Seamstress Prudence Bosworth excels at maintaining a subservient attitude to the fashionable young ladies who frequently abuse the working class. Through hard work, Prudence is the lead seamstress at a popular London dressmaker. It's given her the independence she craves, and self-sufficiency is important to her. When her mother died, Prudence was shipped to relatives who treated her as the poor illegitimate relative. Repairing torn dresses at a ball, Prudence encounters a dashing duke who inspires dreams of fantasy. Then Prudence's world turns upside down when she inherits a fortune, with the only condition being that she marry within a year.

Rhys, the Duke of St. Cyres, is on the verge of losing all but his entailed castle. His only recourse is to marry an heiress. A horrific childhood, plus viewing other aristocratic marriages, leaves him filled with cynicism. Upon learning of the plump seamstress' inheritance, Rhys believes his luck has finally changed. Knowing her middle- class sensibilities, Rhys weaves a web of lies designed to catch an heiress.

When Prudence learns of Rhys' deception, it breaks her heart, but she refuses to give up. Instead, she concocts her own deception. Can Prudence deceive the master deceiver into opening his heart to her?

Ms. Guhrke is a creative storyteller who captures the essentials of a good romance. She tells a heartwarming story with characters who touch your heart as their raw emotions are exposed making their tale riveting. THE WICKED WAYS OF A DUKE is a wonderful read!

Book Summary

She thought she was the luckiest woman in London . . .

Surviving on a seamstress' income and a steady stream of fantasies, Prudence Bosworth has always longed for love and romance. Then she inherits a fortune from the father she's never seen, with the stipulation that she wed in one year. Prudence is determined to marry for true love, and after seeing firsthand the splendid chivalry of a certain duke, only one man will do . . .

Rhys de Winter, the Duke of St. Cyres, hides his cynicism behind a quick wit and an even quicker smile. He must marry an heiress, and as luck would have it, the pretty little seamstress-turned-heiress is exactly what he needs. But he never expected to fall for Prudence, and when his shocking deception is revealed, he will stop at nothing to win her back . . . even if it means renouncing every last one of his wicked ways.