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The Hush, Duchess! #1
The Duke’s Silent Conquest: A Steamy, Scandalous Regency Romcom Where a Polite Wife Wrecks a Rake
He’s London’s most celebrated scoundrel.
She’s the one woman immune to his charm. It’s a match made in hell, and the King has just ordered it to happen.
Adrian Hawthorne, the Duke of Blackmere, has built his reputation on two a devastating smile and a talent for turning scandal into performance. The ton calls him the “Kissing Bandit,” a title he has earned in the boudoirs and on the balconies of every great house in London. His life is a magnificent game of conquest, and he has never lost.
Until he kisses the wrong woman.
After a single, reckless kiss with a prince’s fiancée, Adrian’s spectacular career as a rogue comes to a screeching halt. A royal decree is to save his reputation and avoid a lifetime inspecting the royal sewers, the Duke must marry an unimpeachable lady within the month. Suddenly, the most sought-after man in England is a pariah, shunned by every respectable family in the peerage.
His only option is Lady Celia Whitby. A woman so proper, so plain, and so profoundly silent, she is less a person and more a walking portrait of quiet dignity. She is the perfect, boring solution to his scandalous problem.
But Adrian’s problem is only just beginning.
His wedding night performance, a masterpiece of seduction designed to melt the iciest of hearts, is met with a polite, "Thank you, Your Grace. Are we finished?" His legendary charm shatters against her wall of calm indifference. His every grand gesture fails. His most passionate assaults are met with the placid, observant gaze of a naturalist studying an interesting but unremarkable beetle.
Trapped in a passionless marriage in private and forced to perform the role of a "smitten duke" in public, Adrian is a man on the brink of madness. He, who lives for the applause of a blush or a gasp, is being driven to obsession by the one woman who refuses to react. He must break through her silence. He must get a response. He must conquer the one woman who doesn’t seem to know a game is even being played.
But what happens when a scoundrel’s desperate quest to get a reaction accidentally becomes a mission to win his silent wife’s heart?
She’s the one woman immune to his charm. It’s a match made in hell, and the King has just ordered it to happen.
Adrian Hawthorne, the Duke of Blackmere, has built his reputation on two a devastating smile and a talent for turning scandal into performance. The ton calls him the “Kissing Bandit,” a title he has earned in the boudoirs and on the balconies of every great house in London. His life is a magnificent game of conquest, and he has never lost.
Until he kisses the wrong woman.
After a single, reckless kiss with a prince’s fiancée, Adrian’s spectacular career as a rogue comes to a screeching halt. A royal decree is to save his reputation and avoid a lifetime inspecting the royal sewers, the Duke must marry an unimpeachable lady within the month. Suddenly, the most sought-after man in England is a pariah, shunned by every respectable family in the peerage.
His only option is Lady Celia Whitby. A woman so proper, so plain, and so profoundly silent, she is less a person and more a walking portrait of quiet dignity. She is the perfect, boring solution to his scandalous problem.
But Adrian’s problem is only just beginning.
His wedding night performance, a masterpiece of seduction designed to melt the iciest of hearts, is met with a polite, "Thank you, Your Grace. Are we finished?" His legendary charm shatters against her wall of calm indifference. His every grand gesture fails. His most passionate assaults are met with the placid, observant gaze of a naturalist studying an interesting but unremarkable beetle.
Trapped in a passionless marriage in private and forced to perform the role of a "smitten duke" in public, Adrian is a man on the brink of madness. He, who lives for the applause of a blush or a gasp, is being driven to obsession by the one woman who refuses to react. He must break through her silence. He must get a response. He must conquer the one woman who doesn’t seem to know a game is even being played.
But what happens when a scoundrel’s desperate quest to get a reaction accidentally becomes a mission to win his silent wife’s heart?
140 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 6, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 20, 2026
Disappointed!
A beautiful book, well written and gripping, full of humour, laugh out loud moments and well rounded, colourful secondary characters but I feel cheated because it is the first of a two book story, and there was no warning that the book I was reading would be incomplete. I was looking forward to a wonderful denouement to then be confronted with the knowledge that I would have to read a further book to find out what happens to the H and h. Very badly done, I feel duped and don’t feel I want to read the second book despite enjoying the first - will it complete the story or will there be a further book? I feel totally deceived. This book is first person from the Hero’s POV, I’m guessing the follow up book will be from the heroine’s POV. This was on its way to being a 5 star rating but I can’t in all conscience give it more than three. Half a book gets half the star rating.
A beautiful book, well written and gripping, full of humour, laugh out loud moments and well rounded, colourful secondary characters but I feel cheated because it is the first of a two book story, and there was no warning that the book I was reading would be incomplete. I was looking forward to a wonderful denouement to then be confronted with the knowledge that I would have to read a further book to find out what happens to the H and h. Very badly done, I feel duped and don’t feel I want to read the second book despite enjoying the first - will it complete the story or will there be a further book? I feel totally deceived. This book is first person from the Hero’s POV, I’m guessing the follow up book will be from the heroine’s POV. This was on its way to being a 5 star rating but I can’t in all conscience give it more than three. Half a book gets half the star rating.
January 11, 2026
I really enjoyed this book. I don't usually like stories written in the first person but the story was funny, when really the reader should feel frustration with Duke Adrian. He is a rake and has had one rakish episode too many. The Prince decreed that he had to marry within a month. His bride must be a woman of impeccable behaviour and lineage. Adrian had no choice but to agree and chose to marry Lady Celia. She was a quiet little mouse of a woman. The story follows Adrian's attempts to get some sort of reaction from Celia. I liked the way Adrian argued with himself about how frustrated he was. His attempts to communicate with Celia showed his frustration. I loved the interactions with Grieves, his valet. I am really looking forward to the next book in the series.
March 3, 2026
Resultó en su mayor parte desalentador leer estas pocas páginas y lo que pasó yo si considero una traición y de ahí nadie me saca.
Estoy considerando leer el siguiente libro pero no estoy segura de querer ver la perspectiva de ella en algunos puntos y más ahora que ese nuevo plot.
Estoy considerando leer el siguiente libro pero no estoy segura de querer ver la perspectiva de ella en algunos puntos y más ahora que ese nuevo plot.
February 23, 2026
Where was the actual editor?? This is supposed to be a Regency Romance, but the duke is "radioactive"??? In the early 19th century?? Radioactivity was discovered in 1896, but the term radioactivity was coined by Marie Curie (excuse the history lesson)... And the duke has a "co-star"?? Methinks not, Your Grace.
The writing is basic, the duke pathetic, and the historical accuracy a joke
The writing is basic, the duke pathetic, and the historical accuracy a joke
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews