seriously romantic: the highland duke by amy jarecki

akira ayres is a dedicated healer, even if most her patients are ready to toss her off the british isles due to her gypsy heritage, she has a duty to uphold. after a jacobite uprising, akira is helping the wounded when she comes across an injured jacobite, our titular highland duke, with a musket ball buried in his leg.

with the local lord in the redcoat's pockets, helping this man could have devastating consequences for akira and her family, but she does not hesitate. even when he refuses to tell her his name. geordie, the duke of gordon, isn't sharing his identity for akira's own safety. he's worried she'll be in greater danger if she ends up being questioned by the redcoats. and he needs her to stay safe, if only to repay her for her assistance in escaping the battlefield. it would have been disastrous for his family if he had been caught.

from the battlefield, geordie and akira travel across scotland to geordie's main seat. and the close quarters they are forced to keep heightens the sexual tension but also allows them to reach an unexpected emotional intimacy. akira is an innocent, but geordie should know better than to trifle with akira's affections. he's been married before, and has endured a humiliating and rare divorce. even if he were interested in remarrying, the petitioning he must do with the church and the royal court would make any approvals a difficult proposition. it would be one thing if he falls in love with a woman who is his social equal and could provide some political capital, but a gypsy with uncertain parentage and no money to her name is not likely to be viewed as a future duchess with any favor.

so it seems hopeless, that's a pretty tight corner geordie and akira are in. and the fact that they must navigate these relationship concerns while being chased and captured and released and re-captured by redcoats and their scottish allies make for an action-packed third act. but true love can overcome all things. and the gypsies have their own ways and traditions that might make it possible for geordie and akira to attain their heart's content. sometimes the thorniest problems are solved with the simplest solutions.

**the highland duke will publish on march 28 2017. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/grand central publishing (forever) in exchange for my honest review.