To save her family from financial ruin, Annaliese Dawson agrees to marry a stranger. She knows that the arrangement would probably never lead to love, but as the two begin to trust each other, could it be that they have a chance at true love? ***** Matthew Cassidy is a widower baronet with three young children. Convinced that his children deserve a mother, a marriage is promptly arranged between Matthew and Annaliese, a pair that have never met, and are complete opposites. What will it take to bring these two together? They have but one chance to get it right. [[word count: 80,000 - 90,000]] Cover designed by Morgan Sangster

Hope Montoya knows someone is poisoning her, but who? She suspects her mother was also poisoned and knows her father was murdered. Who wants her family eliminated? She vows to fight! She realizes she won’t last the eight months until she turns twenty-five and her uncle no longer controls her or her estate. Never will she be dominated by a man as she was by her father, as she has seen her mother and grandmothers dominated. If she marries, she gains control now, but only if she weds a man she can trust. Only one man meets her requirements. Can she trust him to protect her and capture the killer...but then to leave? Micah Stone has been in love with Hope since the first time he saw her. But he was accused of her father’s murder and surely would have hung if not for his two brothers’ aid. Most in the community still believe him guilty. But the drought has him too worried about water for his dying cattle to care about his neighbors’ opinions. When Hope proposes a paper marriage in exchange for land on the Brazos River and much needed cash, her offer rubs his pride raw. His name may be Stone, but he’s not made of it. He can’t refuse her for long, and so their adventure begins. He and Hope have to stay alive and discover the killer before they become victims in the deadly assaults.