It Was Only a Kiss — Shannon Gilmore

I will read everything Shannon Gilmore writes! Tracy Sumner - USA Today Bestselling AuthorMy name is Nicolette Brandon.I can fish and bait my own hook.I can gamble with the bad boys.I can use my shoes like a weapon.What's my superpower? I can ruin a rake.He was London's most sought-after bachelor. A duke gone rogue for three years looking for Nicolette Bradenton, the owner of a mysterious jewelry box. Now that he's found the young debutante, he's more determined than ever to get her alone, not just for the answers to the mystery but because his unexpected attraction to the beauty is something he cannot resist. The Duke of Havenly will meet his match, taken down by a woman nine years younger than he is, and all because protecting her from the thieves who killed her father means stealing her away onto one of his merchant ships.Three clandestine weeks at sea will either dull his libido or spark a fire beyond his control.Nicolette Bradenton started life as the daughter of a sea captain. But after her father's death, she's shipped to live with her aunt and uncle, members of high society, and part of a family she's never met. There's little hope she'll fit in until she meets a rakishly handsome pirate duke who insists on rescuing her from a danger she cannot see. But it's not their attraction she questions; it's his unexpected possession of her family's greatest heirloom—a jewelry box, a gift from her late father. She may have given in to a few kisses, but she'll never forgive him for using her to find the meaning behind the mysterious message carved under the lid of the pewter jewelry box.He's a handsome rogue who is to kiss, but a forced marriage is not the kind of soil that cultivates forgiveness. Only love has that kind of power.