RELEASE DAY REVIEW: To Defend a Damaged Duke – Book 2 Regency Rossingley – Fearne Hill

To Defend a Damaged Duke Book Cover To Defend a Damaged Duke
Book 2 Regency Rossingley
Fearne Hill
Regency, Romance, Historical, Gay, LGBTQ
NineStar Press
6/17/2025
Kindle
302
Amazon

Amazon Link: Amazon

Benedict Fitzsimmons, the reclusive fourteenth Duke of Ashington, nurses a secret desire for his own sex he’d much prefer nobody ever found out about. Indeed, having only ever given in to his urges as a youth—and with disastrous consequences—he never imagined they would. Preferring the company of his racehorses to people, Benedict spends most of his time working on estate matters, longing for a lost love he can never have.

When an anonymous letter threatening to expose Benedict lands in his lap, he’s shocked to the core. He doesn’t have any enemies; why would anyone want to destroy him? Terrified, and with his family’s impeccable reputation at stake, Benedict joins forces with loyal friend, the Earl of Rossingley, to track down the culprit.

Risen from poverty and with a sordid past he’d rather forget, Tommy Squire has a mind dedicated to growing his business ventures and a heart shaped from stone. When the man who once broke it in a life-changing betrayal requests Tommy’s help to avoid a scandal, he finds himself embroiled in a daring scheme to bring down a blackmailer. As their plot unfolds, Tommy realises it’s more than his former lover he’s endeavouring to protect, it’s his battered heart.

Review By Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team

Amazon Link: Amazon

With the death of his father Benedict Fitzsimmons became the 14th Duke of Ashington.
Benedict keeps secret his desire for men and in the 1800’s it is a deadly secret to keep. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been that long ago when men hid their sexual preference.
Benedict frequented a Molly House as a young man, where he met Tommy Squire and fell in love. During a raid, Benedict left Tommy tied to the bedframe and fled. He has regretted this for nearly a decade. Now he puts all his attention to the business of being a Duke and his prized thoroughbred horses.
With encouragement from his younger brother Francis, Benedict visits a new club called Squire’s and decides to join. After joining he is invited to meet with the owner Thomas L’Esquire an invitation he readily accepts. When he enters the office, he comes face to face with his past because Thomas L’Esquire is his Tommy Squire.
It was recently that Tommy recognized the man he had loved and the man who had left him and a man he has hated ever since. Unfortunately, there is sometimes a fine line between love and hate. For ten years Benedict had no idea what happened to Tommy now the reality of what he did comes back to torture him.
Things get even worse when a list with his name on it as being a visitor to the White Hart, a molly house, arrives at his desk. His reputation and his family name could be destroyed, and Tommy refuses to let that happen after he also receives a list. Benedict welcomes Tommy’s help and the help of the Earl of Rossingley. Benedict confessed to the Earl who is just like him in his desire for men.
Tommy and Rossingley discover who was responsible for sending Tommy the list and the person is quickly encouraged to let it go. They also discover who is responsible for Benedict’s dilemma and it is a family member, so it is not so easily quieted.
A past love remains challenging in the present. A relationship between two men is not accepted in the 1800’s but then it is still a problem in the present. Bringing a stop to the blackmail, giving into a love that hasn’t changed in a decade is what made this story so interesting. Is there any hope of living the life that Benedict and Tommy want, well you have to read this book to find the answers.
I did not read book one and it had no effect whatsoever on my enjoyment of this one.

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