His Temptress, His Torment by Louisa Cornell

The one woman he wants, is the one woman he can never have.

Seven years after the death of her beloved sister, Miss Eleanor Grace McCormick learns the roguish brother-in-law she has never met, Captain Asherton Dorrill, has given up the sea and brought her late sister’s son to London. With the help of Sir Stirling James, using the name of Miss Grace, she obtains the position of governess to her nephew. Her plan is simple—earn the child’s trust and take him from his father, who tore her family apart when he eloped with her sister. What she doesn’t plan is her growing fascination with Captain Dorrill, a man so handsome, her thoughts of him grow more wicked by the day. A man so haunted, he breaks her heart. A man so desperate to become the father his son needs, he keeps on the worst governess in London. How can she run away with his child, when she risks leaving her heart behind?

Captain Asherton Dorrill has sailed ships for Dorrill Shipping for over ten years. After his young son’s near fatal drowning accident, he vows to give up the sea. He moves to London to help run the family business and get to know the child his wife died bringing into the world. He is determined to be the father Matthias needs. Hiring a proper governess seems the best way to start until the boy runs off three imminently qualified women in rapid succession. The fourth candidate comes highly recommended, but he quickly discovers that she is the most unconventional governess he has ever encountered, she is hiding a secret, and she is far more beautiful than is good for him. He has a strict rule against dallying with any woman in his employ no matter how fierce, kind, and wonderfully infuriating she is. Can he discover her secret before he consigns his strict rule to the devil?