Distracting the Duchess »

Emily Bryan’s novels have been translated into multiple languages, including German, Dutch, Italian, Russian and Spanish.  Also known as Diana Groe, she is the winner of the 2009 Romantic Times K.I.S.S. Award, as well as a finalist for Book Buyers Best and Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence. 

• In Victorian England, a widowed duchess and aspiring artist becomes embroiled in an international intrigue when the man she thinks is her latest nude model turns out to be a spy for Queen Victoria.  

Publishers Weekly

When handsome spy Trevelyn Deveridge comes to the house of young widowed duchess Artemisia Pelham-Smythe, an accomplished painter, she assumes he is there to be her new nude model. He complies with her request in order to get the information he wants, and they soon develop an immediate, potent attraction to each other. As Trevelyn tries to learn more about Mr. Beddington, the business manager who has a key to Artemisia's father's safe, the spy finds himself falling in love with the spirited duchess. Meanwhile, Artemisia hides secrets of her own related to her professional ambitions, forbidden to Victorian women. Bryan has a great handle on the material and her characters, creating a charming, colorful story with an intricate, fast-paced story line. (Feb.)