Duchess material

In this enchanting Victorian romance, Sullivan (the League of Scoundrels series) delivers sparkling banter, gentle mystery, and plenty of swoonworthy moments. Schoolteacher Phoebe Atkinson has devoted her life to educating working-class girls--and when one of her students, Alice Clarke, goes missing, she's determined to find her. When her sleuthing leads to her getting arrested for trespassing, she turns to Will Margrave, the Duke of Ellis and Phoebe's sister's best friend, to bail her out. Though Will and Phoebe haven't seen each other in years, Will agrees to help her track down Alice. Will's duty-bound to find an appropriate duchess and get an heir, and Phoebe's stubborn independence and scant aristocratic ties make her an unsuitable marriage prospect--but as they work together, he can't help his attraction to her. Career-focused Phoebe, meanwhile, has no interest in matrimony, believing that if she married the duke he would see her as merely one of his possessions. As their investigation heats up, do does their chemistry. The simmering tension between the leads keeps the pages flying and it's gratifying to watch Will go from a stuffy, propriety-minded duke to a man helplessly in love. Sullivan's emphasis on how norm-bucking Victorian women were able to transcend expected roles adds to the appeal. Historical romance fans will eat this up. Agent: Amanda Jain, BookEnds. (Nov.)

A duke looking for the perfect duchess falls in love with his best friend's improper younger sister in Sullivan's (The Hellion and the Hero) latest. Will Margrave suddenly became the heir to a dukedom overnight and, in the years since, has tried to live up to the expectations and traditions suddenly thrust upon him. However, this change in status meant the loss of a budding romance with his best friend's younger sister, Phoebe Atkinson, an unorthodox young woman who shuns the wealth and class she was born into and teaches at a school for underprivileged girls. When Phoebe calls on Will to get her out of a jam, their lives and beliefs seem impossible to reconcile, but as the two get caught up searching for a missing girl, they start questioning what tore them apart in the first place. VERDICT A historical romance that shines in the growing chemistry between Will and Phoebe and in the depiction of Phoebe's family dynamics. Match Sullivan's book with readers who enjoy Victorian romance and appreciate earnest and stubborn heroines.--Sierra Wilson