Romancing Lady Rose by Sariah Drake

She wore a perfect smile over her torment. He knew that mask all too well…

Miss Alice Montrose’s family teeters on the edge of financial ruin, leaving her with one option—she must marry wealth and restore their standing in society. When she receives an invitation to the Dowager Countess of Fairfax’s birthday celebrations, Alice seizes the rare opportunity to find a wealthy husband. Taken under the wing of the matchmaking dowager and her mysterious Garden society, she’s determined to secure a match with the Season’s most eligible bachelor, the Duke of Gainsbury.

Captain Victor Lacey is everything Alice should avoid—scarred by war, wielding a razor-sharp tongue, and fiercely protective of his friend the duke. The insufferable captain brands her a fortune hunter, making it abundantly clear she’ll never be worthy of his friend. Yet with each cutting remark, Alice finds herself drawn to the one man who sees past her facade to the despair she hides beneath. As the festivities at Fairfax Hall take an unexpected turn, Alice must choose between following the path laid before her or risk scandal for a love that could mend them both.