When the arrogant stranger Bess is forced to marry unexpectedly becomes a duke, she'll find herself at odds with her growing feelings as he hunts for a killer. ***** Sharp-tongued Elizabeth 'Bess' Jones is perfectly content living on her lonesome in a tiny village south of Derbyshire. She works as a nurse, owns a small home, and finds the label of 'spinster' an agreeable trade for her independence. But when her entire life is uprooted in an instant, she only has one person to blame: her new husband, Emmett Wilde, who was caught in a compromising situation with her. And now, despite his promise to fake a death certificate after their wedding--to free her of any duty to him or their marriage bed--he sends for her in the dead of night with startling news: his father has been murdered, and he is now the Duke of Ascot with a wife he can no longer deny... [[Word Count: 60,000-70,000 words]] [[Cover designed by Ren Tachibana]]

Marcie is an oddity in her village, the daughter of a widower with both village and outsider blood in her veins. She cares for her drunken father, and struggles to fit in with the rest of the village. Everything changes when she comes across two dragons, a mother and her new born, and unwittingly becomes the Tamer of the baby dragon when his mother dies. This new unlikely bond completely changes her life and opens doors to her future that she would have never thought possible whilst also causing her pain and heartache.