The Duke's Unexpected Bride

The Duke's Unexpected Bride
Lara Temple

From country miss…to London duchess!Sophie Trevelyan has been enjoying her visit to London, even if her closest companion is an overweight pug! Then she encounters the dashing Duke of Harcourt, who intrigues her more than is strictly proper…Max knows he must marry. He’s looking for the opposite of his high-spirited fiancée, who died some years ago, so he tries to keep his distance from bubbly Sophie. But when her life is endangered, Max feels compelled to rescue her…with a very unexpected proposal!

From country miss...to London duchess!

Sophie Trevelyan has been enjoying her visit to London, even if her closest companion is an overweight pug! Then she encounters the dashing Duke of Harcourt, who intrigues her more than is strictly proper...

Max knows he must marry. He’s looking for the opposite of his high-spirited fiancée, who died some years ago, so he tries to keep his distance from bubbly Sophie. But when her life is endangered, Max feels compelled to rescue her...with a very unexpected proposal!

‘What do we do now?’

Sophie looked up at him, her eyes wide with anxiety and curiosity, and he realised that nothing would ever be the same again. Her question was so naïve as to be almost absurd. He knew he should answer her purely on a formal level, because there was indeed a great deal to do now.

‘We seal our bargain,’ he said instead, as his baser self elbowed its way to the front of the stage.

‘How do we do that?’ she asked seriously, and he laughed—more at himself than at her—swamped by relief that it was done, that she had agreed, and that he could now finally do what he had been waiting to do since that day in the gardens.

‘Like this,’ he said, raising her chin and bending to brush his lips across hers.

LARA TEMPLE was three years old when she begged her mother to take the dictation of her first adventure story. Since then she has led a double life—by day she is a high-tech investment professional, who has lived and worked on three continents, but when darkness falls she loses herself in history and romance…at least on the page. Luckily her husband and two beautiful and very energetic children help her weave it all together.

Books by Lara Temple

Mills & Boon Historical Romance

Lord Crayle’s Secret World

The Reluctant Viscount

The Duke’s Unexpected Bride

Visit the Author Profile page at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk).

The Duke’s Unexpected Bride

Lara Temple

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

To Tom and Lia,

who taught me the beautiful tension

between chaos and creation.

and who would have loved Marmaduke...

Contents

Cover (#u910d0c1d-7bdc-50f6-b5ca-4a1d61b7c07a)

Back Cover Text (#u7ad7e23f-24f3-5124-9d08-6f06b9f401a1)

Introduction (#u761f02bd-791c-55d0-884c-57adc238f22b)

About the Author (#u7d4cde20-dd78-5e9d-aae1-345ffc59e6b8)

Title Page (#u051127ee-1355-52c4-9e4e-0b0fee163373)

Dedication (#u34be69f7-eae8-5175-b07e-1062a93f6f24)

Chapter One (#u7e60fc52-e063-540d-a425-170f2b981ac8)

Chapter Two (#u313bc55a-0206-5e9e-9d8b-5f32279ff722)

Chapter Three (#ued235069-360c-5abb-8d82-443594486172)

Chapter Four (#u1d60667e-8689-5e3c-970e-6216f7a1dbe6)

Chapter Five (#u4fc1f40d-492a-54e8-83dd-84dc9ea74e43)

Chapter Six (#ub7ac2762-0dff-5f13-b740-90f0f7b2fa5a)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)