The Forbidden Duke (22 page)

Huge thanks to Erica Ridley for reading an early draft and being such a terrific friend. You are the wind beneath my wings! Thank you to everyone who helped with plotting in various stages: Elisabeth Naughton, Rachel Grant, Kris Kennedy, and Joan Swan. I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends and coworkers on this journey.

I am so in love with the cover of this book—thank you Carrie for delivering such beauty. You are an absolute pleasure to work with.

Thank you to Linda and Toni for editing and proofreading. I’m so delighted to have found you both!

I must extend massive appreciation to Danielle Gorman for . . . so many things. You have helped me more than I dreamed—thank you!

More than ever, I am especially grateful to my family for their patience and support. I love you beyond words.

Copyright

The Forbidden Duke

ISBN: 1944576002

ISBN-13: 9781944576004

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Book design:
©
Darcy Burke.

Cover design:
©
Carrie Divine/Seductive Designs.

Photo copyright: Couple
©
Novelstock.com.

Photo copyright: Stairs
©
Stanislav Bokach/Depositphotos.com.

Editing: Linda Ingmanson.

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.

About the Author

Darcy Burke is the USA Today Bestselling Author of hot, action-packed historical and sexy, emotional contemporary romance. Darcy wrote her first book at age 11, a happily ever after about a swan addicted to magic and the female swan who loved him, with exceedingly poor illustrations.

A native Oregonian, Darcy lives on the edge of wine country with her guitar-strumming husband, their two hilarious kids who seem to have inherited the writing gene, and three Bengal cats. In her “spare” time Darcy is a serial volunteer enrolled in a 12-step program where one learns to say “no,” but she keeps having to start over. She’s also a fair-weather runner, and her happy places are Disneyland and Labor Day weekend at the Gorge. Visit Darcy online at
http://www.darcyburke.com
and sign up for her
newsletter
, follow her on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/darcyburke
, or like her Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/darcyburkefans.

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