Book excerpt: Elias Stevens, the Marquess of Savorton doesn’t believe he’ll ever fall in love. He may marry one day, because the title demands it; however, that elusive emotion will not be freely given to his future wife. A house party changes everything for him though. His dearest friend makes a wager with him. He’ll fall in love by the new year. Elias takes that bet because he knows his own heart. Lady Gabriella St. Giles lives a charmed life. She has a good family and fully believes one day she’ll meet a gentleman sure to steal her heart. What she doesn’t count on is meeting an scandalously intriguing marquess at a house party. Love is on the agenda. One of them wants it and the other hopes to desperately escape it. That wager gives the marquess far more than he could ever imagined, and Gabriella may just acquire her own future duke to savor.