The Bride Takes a Groom

Star-crossed childhood friends meet again in "an elegant, poignant, and joyful romance and a must-read for Regency fans" ( Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Katherine Brooke may be a fabulously wealthy heiress, but she's trapped, a pawn in her parents' ruthless game to marry her into the nobility. Then Captain Hugo Penhallow—so charming, as handsome as a Greek god—comes into her life once more, and suddenly she sees a chance to be free. As a Penhallow, his is one of the highest names in the land, but still his family is facing ruin. So Katherine boldly proposes an exchange: his name for her money. But only if Hugo understands it's merely a practical arrangement, and that she's not surrendering herself entirely. Back from eight years in America and determined to give his younger siblings a better life, Hugo agrees. He's never fallen in love, so why not? Yet neither of them guesses that this marriage will become far, far more than they ever dreamed of . . . "One of the most exciting new historical writers in a long time." —Julia Quinn, New York Times–bestselling author of the Bridgerton novels "Berne takes all the classic elements of a Regency romance and turns them upside down. The most charming surprise is the hero . . . who stands out from the legion of Regency leading men before him by being kind." — BookPage "Regency fans will love this forthright, intellectual heroine and affable, resourceful hero." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)