The Duke of Defiance (The Untouchables)

Difficult and defiant as a child, Bran Crowther, Earl of Knighton left England as a young man to pursue independence and adventure. He never expected to inherit the title and when duty calls him home, he still finds Societys codes constricting and others expectations oppressive. Nevertheless, he needs a wife to be a mother to his young daughter, preferably a woman of intelligence and warmth who is, above all, immune to his idiosyncrasiesand to falling in love. Widow Joanna Shaw isnt interested in a second marriage, not after the loveless, passionless union she endured. Shed much rather dote on her young niece and nephew since they will likely be the only children in her life...until she meets a precocious girl, in desperate need of a mother. But her father, the socalled Duke of Defiance, is as peculiar as he is handsome, and Jo wont take another risk with her heart. Their rules, however, are made to be broken, even when the consequences could destroy them both.