Spotlight & Giveaway: The Duke Who Loved Me by Jane Ashford

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Jane Ashford to HJ!

Hi Jane and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Duke Who Loved Me!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

The new Duke of Tereford is accustomed to getting his own way. Cecelia Vainsmede is practiced at thwarting him. Only when they have to face down the haut ton together do they discover that love conquers all.

James has just inherited a dukedom that has been mismanaged for many years, including a London townhouse crammed with broken down furnishings. He’s overwhelmed by the task ahead. Then he gets an idea. Cecelia Vainsmede served as liaison between James and her father, when her father was appointed James’s trustee years ago. She knows a great deal about business matters, his in particular. She loves a challenge and setting things in order. She would race through these piles of work. He suggests a marriage of convenience.

Cecelia is startled and dismayed. James clearly doesn’t realize how much she cares for him. And so she must refuse his offer. James sets out to woo and win her, gradually realizing how much he loves the brilliant Cecelia. But a German prince who has arrived in London seems to feel the same. James worries he may lose everything.
 

Tell us about the book with this fun little challenge using the title of the book

T is for temerity. How dare James offer for her in such a way?
D is for dalliance. Who can resist the attentions of an actual prince?
W is for wisdom, which can be so hard won.
L is for love, of course. But also for learning how to understand what one really feels.
M is for marrying the one you’ve always loved and the joy of finding he feels the same.
 

Please share your favorite quote from the book.

“You are practically trained to be a duchess already.”
“Trained! Like a performing animal?”

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would you use for the audition of the main characters and why?

“You adore strawberries,” he added.
This was true.
He held one out to her by its stem, wiggled it a little.
Cecelia leaned forward, took the berry in her teeth, and bit down. It was sweet and a little tart and completely delicious. She licked her lips. “Perfect.” She looked up and found James staring. Not into her eyes. Was he looking at her mouth? The heat in his gaze made her flush. They had habits of talking, and disputing, built over the years. These fell into place automatically when they were together. But after this morning, they had a new relationship as well. He might sweep her into his arms. Now, if he wished to. And his expression suggested that he did, very much. Then tonight…
James smiled—lazily, teasingly—as if he knew exactly what she was thinking.
Cecelia’s pulse quickened. She’d married him for this, too. She cared about him. But no other man had ever roused her as James did—his presence, his wit, the paltry few kisses they’d shared. She would demand many more of those. She met his gaze with that certainty.
He blinked. His smile widened, becoming more warmly appreciative. He gave her a small nod before saying, “Perhaps a bit of ham on a roll?”
Cecelia had a moment of acute disappointment. Then she realized that embraces in a moving carriage were probably awkward. Particularly with a basket of viands ready to spill. She had a sudden picture of the two of them, wildly entwined, crusted with bits of wedding cake and crushed strawberries. That would certainly enliven their arrival at his friend’s home. The idea was ludicrous, and strangely stimulating.
“Does ham amuse you?” James asked.
“Not ham.” Perhaps she would tell him her vision, later. When carriages and clothing were irrelevant. Her breath caught. “I should like some, thank you.”
He sliced the roll with the knife provided, added ham and a dab of mustard from a tiny china pot that closed with a ribbon tie, and held the result out to her. Cecelia took it and bit down. “Good.” She was hungry.
James served her a neatly sliced egg, more strawberries, lemonade from the flask. Gunter’s had foreseen all their needs, providing small cups without handles.
“We must have the cake,” said James. “It’s bad luck not to eat a wedding cake.”
“I have never heard that.”
“Well, perhaps it’s not true. But it should be.” He cut a morsel of the cake and held it out as he had the strawberry.
Cecelia leaned closer and took it, feeling his fingers on her lips as a shivery caress. The confection was dark and chewy, dense with dried fruit. “Aren’t you having any?” she asked when she’d swallowed.
He gave her the knife.
Cecelia cut a bit of cake and offered it to him. His taking of it felt like a kiss on her fingertips.
He licked a trace of icing from his lower lip and said, “Good.”
She was not the sort of woman who would ever swoon, Cecelia told herself. But her surroundings seemed to be swaying more than could be accounted for by the bouncing of the carriage. Was this what people meant when they said their senses were reeling?
“Tea?” James asked. His eyes were laughing.
“I–I don’t care for it without milk.”
“Oh, there is milk. Gunter’s would not let us down.” He showed her a small jar.
“They have thought of everything.”
“I made them a list,” he replied. “Detailed. Comprehensive. One might even say meticulous.” He raised dark eyebrows.
Cecelia laughed. Lists had been a point of contention between them for years. Cecelia found them critical. James claimed that truly important matters stuck in one’s brain, and anything else deserved to be forgotten. She had called him scatterbrained. He had called her obsessive. “I commend you,” she said, adding a dollop of milk to the cup of tea he had poured for her.

***
Excerpted from Duke Who Loved Me by Jane Ashford. © 2021 by Jane Ashford. Used with permission of the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Book Info:

James Cantrell, the new Duke of Tereford, has inherited a dukedom in disarray and is overwhelmed by his unaccustomed responsibilities. Then he gets an idea. Cecelia Vainsmede served as liaison between James and her father, and she knows a great deal about business matters, his own in particular. She’s also quite pretty. Ever the pragmatist, he suggests a marriage of convenience.

Cecelia has always been good at working with James, but she doesn’t understand how he can be so obtuse. He clearly doesn’t realize that he’s the duke she’s always wished for, or that his offer is an insult. But when a German prince arrives in London and immediately sets out to woo Cecelia, James will have to come to terms with what he really feels for her. Is running away worth the cost of losing her, or will the duke dare to win her once and for all?

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Meet the Author:

Jane Ashford, a beloved author of historical romances, has been published in Sweden, Italy, England, Denmark, France, Russia, Latvia, and Spain, as well as the United States. Jane has been nominated for a Career Achievement Award by RT Book Reviews. Visit her online at www.janeashford.com. She lives in Los Angeles, California.