Spotlight & Giveaway: Eliza and the Duke by Harper St. George

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Harper St. George to HJ!

Hi Harper and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Eliza and the Duke!

 
Thank you for having me here today. I’m so glad to be here to tell everyone about Simon and Eliza. I just love this story so much!
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

ELIZA AND THE DUKE is the second book in my Doves of New York series. Each of the Dove sisters have to marry a titled man to receive their inheritance. Eliza, the youngest sisters, has resigned herself to that fate but wants one night of adventure before marrying and living on some country estate with a man she doesn’t love and can barely tolerate. She meets the Duke, a prizefighter, and blackmails him into taking her out for one night of freedom. Little does she realize that one night will reveal a whole new life that she wants more than security.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

“We’ll pretend you’re my sweetheart. If we encounter anyone I know, then I’ll say you’re mine. Even among strangers, I’ll keep my hand on you. It’s important that people believe we’re together.”

“Is this your way of saying that you want to hold my hand?” she asked with a smile.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

I’ve wanted to write a hero like Simon for a long time. He’s a touch of Peaky Blinders mixed with a little bit of Tom Hardy as a brawler. The inspiration for his character is the gritty, broody type of hero who isn’t quite sure he deserves the heroine even though everyone else knows that he does. He’s from the streets of London and is not even thinking about love when Eliza comes along and sweeps him off his feet. I’ve always loved Lisa Kleypas’s heroes like Rhys Winterbourne and Harry Rutledge who worked themselves up from very little to become successful businessmen. Except, I always wondered about their upward climb, which is why Simon is a bit younger and we get to see him as he’s disentangling himself from his past.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Simon is first attracted to Eliza because she’s someone who is slightly impulsive and goes after what she wants. He admires that about her. Eliza is pulled to Simon because when she first meets him he’s been beat up in a fight and he lives such a different, unstructured life, that she wants to know more about him and that side of life. He becomes everything that she’s giving up by marrying for money.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

My favorite scene is the carriage scene. They are riding in a carriage knowing that it may be the final time they are alone together. They know that life is pulling them in two different directions and they decide to make the most of it. It had me blushing, crying, and laughing because I just love these two together so much. Here’s a little snippet:

Simon helped her inside and climbed in behind her. The inside of every carriage that the club owned was as plush and comfortable as the club itself. This one had tufted velvet interior in dark crimson. The buttons and knobs for the windows and the little carriage lantern were gilded and shining. It was truly like stepping from one world to another.
The moment the door closed and the carriage took off, she turned to him. “I want you to know that I don’t fault you for anything you’ve done. I can’t possibly understand the life that you’ve lived. I just want you to know that I admire—”
He covered her mouth with his hand to stop her. He wouldn’t possibly survive adoration from her. It would undo him. “Don’t, Eliza. This has to end now, tonight. There is no future where I’m not me and you aren’t destined for more.” Her eyes became liquid and he had to look away.
Taking his hand from her mouth, she put it in her lap and held tight. “Then I want to make the most of the next few minutes,” she said.

Readers should read this book….

If they are looking for a forbidden romance where class difference and society try to keep the hero and heroine apart.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I’m currently writing the next book in this series, Jenny’s book. It will be out early 2026.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: 1 print giveaway copy of ELIZA AND THE DUKE by Harper St. George, US only

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Do you prefer your historical heroes to be titled aristocrats or common men who have worked their way up in the world?

 
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Book Info:

American heiress Eliza Dove was resigned to a polite marriage of convenience…until she spent one wicked night with the Duke.

All hopeless romantic Eliza Dove asked for was one night of adventure. One glorious evening of freedom to explore the dark corners of London with a mysterious stranger before a lifetime trapped in a quiet, respectable marriage of convenience. Except now she wants more. Now she wants him.

Simon Cavell is no gentleman. Known only as ‘the Duke,’ Whitechapel’s prize boxer is one fight away from achieving his goal: to safeguard his late sister’s only treasure and leave the streets for good. He cannot allow some pretty young heiress to spill his secrets, no matter how tempting she might be. In return for her silence, Simon will give Eliza a taste of the darkness…and hope he doesn’t lose his heart in the process.

But one night together could never be enough. And now Eliza has a new plan—an even more scandalous bargain that will either land the heiress her duke or ruin them both.
 
 

Meet the Author:

Harper St. George grew up in the rural backwoods of Alabama and the northwest Florida coast, where her love of history began. She now makes her home in the Atlanta area writing historical fiction romance set in various time periods, from the Viking Era to the Gilded Age. Her novels have been translated into ten languages.