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]]

At nineteen, Nyra lives in a hidden fairy enclave deep in the human world, trying to master her small but growing magic while grappling with her identity. But everything shifts again when she finds a wounded stranger in the woods an elf, unconscious and bleeding. One she should fear. One she should turn away. Instead, she hides him. His name is Thalion fierce, stoic, and unknowingly her fated mate. Mating between elves and fairies has been forbidden for centuries, especially since the elves were responsible for the near-extinction of her people.