Duke of Thorns: Defiant Brides Book 5

Miss Cecilia Birks has always lived a comfortable and sheltered life and eagerly waits the day she can find true love, but is shocked to learn that her home and dreams will soon come to a end. The fortune her father had accumulated since before Cecilia was born is now gone, and her family will soon lose their home, sending them to the streets and an uncertain future. When Cecilia's father announces she is to be wed to none other than a man commonly known as the Duke of Thorns, Cecilia reluctantly agrees to this marriage of convenience, if only to help her family.

Benjamin Young, 5th Duke of Thornbrook, has a taste for the finer things in life and will use his tongue and power to destroy any who oppose him. He relishes in the way men and women tremble in his presence. That is until he meets Miss Birks, a woman—to his dismay—who has no fear for him. Not only is Benjamin angered with how defiant the beautiful woman is, he vows to marry her, with the sole purpose of breaking her spirit.

Finding herself now wed to the loathsome Duke, Cecilia seeks to understand the hatred that burns deep within him. She knows the only course of action is to find a way to convince the man that happiness in life can be found in kindness while at the same time attempting to clear the brambles that threaten to choke out their relationship.