Second Duke's the Charm: 1 (Her Majesty's Rebels)

The wedding-night death of her much older husband - and one tiny lie - left Tess Townsend the Dowager Duchess of Wansford.Now she and her two best friends run King & co, London's most discreet investigative agency.Longing to taste the physical pleasure she’s never experienced but unwilling to risk her hard-won independence by marrying again, she realises a scandalous offer from the handsome new Duke could be the answer to her prayers . . . Cynical shipping magnate Justin Thornton never expected to inherit a dukedom, but he’ll do his duty.He’ll marry some suitable chit, set the duchy to rights, and return to his old life within the year.So when the ravishing woman he kissed at a party turns out to be the Dowager Duchess, Justin makes the most logical suggestion: a year-long marriage of convenience - and passion - that will suit them both. The attraction that sparks between them is undeniable, but as Tess works on a new case at the behest of Queen Charlotte, her increasingly suspicious b