How to Deceive a Duke by Lecia Cornwall

Lady Marguerite Lynton is doing whatever it takes to protect her family from the poor house and when a duchess appears and asks her older sister to marry her grandson, the notorious Devil Duke of Temberlay, she feels like their fate in life is finally changing since her fathers sudden death.  But her sister is not strong enough to deal the the devil and runs away and Meg does what she feels she must do...she marries the duke instead.  After all, it is his fault he does not know the difference between her sister, a beauty, and herself, not a beauty according to her family.  However, when Nicholas finds out the truth he is livid.  He is already disgusted with having to marry at all, but he needs his grandmothers funds after his brothers death.  He never expected to inherit a dukedom and had no training for it and does not want to shoulder all the responsibility it entails now, instead going to war and he has no desire to be with a woman that can be bought so easily and plans to treat her with little respect.  However, after the truth is revealed, he finds himself falling for this fiery, strong beauty who seemed to be overlook by her whole family.  Yet he can not express his feelings and it does not help that Meg constantly sees the worst in him at all times.  Nicholas takes a drastic measure that shakes the foundation of their shaky marriage and may cost them both everything. . .

I thought this was a wonderful book!  I loved Meg.  She is bold, confident, fiercely protective, smart and sassy and a great balance to Nicholas who comes across rude, arrogant and selfish but underneath that layer he is smart, sexy and also protective.  Together they make a good couple but they both lack the art of communication a bit and trust is a huge issue between them that needs to be overcome.  I loved watching the sparks fly between Meg and Nicholas and how they were trying to deal with their feelings without hurting themselves in the process.  The added presence of the grandmother, who is determined to have an heir, adds more problems.  I do wish Meg had had more faith in herself but having grown up with a father that believed ladies are to add to their husbands value and that she was the ugly one amongst her fair sisters made it hard for to see her true beauty, inside and out.  I also did not really care for the way the ending played out as I felt Nicholas behaved a little selfishly and there was really no explanation or apology for it.  Overall though, I flew through this and found myself laughing, sighing, smiling and thoroughly entertained.  4 stars

eARC provided by Avon books via edelweiss