The Regal by Kate Archer

A Regal Lady and a Resourceful Gentleman

The Duchess of Stanbury is the last of the matrons of The Society of Sponsoring Ladies to take on the mantle and launch her own girl. She knew that would be the case, as she is very particular. Finally, she has found her girl—Lady Isabel’s family has a long and winding history, going all the way back to the Plantagenets. Her rarified blood is precisely what the duchess has sought, and this lady will marry at the highest echelons of society. The duchess has her eye on Lord Lymington as, after all, he is to be a duke.
Isabel Beaufort, daughter of the Earl of Somerdon, may live in a grand house, but there is nothing grand left inside it and even the dining table shows the pinch. The Earl, being disinclined to exert any sort of effort at all, has allowed the estate to fall to ruin. Isabel has taken her education into her own hands, practices the pianoforte on an instrument forever out of tune and has studied a book on how things are to be done properly. She has one goal in life—marry into a family that will provide her with the security she has never known. She had not any idea how she would get there until she receives news that the Duchess of Stanbury will show her the way.
Harry Vance is well-liked by the ton, and why shouldn’t he be? He is handsome, engaging, a wit, and will inherit a barony. Being well-liked, though, does not equal undiluted approval. Mr. Vance is the grandson of a tradesman, and that history is not quite distant enough to be washed clean. Especially for the likes of the Duchess of Stanbury.
There is an instant attraction between Isabel and Harry, but he does not have what her soul longs for—a long history in the ton, coming along with the sort of deep family connections that have so often come to the rescue of her father.
Isabel is determined to resist her feelings and follow the sensible plan she has set out for herself. Harry is determined to upend her plan and have the lady he has so long looked for.

As the gentleman follows his heart and the lady battles her own, the matrons of the society set tongues wagging, as they always manage to do.