The Marquess She Loved — Jessie Clever

Lady Adaline Atwood is the most beautiful wallflower in London. Cursed with beauty but no dowry, she has remained on the fringes of every ball for the four seasons she's been out. It needn't matter though as she has loved her best friend, Ashfield Riggs, since she can remember. The problem is Ash only has eyes for another.

The son of a judge, Ash is relegated to the lowest rung of genteel society until he unexpectedly inherits the title of Marquess of Aylesford. Determined to find a wife now that he's a titled gentleman, he sets his cap for the only woman he's ever sought: Lady Valerie Lattimer. Falsely believing he is now worthy of her hand, he proposes marriage only to be shot down in the most humiliating way. Wounded, he turns to his best friend, Adaline, only to discover she has been the sensible choice for a wife all along.

But when the demands of the impoverished estate require him to accept help from his wife, the forced closeness turns their arranged marriage into something more and ignites a desire he never expected.