Much A'Duke About Nothing
(2026)(The first book in the Nothing Like A Duke series)
A novel by Rebecca Aubrey
Rebecca Aubrey is back with another sumptuous Victorian romance—and the eagerly anticipated tale about David's path to love.
David Chadbourne, Earl of Anterleigh, isn’t a typical peer. He’s overly handsome and takes life unfashionably seriously. Having inherited an insolvent earldom as a young man, David’s introverted heart was broken by his parents’ deaths. He’s become a leading industrialist—at great social cost. Earls are not supposed to work for a living.
It’s high time for matrimony, a problem he’ll solve with reason, just like any other. He must avoid the risks of agonizing love and find a countess of impeccable social standing to rehabilitate his family name.
David is studying his formula for finding a suitable candidate when a higher duty calls. To keep a friend out of trouble, he steps into a house of ill repute for the first time.
After years of scraping by, brave Chastity has nothing but her virtue to sell. London’s most elite brothel is a long shot for someone skilled in music pedagogy, not debauchery, but desperation, pluck, and some luck land her a one-time opportunity with a rather odd earl.
David isn’t in the market for a mistress, however, and her attempt at seduction fails spectacularly. Besides, they quickly realize their connection is far too compelling to end at dawn. What begins as an intellectual spark quickly deepens into a tender affaire de cœur, one so forbidden they know it must not…cannot last. The ton would never allow a fallen woman to become a countess.
But Society's rules are written for earls.
Tropes You’ll Love:
David Chadbourne, Earl of Anterleigh, isn’t a typical peer. He’s overly handsome and takes life unfashionably seriously. Having inherited an insolvent earldom as a young man, David’s introverted heart was broken by his parents’ deaths. He’s become a leading industrialist—at great social cost. Earls are not supposed to work for a living.
It’s high time for matrimony, a problem he’ll solve with reason, just like any other. He must avoid the risks of agonizing love and find a countess of impeccable social standing to rehabilitate his family name.
David is studying his formula for finding a suitable candidate when a higher duty calls. To keep a friend out of trouble, he steps into a house of ill repute for the first time.
After years of scraping by, brave Chastity has nothing but her virtue to sell. London’s most elite brothel is a long shot for someone skilled in music pedagogy, not debauchery, but desperation, pluck, and some luck land her a one-time opportunity with a rather odd earl.
David isn’t in the market for a mistress, however, and her attempt at seduction fails spectacularly. Besides, they quickly realize their connection is far too compelling to end at dawn. What begins as an intellectual spark quickly deepens into a tender affaire de cœur, one so forbidden they know it must not…cannot last. The ton would never allow a fallen woman to become a countess.
But Society's rules are written for earls.
Tropes You’ll Love:
- Forbidden love
Fatedness
Sensual buildup becomes scorching
Strong, smart characters
Found family
Get swept away by the Trade Wind series, set in the same mid-Victorian world:Book 1: Trade of a Lifetime
Book 2: Finding Harmony
Book 3: Becoming Wanton
Book 4: Terms of Trade
Book 5: That Damned American
Book 6: Love Unbound
Book 7: A Divine Woman for the Priest
Genre: Historical Romance
Used availability for Rebecca Aubrey's Much A'Duke About Nothing