Disreputable Dukes of Club Damnation Series by Sandra Sookoo

What doesn’t kill you might make you stronger unless it forces you to become what you hate…. Alexander Sutcliffe—the 8th Duke of Ravenhurst—has finally returned to England after a twenty-year absence, and he wants the man who destroyed his life punished. At the age of twenty-two, after being forced to witness his parents’ brutal murder, he was kidnapped from his bed in London and shanghaied onto a ship to toil in the English navy... moreWhat doesn’t kill you might make you stronger unless it forces you to become what you hate…. Alexander Sutcliffe—the 8th Duke of Ravenhurst—has finally returned to England after a twenty-year absence, and he wants the man who destroyed his life punished. At the age of twenty-two, after being forced to witness his parents’ brutal murder, he was kidnapped from his bed in London and shanghaied onto a ship to toil in the English navy. Finally able to escape that life and the complications therein, he’s back and he has revenge on his mind. Miss Madeline Hardesty will marry the Marquess of Inglehart in a week. Yet one rainy night she’s taken from her bed and kidnapped by Ravenhurst, the man she used to harbor a secret tendre for. When he disappeared from London and society, her brother spun her horrific tales about him, and she promptly forgot him out of necessity. Now that her less-than-savory brother wishes to marry her off to Inglehart, she wonders if everything she’s ever been told has been a lie. Once Ravenhurst kidnaps her and takes her to his country estate in Cornwall, he intends to ruin the hell out of her, ransom her off to the highest bidder so he can restore his neglected properties, and wash his hands of his revenge, but he didn’t count on Maddie being a spirited fighter or an accidental support. Attraction clashes with resistance until one stormy night when secrets are discovered, and they finally give into desire. As the weeks go by, feelings and outlooks change, but unless they make peace with themselves and start living for a future they were denied years ago, nothing will change. …yet there are many paths to redemption, but only if you take the first step. less

Only when one stares down their pasts can they move forward into new directions…. When Adam Tattinger, sixth Duke of Averly, can’t draw out his engagement any longer, he fights it to the bitter end. He doesn’t want a wife; long ago he lost everything and hid his heart behind thick walls, but damned responsibility kept calling and he had to do right by the title, despite the fact that dark, carnal desires might pull him apart and forever brand him as depraved... moreOnly when one stares down their pasts can they move forward into new directions…. When Adam Tattinger, sixth Duke of Averly, can’t draw out his engagement any longer, he fights it to the bitter end. He doesn’t want a wife; long ago he lost everything and hid his heart behind thick walls, but damned responsibility kept calling and he had to do right by the title, despite the fact that dark, carnal desires might pull him apart and forever brand him as depraved. The Honorable Imogen Mattingly has been promised to Averly since she was a girl. Her father and his had struck a questionable deal for properties and illicit fortunes, but now her freedom is over—the duke has come to claim her. Beyond everything, she doesn’t want to be a wife, especially to a duke of questionable morals. She has dreams of her own but trying to outrun her own secrets has cast a pall over any other prospects. As their nuptial ceremony gets underway, the two are enemies from the start. Since neither of them wants the union, they vow to make each other’s lives miserable despite forced proximity, yet those plans become more difficult as attraction crackles between them. Though healing hearts and perceptions aren’t as simple as base needs of the body, when one night of understanding puts the couple on new footing, things change, but will the cost prove too high for broken spirits? Only they can decide how their future will look. …or else mistrust and grief will destroy from within. less

A man cannot escape the sins of his past, but he can build a new future…. Edwin Coatesville, the “Duke” of Nottingham, is a man floundering. Though his title is honorary, he’s a disreputable man who has lost everything. One autumn evening, he spies his former wife with another man at a ball, and they are quite chummy... moreA man cannot escape the sins of his past, but he can build a new future…. Edwin Coatesville, the “Duke” of Nottingham, is a man floundering. Though his title is honorary, he’s a disreputable man who has lost everything. One autumn evening, he spies his former wife with another man at a ball, and they are quite chummy. Years have passed since the contretemps that led to their shocking divorce, but possession and revenge drive him, yet he wants nothing more than to regain some of his former respectability… at the cost of theirs. Lady Charlotte Cavendish nee Coatesville once knew great love… until that man proved he was naught but a scoundrel, to such a point her father called in favors and helped her through a scandalous divorce. After putting heartbreak behind her and hoping the beau monde has forgotten the gossip, she re-enters society, but when she accidentally meets her ex during a waltz, the past and future crash together as he demands to see their almost eleven-year-old daughter then kisses her in front of all and sundry. With regrets, Edwin is blind to everything; he enacts a plan to hold her captive, ply her with carnal teasing until she forgives him, but Charlotte is not having any of it… much. Forced proximity and corrective yet pleasurable discipline have their place, but unless they talk and stop hiding behind bedroom endeavors, the problems between the couple won’t resolve. If she’s to be his by sunrise in a forever sort of way, there must be compromise and love, despite his morally gray past as well as her ties to the man who’d like to see him back in prison. …unless he has learned nothing along the way. less

In the search for peace, sometimes calm comes from unexpected sources…. Cecil Benningfield, the tenth Duke of Thornton, is having a difficult time with life. After the war with Napoleon, his mind is not quite right, which has led him to remove himself from society and everything else the beau monde values—including his wife. All he wants is calm, to work the land, and perhaps keep bees, anything to stave off memories of the horrors he’d enacted, as long as he stays in control… of everything... moreIn the search for peace, sometimes calm comes from unexpected sources…. Cecil Benningfield, the tenth Duke of Thornton, is having a difficult time with life. After the war with Napoleon, his mind is not quite right, which has led him to remove himself from society and everything else the beau monde values—including his wife. All he wants is calm, to work the land, and perhaps keep bees, anything to stave off memories of the horrors he’d enacted, as long as he stays in control… of everything. Emma Benningfield nee Wingate, Duchess of Thornton, is not best pleased with her husband of two years. When she’d married Thornton upon his return from the war, he had the potential to become everything she dreamed of, but then he left her in London to reside permanently in the country. Though it is difficult navigating his mercurial moods and penchant for carnal exhibitionism, she refuses to let him ignore her; they are either married, or he needs to cut her loose. As she enacts a series of scandals to gain his attention, the rumors reach his ears, which stokes his ire. When he returns to London, he seeks advice from his friends at Club Damnation, then Cecil embarks on a quest for forced proximity and to win her back despite the challenges, chilling secrets, and dark desires keeping them apart. Yet even then, it might already be too late for a potential second chance romance. Only time will tell. …and sometimes it’s found in the very darkness that gives the struggle. less