title: Once Upon a Duke
author: Regan, Julia
description: It is 1815 and Miss Patricia Vine has accepted life as a wallflower. She is six-and-twenty, and does not think she will ever marry. She looks around at the denizens of high society and cannot help but think they are all hypocrites. They laugh to each other’s faces, but shun those who have no money. And Patricia’s family is poor. His Grace, Morland Dare, Duke of Yeoland, has recently returned from the war in France. The war has left him bitter. He, too, does not care for high society and its hypocrisies. But his business is intricately tied to the lords and ladies whom he invites to his balls. He cannot afford to offend them. Then he meets Miss Patricia Vine, a cynical, realistic woman with kissable lips and a beautiful face. He discovers that they share many of the same opinions, and their mutual agreement turns to budding love. But they cannot marry, for Morland’s business would be ruined if he married a poor girl. Morland and his business associate, Sebastian Hardy, come up with a plan. They will pretend to offer Mr. Vine a piece of the business, with the aim of making the Vines wealthy enough so that Morland and Patricia can marry. But there is one problem. Mr. Vine is a drunkard, and causes problems every step of the way.