Imogen, Lady Maitland, has decided to dance on the wild side. After all, she's in the delicious position of being able to take a lover. A discreet male who knows just when to leave in the morning. But Lady Maitland is still under the watchful eye of her former guardian, the wildly untamed Rafe, the Duke of Holbrook. He believes she is still in need of a "watchdog." She laughs at the idea that someone so insufferably lazy and devoted to drink can demand that she behave with propriety. It's Rafe's long-lost brother, a man who looks precisely like the duke but with none of his degenerate edge, who interests Imogen. To Imogen, he's the shadow duke . . . the man who really should hold the title. But when Imogen agrees to accompany Gabe to a masquerade...whose masked eyes watch her with that intense look of desire? Who exactly is she dancing with? The duke or the shadow duke? Rafe . . . or Gabe? *Starred Review* Imogen Maitland designed her entire life around Draven Maitland, but only two weeks after their honeymoon, Draven died. A year later, Imogen is just beginning to entertain the thought of taking a lover when she meets Gabriel Spenser, the illegitimate half brother of her guardian, Rafe, the Duke of Holbrook. A Cambridge professor of divinity, Gabe shares Rafe's dark good looks, but, fortunately, he doesn't emulate Rafe's annoying habit of trying to direct Imogen's life or curb her taste for scotch. When Rafe agrees to host a theatrical production for Gabe at his estate, Imogen sets a plan in motion to get to know the sexy professor better only to discover that the only man she truly desires after all is the argumentative, stubborn, yet totally irresistible Rafe. RITA Award-winning James' latest addition to her Essex sisters series is truly delectable. James' writing is graceful and witty, her plot delightfully clever, and her characterization--including the captivating Miss Gillian Pythian-Adams--is nothing less than brilliant. John Charles Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Imogen, Lady Maitland, has decided to dance on the wild side. After all, she's in the delicious position of being able to take a lover. A discreet male who knows just when to leave in the morning. But Lady Maitland is still under the watchful eye of her former guardian, the wildly untamed Rafe, the Duke of Holbrook. He believes she is still in need of a "watchdog." She laughs at the idea that someone so insufferably lazy and devoted to drink can demand that she behave with propriety. It's Rafe's long-lost brother, a man who looks precisely like the duke but with none of his degenerate edge, who interests Imogen. To Imogen, he's the shadow duke . . . the man who really should hold the title. But when Imogen agrees to accompany Gabe to a masquerade...whose masked eyes watch her with that intense look of desire? Who exactly is she dancing with? The duke or the shadow duke? Rafe . . . or Gabe? Eloisa James is a  USA Today  and  New York Times  bestselling author and professor of English literature, who lives with her family in New York, but can sometimes be found in Paris or Italy. She is the mother of two and, in a particularly delicious irony for a romance writer, is married to a genuine Italian knight.