First Scandal by Sara Adrien

He offered her kindness. She heard only duty.

Lady Margaret Danby has perfected the art of being invisible. An impoverished widow with siblings to protect and a reputation balanced at the edge of Society, she can’t afford another whisper—another mistake—another man who offers kindness with conditions. She has fought too long for every scrap of safety to gamble it on hope… no matter how tempting his gaze, how steady his hands, or how quickly he makes her feel seen.

Henry “Dash” Dashfield never expected to become a duke. Newly elevated and painfully aware he doesn’t quite fit into polished society, he’s determined to do his duty—keep the title respectable, the estate solvent, and the Ton at a safe distance. Falling for a widow with sharp wit, stubborn pride, and a heart far too easy to admire was never part of the plan. But Dash has spent his life being told what he owes—and Margaret is the first thing he wants for himself.

Then watchful eyes set a trap.
A stolen moment becomes a weapon. A whisper turns into a noose. And when Dash does the only honorable thing he can, Margaret hears the one word that shatters her trust: duty.
Now, with gossip sharpening its teeth and Dash’s formidable aunts tightening the snare, Margaret must decide whether she can risk everything—her name, her freedom, the fragile family that depends on her—for a man who might only be doing what’s proper.

And Dash must prove, in daylight and in public, that Margaret is not his obligation… she is his choice.

A swoony, steamy Regency romance full of weaponized scandal, a redeemed hero, and found family—because the most dangerous thing in the Ton isn’t being caught… it’s being brave enough to stay.