A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby

"First, I have to say that it has this beautiful, adorable cover, but please ignore it. The book is much less comedic than the cover implies. In the book, the heroine is in disguise and her baby is in the custody of this duke, who lost his leg in Waterloo, so he’s very grumpy and sinister. There’s also a sinister murder plot happening in this house with a very big chandelier. It’s very gothic and atmospheric. It’s so great but it’s just the romantic comedy that the cover makes it seem like. It’s actually the first in a series. Vanessa Riley always has this tone that strikes me as classically historical. There was a review where I wrote that when you read her books, you feel the drape of lace on a sleeve. It’s just so atmospheric. It can actually be quite surprising. It’s really wonderful, and while I haven’t had time to dig into the rest of that series, she’s just incredible at setting a mood."