THE FIFTH DAUGHTER IS A STUNNING NEW LOVE STORY THAT SWEEPS FROM THE SOMBER MOORS OF YORKSHIRE TO THE TUSCAN HILLS OF SUNNY ITALY. Born of tragedy and nurtured by scandal, Maresa Fairweather was a fifth daughter, all but abandoned by her widower father. Wild and headstrong, she was fortunate to have Percy Bronwell to keep her from harm's way. Now the childhood friends have grown up, but realizing his love for Maresa is unrequited, Percy enlists in the Royal Navy. Always attracted to the wrong man, Maresa continues her flirtatious ways until increasing gossip dictates a change of scene. She travels to Italy, but old habits are hard to break and, desperate to end another engagement, she pleads for Percy's help. He saves her the only way he can —- by offering a marriage of convenience. After only one night together, Percy returns to his naval command ... and Maresa becomes the woman she was destined to be. Learning that Percy's life is in danger at the hands of the French, she risks her own life to save him —- and to give him something he has always given her: unwavering love. But is it too late?

Set in the early nineteenth century, Beatrice Fairweather, a shy woman and a serious student of art, returns to Italy to paint. There she becomes reacquainted with Angelo Bartolini, an attractive man from her past who is also an activist in the Carbonari movement (dedicated to the liberation of Italy from Austria). Their attraction is instant but obstacles to their union abound when Angelo grants another woman—a dying woman—her last wish by marrying her, only to discover she miraculously survives.