'Tis the Season in Victorian London. Oh, not the Christmas season, but the spring time of the year when all the eligible young ladies and men flock to London for teas, garden parties and balls in hope of finding a suitable mate. This year, Hannah Reid, Duchess of Dunbarton, has come in search of a lover. She is not looking for a husband, as she was widowed a year ago, spent her year of mourning and is finally free to live her life as she chooses.

Hannah married the Duke of Dunbarton when she was only 19, and he was 54 years her senior. Most believed it was only for the title and his money, but she became quite fond of the duke, and he taught her everything she knows about life and how to live it. She had been completely faithful to him, and now she is ready to spread her wings. She has chosen her lover already; he just doesn't know it yet.

Mr. Constantine Huxtable is in London for the Season just to enjoy taking a lover and to attend all the festivities. He has a reputation as a dark, sinister man, full of secrets. Hannah, the Duchess, has developed the persona of an ice queen over the years of her marriage and holds secrets of her own.

Hannah begins a game of sorts with Constantine, putting off his offers and invitations. But he catches on quickly and turns the tables on her. Sooner than she expects, she ends up in his bedchamber. Night after night, they rendezvous at his home. However, those late nights turn to endeared times of meaningful conversation, and the hard shells of their lives begin to soften and peel away. And what is each of them finding? Is it a longing for a real relationship? Is it true love? Will their secrets keep them from ever finding and embracing love?

Mary Balogh has masterfully woven a romantic tale of the importance of family, of compassion, and of love and forgiveness in this fifth book in her series about the Huxtable family. A SECRET AFFAIR will not disappoint, and you'll be pleasantly surprised by the "secrets."

Book Summary

“The Devil was about to be tamed.”

Her name is Hannah Reid. Born a commoner, she has been Duchess of Dunbarton ever since she was nineteen years old, the wife of an elderly duke to whom she has been rumored to be consistently and flagrantly unfaithful. Now the old duke is dead and, more womanly and beautiful than ever at thirty, Hannah has her freedom at last.

And she knows just what she wants to do with it. To the shock of a conventional friend, she announces her intention to take a lover—and not just any lover, but the most dangerous and delicious man in all of upper-class England: Constantine Huxtable.

Constantine’s illegitimacy has denied him the title of Earl, so now he denies himself nothing . . . or so the ton would have it. Rumored to be living the free and easy life of a sensualist in his country estate, he always chooses recent widows for his short-lived affairs. Hannah will fit the bill nicely.
 
But once these two passionate and scandalous figures find each other, they discover that it isn’t so easy to extricate oneself from the fires of desire—without getting singed. For the duchess and the dark lord each have startling secrets to reveal, and when all is said and done, neither will be able to say which one fell in love first, who tamed whom, and who has emerged from this game of hearts with the stronger hand.