A Duke Worth Choosing: A Historical Regency Romance Book

by Sally Forbes

“ She’s worth forty thousand pounds… and not one person in London can be bothered to learn her name.”

She fled society to be free, only to find the one man who truly saw her.

Lady Charlotte Fairfax is the Season’s most glittering prize, and its most exhausted prisoner. Dukes and earls circle her like creditors, her parents calculate her future like an investment, and every dance feels like a bargain struck over her heart.

So Charlotte does the only scandalous thing left.

She disappears.

With a borrowed name and a plain gown, she flees Mayfair’s marriage mart to Berkshire, accepting a quiet post as a respectable widow’s companion, determined to be valued for her mind, her kindness, and her courage… not her dowry.

But peace at Harcourt Hall doesn’t last.

Major Nathaniel Harcourt returns home wounded from war—stern, honorable, and far too perceptive. He’s not interested in flirtation, or society games… until he meets the new companion who speaks like a lady, watches like a strategist, and hides a secret heavy enough to ruin them both.

As village gossip blooms, stolen glances turn to stolen moments, and a sharp-eyed guardian begins to suspect the truth. Because if Charlotte is found, her father will drag her back to London, and into a loveless match arranged for power and profit.

Now Charlotte must choose to
return to the gilded cage… or risk everything for a love that finally sees her.

A clean, swoony Regency romance featuring a runaway heiress, a wounded war hero, a country house haven, witty banter, slow-burn tenderness, and a satisfyingly triumphant happily-ever-after.

Also free with Kindle unlimited.

193 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 22, 2026

Reviews

[Jayne Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two years ago Charlotte Fairfax’s very wealthy father purchased himself a baronetcy hoping to join the ranks of the ton. He was undaunted by the fact that Society considered him to be ‘new money’, as he planned to gain credibility through his beautiful daughter Charlotte’s marriage, using her forty thousand dollar dowry to attract a title. Frustrated and furious, Charlotte devised a plan to avoid titled fortune hunters who clearly were not interested in her as a person. With the help of her former governess, her cousin Lydia and her lady’s maid, a backstory was created and she became Emma Lacey, the impoverished daughter of a deceased vicar. With her parents believing that she was in Bath to partake of the waters, Charlotte/Emma took employment as a companion to Lady Marchmont in Berkshire. Things were going well until Lady Marchmont’s nephew, Major Nathaniel Harcourt, was sent home with a leg wound to recuperate. It became abundantly clear to him that Emma was hiding something, and out of concern for his Aunt’s safety, he was determined to find out what secrets she hid. As their verbal cat and mouse game ensued, Emma and Nathaniel found themselves falling for each other. Everything changed when heroic deeds during a village emergency almost cost one of them their life. What follows is an emotional tale involving trust, truth and consequences. The undercurrent of discovery keeps the reader on edge as confrontation, manipulation and ultimatums seem just around the corner. Steamy kisses lead to declarations of love, while rumors and support from the local villagers provide the strength and courage for Charlotte/Emma to stand up to parental demands. This story is full of witty and intellectual dialogue, emotional introspection, both internal and external conflict, secrets, revelations and unexpected support. We get to see the Major go from grumpy to charming, and Charlotte evolve into who she has always longed to be. This is a well written and entertaining tale.

[Pamela Barbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lady Charlotte Fairfax leaves home with a lie that she is going to Bath for rest. In truth she is leaving home to prevent her parents marrying her to someone she does not want. She changes her name to Emma Lacey and becomes a companion to an older lady, Lady Honoria Marchmont. She and Lady Marchmont get along well. Then her nephew, Major Nathaniel Harcourt comes home supposedly to rest and heal from his war injuries. He is suspicious of everything and Charlotte realizes she will need to watch her actions and words more carefully. They each realize there is a spark there, but both too cautious. Can there be any hope with the lies Charlotte is living? What happens when her parents find out where she is and what she has been doing and comes after her to return to her life as an heiress? You will need to find these answers and more. My one comment about this is the title of the book. Still trying to figure out the title since Nathaniel is not a Duke.

[Linda Simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Dowry Rather than a Person

Marriage within the ton is frequently more of a financial transaction to bring money to titled gentlemen who are in debt, wealthy merchants who want to improve their social status, or for other transactions. Every now and a marriage is actually for love. In this story a wealthy merchant's daughter was tired of only being considered a large dowry rather than having people see her for who she is. She came up with a plan to run away and become someone else. Read the story o find out how it works out.

[NelleRenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an enjoyable read as I liked the dialogue between the two main characters. The FMC is being bargained off so her father can feel prestigious as he links himself to a high title through her marriage. She is tired of it and runs away to work as a companion. The MMC is the nephew to her employer and he becomes suspicious of her when he comes to visit and recuperate. Slowly things become clear, but will they get a HEA when her father finds her. The title is a little misleading as I don’t think the MMC was a duke.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

An heiress goes into hiding to get away from all the gentlemen wanting to court her for her large dowry. When the captain comes to visit his aunt while recovering from a war wound he decides to look into the companion his aunt hired. Between his questioning and other circumstances she eventually gets exposed but despite it all she finds her hea with the captain after all is overcome

[Gloria L. Kincer · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mixed feelings…

I enjoyed so many things about this book. What I struggled with were things like typos, repeated paragraphs and complete sections that skipped around. I think some time spent proofreading would help this book become the story it was meant to be.

[Donald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love for Charlotte and Nathaniel

Love was almost instant for Charlotte and Nathaniel. But it also grew slowly and deeply. You'll enjoy the humor, tension and struggles in this love story.

[sally a laforge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart felt

I loved this book because it was clean.
It showed true values over money. Very romantic without being vulgar. I could not put it down.

[sally r hotchkiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sally does it again!

Another wonderful book from Sally Forbes! Loved every page! All the characters are great and entire plot is delightful and memorable!

[Ophelia Sellers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Duke Worth Choosing

Sally has given us a well written story worth reading in this book of romance, courage, and defiance of duty and expectations. I highly recommend this book.

[Maria Logan-Montgomery · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful story about a very brave woman who goes against the social norms of her time. She is way ahead of her time. Unfortunately, it needs a lot of editing for missing words, missing periods at the end of sentences, & misplaced commas (like ,this).