Eloisa James' The Ugly Duchess
This is apparently part of a series doing a play on fairy tales--obviously this one draws from the ugly duckling story. The dude in question is a young earl whose father has gambled away most of their estate and started in on the accounts of his ward--our titular young girl, slim and boyish and still a teenager. The father insists the young dude (also a teenager) marry the girl to get her sizable inheritance and hide his crimes--and then the dude realizes he actually is super into her. Their marriage is great--at least until she overhears his father and learns she was married for her money (except not really), and promptly kicks them both out (she can run the estate better than they can, for sure). So her young husband obviously turns to piracy. Now, years later, he's returned, determined to win her back, and meanwhile she's become the most fashionable woman in Paris and London. It's rare that I feel this way, but I actually wanted to read more about them! I generally want the couples in romances to work out their issues and get together, but I was actively rooting for these two. Their early married days are just so sweet, I honestly felt sad for the years they missed. A-.
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