How to seduce an estranged husband – and banish debt! – in four wickedly improper, shockingly pleasurable steps…. 1. Learn the most intimate secrets of London’s leading courtesan. 2. Pretend to be a courtesan yourself, using the name Juliet Leighton. 3. Travel to Venice and locate said husband. 4. Seduce husband, conceive an heir, and voila, your future is secure!

For Julia, the duchess of Colton, such a ruse promises to be foolproof. After all, her husband has not bothered to lay eyes on her in eight years, since their hasty wedding day when she was only 16. But what begins as a tempestuous flirtation escalates into full-blown passion – and the feeling is mutual! Could the man the courtesan duchess married actually turn out to be the love of her life?