The Duchess: The Scandalous Ladies of London -- Sophie Jordan

<p><strong>The thrilling second book in <em>New York Times</em> bestselling author Sophie Jordan's amazing new high concept series, The Scandalous Ladies of London, which chronicles the lives of a group of affluent ladies reigning over glittering, Regency-era London, vying for position in the hierarchy of the <em>ton</em>. They are the young wives, widows, and daughters of London's wealthiest families. The drama is big, the money runs deep, and the shade is real. Life is different in the <em>ton</em>.</strong></p><p><em>"I liked my husband well enough ... but I like him even better dead."</em></p><p>It's been a year since her wretched cad of a husband died and Valencia, the Dowager Duchess of Dedham, is finally her own woman. Flitting from party to party, freedom is sweet and life should be perfect. Until the new duke surfaces. </p><p>Nothing like the haughty noblemen who populate the<em> ton</em>, Rhain, the newly minted Duke of Dedham, is a big brawny Welshman with an accent that makes Valencia's knees go weak as he boldly moves into <em>her </em>home with his six wild unwed sisters. The rude and humorless usurper thinks her vain and spoiled. But with a pittance to her name, Valencia needs his support to remain in London and enjoy all the pleasures her new position as a merry widow has to offer. </p><p>So a bargain is struck. Valencia will usher his sisters into Good Society and see them happily betrothed. In return, he'll give her the financial security and independence s