Londonsociety Stories

He is the epitome of duty. She is the definition of defiance. Nicholas Harrington, the stoic and impeccable Viscount, has spent a decade suppressing his own heart to carry the weight of his massive, chaotic family. In the rigid world of the 1812 London Season, he is a man of perfect decorum-until he meets Helena Beaumont. Helena isn't the delicate flower the Ton expects. Sharp-witted and independent, she spent her years in the countryside learning to shoot and ride rather than perfecting her curtsey. She has no interest in a passionless marriage, and Nicholas has no time for a woman who challenges his every move. But as scandals, family secrets, and the prying eyes of Lady Ravenscroft's gossip column pull them together, the ice around Nicholas's heart begins to crack. In a society governed by rules, can a man who has always put duty first finally choose himself?

Miss Alice Carter has never cared for London society, with its endless parade of polished manners and carefully arranged alliances. Least of all does she admire the Duke of Devonshire-a man whose handsome features, considerable fortune, and celebrated disdain have rendered him the most sought-after guest of every ballroom and the most insufferable of all her acquaintances. When an unguarded moment leads to a public clash between them, Alice is determined to forget the encounter. Yet she soon discovers that the Duke's attention, once provoked, is not so easily set aside. What begins as a contest of pride and principle soon becomes a perplexing acquaintance-one marked by glances that linger too long and conversations that stray far beyond the bounds of civility. William Cavendish has never met a woman so unmoved by his consequence-or so quick to expose his failings. And in Miss Carter's company, he finds himself in the most dangerous predicament of all: at risk of admiration he has never permitted himself to feel. Set amid the elegance and intrigue of Victorian London, In Spite of My Heart is a story of wit, rivalry, and a love neither of them wished to discover-and neither can bring themselves to deny.