Author
The Duke and I
In Regency-era London, Daphne Bridgerton wants a loving marriage but finds that eligible men treat her more like a friend than a prospective wife. Simon Basset, the newly returned Duke of Hastings, has the opposite problem: ambitious families relentlessly pursue him, though he has privately resolved never to marry or father children. They arrange a false courtship that promises to make Daphne appear more desirable while discouraging Simon’s unwanted admirers. Predictably, the performance begins to produce real intimacy. Their attraction, however, cannot erase Simon’s childhood wounds or Daphne’s limited understanding of marriage and sexuality. What begins as a witty social bargain consequently develops into a more difficult story about trust, family expectations, reproductive choice, and the harm caused by secrecy. The novel launches Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series by combining a central romance with the lively dynamics of the large Bridgerton family and the sharp observations of anon…