cover image What the Groom Wants

What the Groom Wants

Jade Lee. Sourcebooks Casablanca, $7.99 mass market (416p) ISBN 978-1-4022-8378-9

Danger and desire steam up Lee’s second wedding-themed Regency romance (after What the Bride Wore). Wendy Drew, co-owner of a popular dress shop, has spent months working at a gambling den to pay back her brother’s debts to underworld enforcer Demon Damon. Demon, however, makes it clear that what he wants is Wendy, and he will stop at nothing to get her. When her brother’s friend Radley Lyncott returns from sea and expresses his ardent and honest passion for her, she’s glad to encourage his suit—until Radley is unexpectedly named Duke of Bucklynde, after smallpox kills all the distant relatives who were ahead of him in the line of inheritance. Naturally, Wendy fears that a duke wouldn’t want a woman with her simple upbringing, even though Radley insists otherwise. Meanwhile, Demon’s obsession with Wendy spirals out of control, and he threatens the lives of those she loves most. Regency romance fans will stay glued to the story of this courageous heroine as she fights for love and safety. (Feb.)