Mercy Rothschild has always been granted an unusually long tether by her parents, who have never pushed her to marry until she’s ready. She assumes that when the right man comes along, she will marry for love. However, even her long-suffering parents have their limits. As she embarks on her third Season, they begin to pressure her to find a match. And the Duke of Harrington is the perfect candidate. Nicholas Kendrick, Duke of Harrington, follows the rules of the ton meticulously. When he determines that Mercy is the ideal candidate for a wife, he marches dutifully toward her along the courtship path. Desperate to extricate herself from Harrington’s advances, Mercy concludes that there is only one course of action: she must push her intended into the arms of another woman. But when Mercy becomes acquainted with the man behind the proper facade, her plans come crashing down as she realizes that stiff and proper Harrington might be the very man she’s been waiting for. If only she hadn’t been so successful in her plot to thwart her chances with him. Esther Hatch grew up on a cherry orchard in rural Utah. After high school, she alternated living in Russia to teach children English and attending Brigham Young University in order to get a degree in archaeology. She began writing when one of her favorite authors invited her to join a critique group. The only catch was she had to be a writer. Not one to be left out of an opportunity to socialize and try something new, she started on her first novel that week.