Claiming the Courtesan

Claiming the Courtesan is a historical romance by Anna Campbell, published in 2007. It is a Regency novel, and it begins with one of the most celebrated women in London deciding to disappear.

The Duke of Kylemore knows her as Soraya. Men fought duels for the chance to spend an hour in her company, and Kylemore was the only one who came close to taming her. Before he can marry her she vanishes, and he discovers that the woman behind the name is Verity Ashton, who took the name and the life that went with it because her family needed the money. Verity has her own plan, which is to put that life behind her and settle somewhere as a respectable woman.

Kylemore finds her safe haven and takes her to his hunting lodge in Scotland, and Verity spends the weeks that follow looking for a way out. What the novel follows is the two of them at close quarters, with her independence and his determination set against each other.