title: The Taming of the Duke (Essex Sisters, book 3)
author:  Eloisa James 
description: James's delightful third installment in her successful Four Sisters Regency series (<I>Much Ado About You</I>; <I>Kiss Me, Annabel</I>) revolves around Imogen Maitland, the mischievous sister of <I>Kiss Me, Annabel</I>'s titular heroine. Now a widow residing at Holbrook Court in Suffolk, England, Imogen lives under the care of her guardian, Rafe Jourdain, the stubborn, drunken duke of Holbrook charged with the parentless Essex sisters' care. As she clashes with the controlling, brutish Rafe, Imogen believes she is uninterested, but helping Rafe through painful alcohol detox helps spark the attraction between them. When Imogen meets Rafe's illegitimate half-brother, Gabe Spenser, however, she becomes determined to pursue an illicit affair with Gabe; soon, Rafe is impersonating Gabe&mdash;complete with a fake mustache&mdash;in a scandalous nighttime outing with Imogen that pushes them to the edge of temptation and forces Rafe to seriously consider the delicate proposition of seducing his own ward. Before long, Rafe becomes determined to pursue Imogen&mdash;for his wife. James's intelligent, believable dialogue rises above the often trite language found in historical romances, giving the characters depth and substance. James's considerable talents for clever prose and tight, breezy plotting are on full display, promising a perennial delight in each coming adventure of the Essex sisters. <I>(Mar. 28)</I> <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: The Duke Is Mine
  Eloisa James
  
  Dedication
  This book is dedicated to my dear friend, the wonderful novelist Linda Francis Lee. In a moment
  of despair, when I realized that I had to throw away 175 pages of my version of The Princess and the
  Pea and begin again, Linda coaxed me through the grief and replotted my entire novel over two
  glasses of wine. You’re my Lucky Duck, Linda!
  
  Prologue
  Once upon a time, not so very long ago . . .
  (or, to be exact, March 1812)
  . . . there was a girl who was destined to be a princess. Though to be absolutely precise, there was
  no prince in the offing. But she was betrothed to a duke’s heir, and from the point of view of minor
  gentry, a coronet was as good as a crown.
  This story begins with that girl, and continues through a stormy night, and a series of tests, and if
  there’s no pea in the tale, all I can say is that if you read on, you will encounter a surprise in that bed:
  a key, a flea—or perhaps a marquess, for that matter.
  In fairy tales, the ability