I did admire him for the sympathetic way he treats his estate workers who are unable to pay their rent, and for his determination that the museum should be for everyone, not just the wealthy. His cynical attitude to love and marriage does not sit well with his sister, Viola, but Anthony is adamant that he intends to marry someone who will make no emotional demands on him “Īnthony is arrogant, inconsiderate, selfish and, in typical ducal fashion, expects to be obeyed without question and, whenever he wants anything particularly difficult or unreasonable done, he can be persuasively charming. I was trained by him, and now that he is gone, there is no one more qualified for this post than I. “I am the daughter of Sir Henry Wade, and he was the best. Her decision to travel to England and take her father’s place shows real courage and I also love her response when Anthony questions her suitability for the position. After her father dies suddenly, she is left all alone, unwanted by her mother’s family in England, and virtually penniless. She had an unconventional upbringing, having lived and worked abroad all her life assisting her father Sir Henry Wade, one of the foremost Roman antiquarians in the world, on his excavations. I adore Daphne because it is easier to relate to someone who is plain, wears spectacles and, by the standards of the time, is firmly on the shelf at the age of twenty-four. It was also the first book I read by Laura Lee Guhrke and it established her as a firm favourite of mine and, over the years, I have read and loved many of her books.

This book had the honour of being the recipient of the Romantic Times Award for Best European Historical Romance of 2004. She begins to be tutored in the social graces, forcing Anthony to see the beauty who has been right in front of his eyes. So Daphne decides she will not be so silly any longer. He considers her a plain young lady and says so in a careless remark to a friend, unaware that Daphne is outside the library door, her heart shattering to pieces. Anthony Courtland is by far the most exciting and handsome man she has ever known, and she dreams of one day being able to speak with him without getting tongue tied.Īnthony, meanwhile, only sees Daphne as a hard worker on his excavation team. One of Daphne Wade’s guilty pleasures is to watch the Duke of Tremore as he works, shirtless, on the excavation site of his ducal estate.

Genre: Historical Romance (Late Regency – 1830)

Guilty Pleasures by Laura Lee Guhrke