For heaven's sake, he's a duke, not a miracle worker! This is Charles Penley's first thought when Lady Lucy Marbury asks a favor of him. She wants him to help polish the spiky edges her granddaughter, Gillian Dryden, acquired while living in Sicily and then help smooth Gillian's way into the ton. Since Gillian seems to be more at ease with a rifle in her hands than a fan, Charles knows he is going to have his work cut out for him, teaching her how to be a proper English lady. Yet the more time Charles spends trying to turn Gillian into the brightest gem of the social season, the more he begins to miss the diamond in the rough he first met. Kelly (Confessions of a Royal Bridegroom, 2014) launches her new Improper Princesses series with another superbly crafted Regency historical romance that puts a clever spin on My Fair Lady while at the same time delivering the usual elegant writing tempered with a deliciously dry wit and artfully nuanced characters readers have come to expect from her.--Charles, John Copyright 2016 Booklist

Kelly's Improper Princesses Regency series opens gallantly with well-thought-out characters, madcap adventures, and London's cunning, cagey elite. Gillian Dryden's royal bloodline can't completely make up for her illegitimate birth and wild upbringing in Sicily. She becomes a target of Sicilian bandits and is brought back to England to be safely schooled in refinement and married off. Charles, Duke of Leverton, who's known as Perfect Penley, grudgingly agrees to be her social tutor. After Gillian assaults a boorish earl and shoots a robber, she is further tarnished socially. Gillian's continued recklessness and lack of decorum challenge Charles, and she begins to chip away at his controlled life. Gillian's antics imbue her story with energy and some intrigue, but the most affecting part of Kelly's tale is Charles's development as he falls in love with Gillian and breaks free of complacency and propriety. This is a fun ride with a colorful, adventurous heroine and a happily disconcerted, formerly perfect hero. Agent: Evan Marshall, Evan Marshall Agency. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.