{WATTY'S 2020 WINNER & EDITOR'S PICK.}
Hopeless romantic and aspiring writer Mare Atwood has fallen madly in love with her childhood correspondent. There's only one catch-she doesn't know who he is. When the beaus of Star's Crossing return from boarding school to begin the courting season, Mare is determined to uncover the identity of her writer, flout her family's intentions of orchestrating an advantageous marriage, and procure the life of writing and romance she's always sought.
But as in the tales she so adores, it won't be easy.
Galas, masquerades, picnics, and hunts-alongside an old friend, a former teacher, and an unlikely ally, Mare delves into an investigation that leaves her torn between three clever, deceptive, and wealthy young bachelors. If Mare can confirm which is her writer and claim his hand before the courting season ends, she'll have her wish: the love of her life, a valuable marriage, and a future of writing romance.
But with the eyes of Star's Crossing upon her, a business plot forcing invisible hands, and the unwillingness of her writer to come forward-Mare's future may not end in triumph, but tragedy.
Set against the gilded Victorian backdrop of coastal Connecticut and lush with pre-war luxury, fans of Jane Austen, Margaret Mitchell, and Louisa May Alcott are sure to enjoy this lighthearted, lyrical novel of young love, independence, and identity.
#1 Literary
#1 YA Romance
#1 Victorian
#1 Lyrical
#8 General Fiction
𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥.
When faced with a choice, Lord Henry Clarke decided to become a famous and accomplished archaeologist rather than a happily married man to the woman of his heart. Now, at the age of one-and-forty, he lives a comfortable life as a bachelor, working as a professor at the University of London and paying regular visits to his two devoted lovers. His life takes an abrupt turn, when his childless older brother commits suicide, making him the next Duke of Grantchester. Yet that's a minor obstacle compared to the fact that he'll also have to marry to keep the money in the family...
Miss Sabrina Hartley has New York at her feet... and perhaps all of America! But only one person knows who's behind the pseudonym that pens the most daring and bestselling erotic novels. When, at the age of one-and-thirty, she sees her younger cousin get married, she decides to turn the fiction of her stories into reality. However, her plans are soon thwarted by a series of telegrams from England - in order to keep half of her vast fortune, Sabrina must marry the current Duke of Grantchester as a direct result of an old agreement between their late fathers, Mr Hartley and Lord Clarke.
Despite her best friend's warnings, Sabrina somewhat naively sets off to see if she can be happy in England...
...only to discover to her dismay that Henry is a cold and starchy man, his family reject her out of hand, and even the weather is dreadful almost every day!
Will she find a way to her husband's heart or will she fulfill her darkest and most forbidden fantasies in the secret embrace of someone else?