Ransom quickly becomes determined to figure out how they found themselves in their current predicament and enlists Izzy’s help by employing her as his secretary. But when Ransom refuses to give up possession of his ancestral home, the two find themselves in an untenable stalemate, neither willing to concede defeat or relinquish a property that means the world to them, despite a troubling abundance of bats and an absence of windows. When she arrives at her new home, however, where she once expected turrets and ramparts, parapets and parks, Izzy is instead greeted with something far more magnificent and unexpected: The imposing figure of Ransom William Dacre Vane, the eleventh Duke of Rothbury, whose dark beauty stops Izzy dead in her tracks, despite the scar that mars the right side of his face.

Her inheritance? Gostley Castle in the middle of ‘Nowhere, Northumberland’, once the seat of the Rothbury Dukedom. That is, until she receives an unexpected letter informing her that she has been left a bequest by her father’s patron, the late Earl of Lynford. Penniless, parentless and now homeless following the sudden and untimely loss of her father to apoplexy, Izzy scarcely has two shillings to rub together and finds herself in desperate straights. Unfortunately, as a now plain, unmarried twenty-six-year-old women who has never even been kissed, her life seems more akin to a comic tragedy than to the romantic fairytales she once dreamt about as a little girl. With a name like Isolde Ophelia Goodnight, Izzy has always imagined that she was destined for great things. And for as long as she could remember, Izzy had been waiting – with dwindling faith and increasing impatience – for that part of her life to begin.” Swooning, star-crossed, legendary romance. What fairy tales are left over for an impoverished twenty-six year-old woman who’s never even been kissed?īecause the name Isolde Ophelia Goodnight also suggested romance. Now Izzy’s given up yearning for romance.

Rescued from drudgery by charming prince? The storybooks offered endless possibilities.Īnd as she grew older, Izzy crossed them off. She never doubted romance would be in her future, too.

ChaptersĪs the daughter of a famed author, Isolde Ophelia Goodnight grew up on tales of brave knights and fair maidens.

Source & Format Purchased from, eBookįind It On Goodreads Part of a Series? Yes (Book 1 in the Castles Ever After series)

Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare