had moments when I thought that certain couples most definitely would not find their happy ever after, but how wrong I was! Each tale is so beautifully written, interesting, witty, entertaining and breath-holding
Some very clever and crafty writing in this book - for sure!
I have also enjoyed getting to know each character and empathising with them as they fell in love and fought for what they rightly deserved.
I am happy to recommend this book having read an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of it and am voluntarily leaving my honest review.

[Liz Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another triumph by Linda Rae Sande. You can be guaranteed to get more than one HEA with her books. The characters were well described and you could feel all the emotions that the main characters went through.
What starts as a tangled web, ends with the happiness of all concerned.
Great read and highly recommend to anyone who loves a good page turner.
Congratulations Linda for another fabulous book.

[Barbara Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barbara’s rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Series: The Ladies of the Aristocracy
Publication Date: 4/30/24
Period: Regency – 1814 London
Number of Pages: 332

This entertaining book presents us with three romances all gloriously intertwined. Three couples whose lives and happiness are all interwoven into an intricate knot that will see them all reach the very best of HEAs. There is even a lovely epilogue showing that our couples' happiness has spanned the years. Yes, I certainly enjoyed it.

Thirty years ago, Michael Cummings, Marquess of Fenwick, and Lady Helena, daughter of the Duke of Woodleigh, loved each other desperately and wanted to marry. Thanks to her cruel, uncaring, unfeeling father, she was forced to marry the Duke of Weston instead. Although it was an arranged marriage, Helena went on to have two children – a son named Alfred, and a daughter named Amelia. The marriage was unhappy, but at least she got her children out of it. Michael went on to marry, though he didn’t love the woman and she knew it. She did love Michael and they were happy even though Michael was always in love with Helena. Michael also went on to have two children – a son named Philip and a daughter named Violet.

Fast forward thirty years and both Michael and Helena are widowed. Michael can hardly wait for Helena’s mourning period to be over so he can see her again. He still loves her as much as he did thirty years ago. Does she still love him? Will she be happy to see him? He hasn’t set foot in London for thirty years – but he is so excited to get back there and see his one true love.

In the meantime (in London) – Michael’s son has fallen madly in love with Helena’s daughter – and she returns that love. Michael and Alfred were friends once, but they had a serious falling out and Alfred has hated Philip since. Michael and Amelia fear Alfred will refuse his permission to marry out of spite. How can they get his approval? There has to be a way.

Violet is Amelia’s best friend and she desperately wants to help convince Alfred to agree to Amelia and Philip marrying. However, he isn't what she expected when she meets Alfred and spends time with him. Why does he seem so different from Amelia’s description of him? He isn’t unpleasant at all? As a matter of fact – it wouldn’t take much for Violet to come to care for him. OOPS!

This is a fun read with characters you will very quickly come to love and you’ll surely be rooting for them all to figure it out – no matter how twisted and convoluted it all seems. Will we get three weddings? You bet we will and it was a blast watching them all work through the pretzel twist of things to get there. I enjoyed this read and can definitely recommend it. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. HAPPY READING!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Margaret Watkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who could have predicted the long-term consequences of the Duke of Woodleigh's refusal to allow the young Lord Crawford to court his beautiful daughter, Helena? Three decades later the late Duke had to be turning in his grave as the members of both households are drawn together as if by powerful magnets. Unfortunately, it is not without some tension and hard feelings as Philip secretly courts the new Duke's sister. This novel is entertaining and romantic, as well as witty with some laugh-out-loud moments, especially when the star-crossed lovers finally have their chance at finding love and a future together. It takes Alfred a little time to thaw towards Philip and his sister, given the harsh upbringing he had under his father's unrelenting hand, but when he takes time to investigate the situation logically, he discovers there is no shame in letting go of the past and groveling, if necessary. This romance comes to a delightful conclusion, bringing about a somewhat unorthodox outcome, probably one that would be gossiped about for years. I received a copy of this well-written standalone book as a gift and this is my honest and voluntary review.

[DD · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like that this authors books usually have two or three stories going on at once. In this case Duchess Helene is now a widow with two children just launched into society, but her husband made her life miserable, mainly because her father made her honour his contract rather than !sorry the man she loved.
Michael is a widower with two grown children, prevented from marrying the love of his like Helene, he .arrived a local lady and remained out of society.
But his son is courting Helenes daughter, and their sons had a falling out at university. His daughter Violet is distracting Alfred the new duke so he's not aware of her brother courting his sister who happens to be Violets best friend.
But Michael reconnect with Helene and both are overjoyed.

Similar to the Lady of a Grump this scenario is a familiar trope of this author. But as the books are on the whole I rereading you can nearly forgive her.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
This is a fun, entertaining, good read. The story is about three couples at various stages of love and their entangled family. Each of the romances is full of twists and turns both on their own and because of the other romances. The characters are vastly different and yet very similar – they are relatable, intriguing, complex, wounded, interesting, entertaining. Of all the characters, Alfred is the most complex and changes the most throughout the course of the story – it’s fun to read. The secondary characters added to the fabric of the story and my enjoyment. The story is easy to read and get into.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Debbie Henretty · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Pursuit of a Duchess has some of my favorite tropes. There’s second chance love, best friend’s brother, and grumpy/sunshine, all with a mix of miscommunication. Makes for a lot of fun watching these characters fall in love (or fall in love again)!

After many years apart, Michael, Marquess of Fenwick, is determined to win back his first love after the death of her husband (and the appropriate mourning period!). Michael’s son, Philip, is in love but is worried the lady’s brother will not approve of the match. Michael’s daughter, Violet, ends up being very resourceful when it comes to helping out her brother and is much more successful at matchmaking than she realized!

This story reads quickly, with lots of great banter between the characters. I didn’t want to put it down!

[Carolyn Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second book by this author. There is so much going on that at first I was a bit confused who the story was about. As before, you get three romances for the price of one. Once I figured this out, the story was so enjoyable. I did get a good chuckle in chapter 35. There is some spice. The only drawback I found was the phrase “playing house”. In thousands of romance books, I have never seen an author use this. I could have overlooked it but it was used so much I started to cringe when I saw the words. That aside, it is a wonderful story with great characters and definitely worth the read.

[Cindy C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic read! Three couples romance interweaved in one story. Linda Rae Sande has given readers a book that is well-written, filled it with a great cast of characters, they hold your attention as their individual personalities become more than just part of the tale they come off the pages and pull you into their story with a great cast of characters that come off the pages and pull you into this emotional ride that keeps you involved until the very end. The Pursuit of a Duchess is a second chance at love, a secret romance and a surprise romance passion, with passion, witty banter and an enjoyable plot that keeps you involved until the very end.

[Ann Gonzalez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story got longer every time I had to to read "play(ing) house". I get it was a phrase at the time, but seventeen times in the book. Crawford is in love with Amelia. Amelia is Weston's sister. Crawford and Weston no longer like each other. Crawford's sister, Violet, is friends with Amelia and in love with Amelia's brother Weston. Crawford's father is in love with Amelia and Weston's mother and has been for 30 years and can now act on it since her husband died. So everyone in this family is sneaking around and keeping secrets until they all have a HEA. Not a bad book, but could have possibly been shorter. If felt so long.

[Marcilla Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book was prepared to give it a five, but did not enjoy the ending. This book held my interest throughout. Three different couples to find their HEA so there was plenty going on. Hated the fact that the Mother just casually invites the Father to spend the night in her apartments of the house as if she had no concerns about how her daughter and son would view this action. Daughter One was not shock to see him descending the stairs from her mother's apartment before breakfast concerning the Mother and the Father were not married. One of the son's go and spend the night with his love interest and it barely raised an eyebrow. That being said, I enjoy the majority of the book.

[Texastwang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow - I absolutely adore these books. So much I devour them as soon as I get them. Three romances in one. Two sets of brother and sister each falling for the others sibling. PLUS the parents!! How all this is intertwined at first can be off putting. But it is definitely worth the read for the complexity and the wonderful story. I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with guidelines.

[Gloria Pastorino · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always read Linda Rae Sande’s books with great pleasure and this one was no exception. It was funny, endearing and really good. I loved the interwoven love stories between siblings and parents and I was captivated by the banter between the characters and by the historical tidbits. The only flaw is the overabundance of characters (presumably) from older books that I didn’t know and I lost track of them after a few pages. But of course it didn’t detract anything from the pleasantness of the story.

[Corinne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is a first - three couples involved! We have a 2nd chance story and a more or less one-sided family feud. While some characters shed tears, it's an overall light-hearted and happy story. It's well-paced with good dialogue and a sweet epilogue.
I recommend this as an entertaining read.
I read an advance copy and voluntarily share my thoughts.

[Iris · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful novel!

What fun! Not just one, not only two, but three couples with HEAs. It is always great fun to read Linda Rae Sande’s books due to the research as well as the inclusion of characters from previous novels. I enjoy stories with interconnected characters - it is interesting to catch up with “old friends“.

[Denise Tocci · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most enjoyable stories I have read so far this year. The term "playing house" has a great new meaning for me. Lots of characters all eventually lovable and made easy ( by the author) to keep straight Highly recommend keeps you on pace for a quick great read.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh what a tangled web! I loved the ins and outs of everything going on in this story leaving Alfred and Violet free to get up to their shenanigans. It kept my attention until the very end.

[Aj · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming Victorian romance, lost love, forbidden love and second chances with heartwarming familial connections. An enjoyable story to read.

[Joyce E Patton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book - many characters from other books. Enjoyable read.

[Emma Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! Finally an older couple getting the spotlight. All comes full circle in this story. With their children involved. A great weekend read. Thank you Linda xxxx