Lydia's Penance (Bridal Discipline)

When her home situation becomes unlivable, Lydia hopes to escape through a marriage and her qualifications for her new husband are not long. She's not looking for love, passion, or even fidelity but just a man who won't abuse her. When she overhears the Duke of Manchester declare to his brother that he doesn't care who he weds, it seems like her prayers are answered. The Duke is powerful enough to protect her, has a reputation as a good and honorable man, and doesn't care who he marries. Unfortunately she's a too-old bluestocking with nothing to tempt a duke into wedding her, and desperate times call for desperate measures. When Isaac finds himself trapped into marriage with a grey-eyed beauty who used underhanded and dishonorable means to secure his hand, at first he's not quite sure what to think. His new wife is a study in contradictions and, even worse, she's keeping secrets. His carefully controlled world is making less and less sense, and his duchess is spending more time over his lap - in a distinctly un-fun manner - than he would like. Lydia wasn't looking for love, but the more she comes to know her husband, the more her own feelings grow for him. Isaac could never trust a woman who trapped him, but what if she had good reasons for doing so? What if, despite her secrets, he fell in love with her? This book is 101k words, contains a trapped alpha male, a distressed and desperate young lady, quite a few spankings, and the creative use of ginger. Heat level - incendiary.