Elizabeth is sent to the Gervase, Duke of Diable Delamare, by her stepfather, she thinks to perform chores for him and he thinks for a night in his bed. She ends up in his household working at decoding cryptic notes detailing an assassination attempt as well as to receive lessons in becoming a courtesan so that she can earn money to support her invalid brother.
While I enjoy Ms. Pearce's work, this one was kind of a mess. You had the dark 'alpha' Duke, the plain bluestocking virgin, a spy caper, the evil gambling stepfather, the first wife who betrayed the Duke, and several other tropes one can find in a Regency romance. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind tropes, but this book seemed to throw them all in without following through to a logical conclusion or giving good backstory to explain whatever was going on. There wasn't much real connection between the hero and heroine, at least in my opinion. He didn't always seem that interested in even forwarding her 'education' at times. I did like Gervase, I just wish he had been developed more. Elizabeth was more of a puzzle. Sometimes she's very docile and others a bit of a shrew. I did like some of the secondary characters, but I wish this had been a more concise story. ( )