in mortification.
Her throat prickled. She would never know what the other ladies thought of the current novel, but Chloe didn’t need reading circles. She was a Wynchester. They had each other, which was more than enough.
Keeping her head down, she headed along the front walk toward the first carriage in the queue. Only when she glimpsed red curtains and a pair of leather gloves on the box did she lift her head toward the driver’s perch.
It was empty.
Her lungs caught. Where was Graham?
Distant shouts reached her ears, and her tight muscles relaxed. Something unexpected must have occurred, and her siblings’ planned distraction was in progress.
This was her cue to flee.
Chloe pushed the basket onto the perch, unhooked the carriage from its post, and leapt onto the coachman’s seat. Female drivers weren’t unheard-of, but all the same, she was glad she never went outside without garbing herself in the plainest, dullest, dowdiest clothes in her wardrobe. No one who glanced her way would bother looking for long.
She set the horses on a swift path out of Mayfair.
Only when Grosvenor Square was no longer visible behind her did she allow herself a small smile of victory.
Their cherished family portrait was coming home. Once she walked in that door with their painting held high—
“Did we escape?” came a low, velvet voice from within the carriage.
Chloe’s skin went cold. Who was that? Graham wouldn’t be hiding in the back of the carriage. A stranger was in the coach! She twisted about and wrenched the privacy curtain to one side.
A handsome face with soft brown hair and sculpted cheekbones stared back at her, glacial blue eyes wide with surprise.
“Faircliffe?” she blurted in disbelief.
“Miss…er…you?” he spluttered when he found his voice. “What the devil are you doing driving my carriage?”
Ahhh! What will happen next? Find out in The Duke Heist.
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The Duke Heist
Chloe Wynchester is completely forgettable -- a curse that gives her the ability to blend into any crowd. When the only father she's ever known makes a dying wish for his adopted family of orphans to recover a missing painting, she's the first one her siblings turn to for stealing it back. No one expects that in doing so, she'll also abduct a handsome duke.
* * *
Lawrence Gosling, the Duke of Faircliffe, is tortured by his father's mistakes. To repair his estate's ruined reputation, he must wed a highborn heiress. Yet when he finds himself in a carriage being driven hell-for-leather down the cobblestone streets of London by a beautiful woman who refuses to heed his commands, he fears his heart is hers. But how can he sacrifice his family's legacy to follow true love?
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* * *
"Erica Ridley is a delight!"
—Julia Quinn
* * *
"Irresistible romance and a family of delightful scoundrels... I want to be a Wynchester!"
—Eloisa James
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Boxed Set Collections:
12 Dukes of Christmas (Books 1-4)
12 Dukes of Christmas (Books 5-8)
Rogues to Riches (Books 1-3)
Rogues to Riches (Books 4-6)
Dukes of War (Books 1-4)
Dukes of War (Books 5-7)
Gothic Love Stories (Books 1-4)
Magic & Mayhem (Books 1-3)
In order, the 12 Dukes of Christmas:
Once Upon a Duke (FREE!)
Kiss of a Duke
Wish Upon a Duke
Never Say Duke
Dukes, Actually
The Duke’s Bride
The Duke’s Embrace
The Duke’s Desire
Dawn With a Duke
One Night With a Duke
Ten Days With a Duke
Forever Your Duke
The Wild Wynchesters series:
The Duke Heist
In order, the Rogues to Riches books are:
Lord of Chance (FREE!)
Lord of Pleasure
Lord of Night
Lord of Temptation
Lord of Secrets
Lord of Vice
In order, the Dukes of War books are:
The Viscount’s Tempting Minx (FREE!)
The Earl’s Defiant Wallflower
The Captain’s Bluestocking Mistress
The Major’s Faux Fiancée
The Brigadier’s Runaway Bride
The Pirate's Tempting Stowaway
The Duke's Accidental Wife
In order, the Gothic Love Stories are:
Too Wicked to Kiss (FREE!)
Too Sinful to Deny
Too Tempting to Resist
Too Wanton to Wed
Too Brazen to Bite
In order, the Magic & Mayhem books are:
Kissed by Magic
Must Love Magic
Smitten by Magic
About the Author
Erica Ridley is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of witty, feel-good historical romance novels, including the upcoming THE DUKE HEIST, featuring the Wild Wynchesters. Why seduce a duke the normal way, when you can accidentally kidnap one in an elaborately planned heist?
In the 12 Dukes of Christmas series, enjoy witty, heartwarming Regency romps nestled in a picturesque snow-covered village. After all, nothing heats up a winter night quite like finding oneself in the arms of a duke!
Two popular series, the Dukes of War and Rogues to Riches, feature roguish peers and dashing war heroes who find love amongst the splendor and madness of Regency England.
When not reading or writing romances, Erica can be found riding camels in Africa, zip-lining through rainforests in Central America, or getting hopelessly lost in the middle of Budapest.
Let’s be friends! Find Erica on:
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2021 by Erica Ridley
Cover design by name TK
Cover photo/art by TK
Cover copyright © 2021 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First edition: February 2021
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ISBNs: 978-1-5387-1952-7 (mass market), 978-1-5387-1950-3 (ebook)
Printed in the United States of America
CW
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