I was invited to receive a complimentary ARC edition from WebMotion. Sweet, sometimes humorous and always entrancing, this author’s writing will take readers back in time to an era when choices were not always an option, but another woman ahead of her time dares to defy the “rules” but can she defy her heart? Ridley builds a romance when one least expects it around two likable and strong characters in the charming village of Cressmouth where anything can happen and love is just around the corner. THE DUKE’S EMBRACE by Erica Ridley is a tale of choices, of taking a chance and of finding what is truly important in life. Does she follow her dream or her heart? Could there be more to Sebastien’s story than meets the eye? Now she must choose between the man she loves and printing the truth, which would surely ruin him. Too bad she couldn’t have discovered that before he smuggled away her heart. What she discovers is that the handsome Frenchman has another, much more nefarious career, contraband smuggler. Now she has her chance, or so she thinks when she begins to write a front page story of the upstanding blacksmith, Sebastien le Duc and his family.

All Eve wanted was the opportunity to prove her worth as a journalist, an adult of worth, a nearly impossible dream, even though her father owned the newspaper and never forgot her one huge misstep in the romance department. She wanted to follow her dreams and she was willing to work hard for them.

The Duke's Embrace by Erica Ridley