Part of Series
Ruth Winderfield is miserable in London's ballrooms, where her family’s wealth and questions over her birth make her a target for the unscrupulous and a pariah to the high-sticklers. Trained as a healer, she is happiest in a sickroom. When a smallpox epidemic traps her at the remote manor of a reclusive lord, the last thing she expects is to find her heart's desire. Valentine, Earl of Ashbury, was carried home from war three years ago, unconscious, a broken man. He woke to find his family in ruins, his faithless wife and treacherous brother dead, his family’s two girl children exiled to school. He becomes a near recluse while he spends his days trying to restore the estate, or at least prevent further crumbling. When an impertinent, bossy female turns up with several sick children, including the two girls, he reluctantly gives them shelter. Unable to stand by and watch the suffering, he begins to help with the nursing, while he falls irrevocably for both girls and the lovely Ruth. The epidemic over, Ruth and Val part ways, each reluctant to share how they feel without a sign from the other. Ruth returns to her family and the ton. Val begins to build a new life centred on his girls. But danger to Ruth is a clarion call Val cannot ignore. If they can stop the villains determined to destroy them, perhaps the hermit and the healer can mend one another’s hearts.
Author
Have you ever wanted something so much you were afraid to even try? That was me ten years ago. For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to be a novelist. I even started dozens of stories, over the years. But life kept getting in the way. A seriously ill child who required years of therapy; a rising mortgage that led to a full-time job; six children, my own chronic illness… the writing took a back seat. As the years passed, the fear grew. If I didn't put my stories out there in the market, I wouldn't risk making a fool of myself. I could keep the dream alive if I never put it to the test. Then my mother died. That great lady had waited her whole life to read a novel of mine, and now it would never happen. So I faced my fear and changed it—told everyone I knew I was writing a novel. Now I'd make a fool of myself for certain if I didn't finish. My first book came out to excellent reviews in December 2014, and the rest is history. Many books, lots of positive reviews, and a few awards later, I feel foolish for not starting earlier. I write historical fiction with a large helping of romance, a splash of Regency, and a twist of suspense. I then try to figure out how to slot the story into a genre category. I'm mad keen on history, enjoy what happens to people in the crucible of a passionate relationship, and love to use a good mystery and some real danger as mechanisms to torture my characters. Dip your toe into my world with one of my lunch-time reads collections or a novella, or dive into a novel. And let me know what you think.
