She’s waiting in the past . . . He belongs in the future.Jared Langley, present-day Duke of Reston, tumbles into an abandoned fountain on his ducal estate and is pelted back in time to the year 1816. There, Reston servants and local villagers think him a dead ringer for his namesake and rakehell ancestor—the seventh Duke of Reston, gone missing at the Battle of Waterloo. Unfortunately, Seven got mixed up with French spies out to assassinate the Duke of Wellington, and an unwary Jared ends up in their crosshairs.
Lady Ariana Hart has loved Jared Langley, the seventh Duke of Reston, since she was twelve years old, until the night the rogue broke her heart. Given up for dead, her rakish neighbor makes a miraculous return from Waterloo. Only Jared shows up a changed man and reignites all the feelings Ariana had long ago buried.
Jared is in a race against time.
His tasks?
Waylay the suspicions of his quirky servants and neighbors
Get to Wellington before the French spies do
Fix his fountain–before Seven shows up–so Jared has a way home
And definitely do not fall in love with the irresistible Lady Ariana . . .
Jared winced when the not-doctor swiped two fingers over the lump. “How long will my memory lapse?” he asked, for good measure.
“No more than a week or two,” Dr. Padwick proclaimed confidently.
Pompous ass. The quack had no idea. Small wonder anyone survived in this century.
A young boy, about twelve or thirteen years old, suddenly burst into the room. “She’s coming up the lane!” he exclaimed.
The present occupants all stared. The poor boy shifted from one foot to the other. “She’s coming,” he repeated and gave Curricle Man a pointed look that was obviously supposed to mean something.
Jared glanced at Curricle Man, and then he raised his brows at Heddy.
“That is Bullen,” she said.
Curricle Man gaped. “You didn’t know me?”
“Not your name until this moment, no.”
“Memory loss,” Padwick added peremptorily.
“Oh,” Bullen said, making the word into several phonetic syllables.
Jared suppressed yet another eye roll. He would make his head ache worse if he did not cease. “And who is coming?”
Bullen’s eyes almost bugged out of his head. “Lady Ariana,” he wheezed, like someone was choking him.
Jared’s gaze shot to Heddy, and Bullen clapped a palm to his forehead.
“Lady Ariana Hart, the Earl of Wakefield’s daughter,” she said primly and added, “Yer playmate as a child though ye were a might older.”
Bullen groaned. “It is too late to run now. She’s probably pulled up to the steps already.”
Jared threw his legs over the side of the bed. “Surely, you did not expect me to run.”
Heddy leaned in and whispered, “I’m Heddy. Shirley’s the upstairs maid.”
Jared blinked at her, considered explaining his adverb use, and thought better of it.
“Remember, I told ye?” Heddy repeated slowly.
“Right. So, why would I run?”
Bullen and Heddy exchanged glances, and both gave a minuscule nod toward Padwick, who watched the exchange with interest.
Jared caught on. “If you are through, Dr. Padwick, you may go. I will send word if I further require your services,” he said dismissively.
The doctor gave one imperious sniff, snatched up his black bag of medicinal anomalies, and stalked for the door.
The moment the door shut behind him, Jared turned to Bullen. “Now, why would I not want to see Lady Ariana if she was my childhood playmate?”
Bullen swallowed hard and shot a worried glance at Heddy.
“Do not look at her. Answer me.”
“Well,” Bullen said slowly, keeping his eyes on the counterpane on Jared’s bed, “because of the way you had gotten to be those last couple of years before you left for the continent.”
Jared narrowed his gaze. “And how is that?”
Bullen swallowed hard a second time. “You know . . . dissolute.”
Jared stared in shock. Mostly because Bullen knew the word. Nineteenth-century servants were not all that well educated. He also felt insulted, though common sense told him no, since he wasn’t really the seventh Duke of Reston. He thought of the smirk on Seven’s face in Jared’s portrait gallery.
“Terribly dissolute?”
Bullen blinked. “Pretty much.”
“Ye’re a rake and a drunk,” Heddy added helpfully.
He glowered at her.
“Well, ye are. Gossip is ye’ve slept wi’ half the married ladies in London and all the widows. Not yer fault though. Ye’ve a face like an angel,” she offered indulgently, “so the ladies flock to ye.”
Bullen nodded. “You’re a looker, and you know it.” The man finally made eye contact and looked sad about his divulgence.
Bloody hell. I am an arrogant, lecherous drunk, and I have only just arrived.
—Tome Tender Book Blog
"5+ Stars... Duke du Jour is Outlander meets Downton Abbey in lush Regency England...I was sad when it ended, and I wanted more!...you've got to read this book. I highly recommend it..."
--N. N. Light's Book Heaven
"5 Stars... I was charmed out of my boots!... so fast-paced, I wished it were longer..."
—Book Talk with Eileen
"...magical characters that are full of warmth...you won't want to put this story down until you turn that last page and then you simply may want more..."
—Romancing the Book/Robin
"4 Stars... I loved this book. I was hooked from the opening chapter and the author keeps you guessing...I have not read this author before, but she definitely got a new fan..."
—Wonderfully Weird Book Reviews
"5 Stars... This book has it all, action, romance, time travel, good guys, highwaymen, you name it, it's in there. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I was sucked in right from the beginning and didn't want to stop..."
—Dreams and Screams Bookaholics
"5 Stars... Overall, I just flat out loved this book. Everything about it... I will definitely re-read this book again. Yes, it's that good..."
—Harlie's Books
"5 Stars... I'm very impressed... Fans of time travel and romance will definitely enjoy this book. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series..."
—Two Ends of the Pen
"5 Stars... I had a huge smile on my face pretty much throughout the book and I was really sad when I finished!... Duke du Jour was fabulous, and I am going to be very highly recommending it...I do hope you love it as much as I did!..."
—Am Kinda Busy Reading!!
"5 Stars... a very fun romp through the past!...The writing was really wonderful and it was fun read. I look forward to the next book in this series..."
—Let Me Tell You a Story
"5 Stars... Marvelous characters that will have you laughing and crying with them...danger, romance and intrigue, all add up to a book that you will love from the first to last page. Great fun, I can't wait for the next book in the series..."
—Petula Reads Romance
"4.5 Stars... This was a fun story...very clever...lots of fun characters..."
—Author Liza O'Connor
"4 Stars... a very sweet book with wonderful characters. It had humor, betrayals and love...a very worthwhile read especially for those who love time travel..."
—Paranormal Romance Guild
"4 Stars... McCarty enthralls us with this intriguing story line... Definitely worth the read..."
—Long and Short Reviews
"5 Stars... OMG, this book has just about everything a true lover of reading would want..."
—LaGina Book Reviews
"4 Stars... The writing was really wonderful and it was fun read. I look forward to the next book in this series...."
—A Chick Who Reads
"... entertaining Regency timeslip romance...the pages turn swiftly toward a sweet resolution...It's a fun read..."
—Historical Novel Society
Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World—"The Most Magical Place on Earth"—where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said goodbye to her "day" job to write her stories full-time. These days, Petie spends her time writing new tales for her Cinderella series, her new The Watchers series, sequels to her Regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and more contemporary romance standalones, along with her two previous releases—Any Fin For Love and Ambush in the Everglades.
Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy who makes a cameo appearance in Christmas Watch, Book 2 of The Watchers series.
Visit Petie at her website, www.petiemccarty.com, to get to know her, learn about her current projects, and discover her other published works.
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Thank you for featuring DUKE DU JOUR today.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sponsoring my Goddess Fish Book Blast tour for my release, Duke Du Jour! I greatly appreciate your support now and in the past! It means so much!
ReplyDeletePetie, I feel like we are old friends! We've "known" each other since the 2015 Goddess Fish tour of The SEAL's Angel. I am ALWAYS happy to feature your work here!!!
DeleteMee too! We can't get better than Goddess Fish, right?
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