The leaves were starting to turn vibrant colors... Shades of reds, oranges, and yellows. The clear sign that Autumn was upon the land. The long grass, which flowed in the winds, was slowly drying up and turning shades of browns and yellows, like hay. Within a few months, winter would be upon them.
Beautiful colors soaked the land of the Great Plains. The sky was a vibrant blue, but when the sun would set, oranges, yellows, reds, pinks, and purples would cover the sky before the darkness of night cloaked the world, wrapping its gentle arms around the sky like a blanket. But stars would be born, shining bright into the night sky. The moon, she always was ready to guide anyone in need. Ready to lead them home, lighting their path up for safe travels.
It was the year of 1868... Autumn had changed the colors of the Great Plains to more of dying colors as Winter was coming soon... The weather was crips and cool, the birds were tweeting and the winds howling and whisping through the trees. Herds of wild horses grazed or ran in the meadows, their manes and tails flowing with the wind; hooves beating on the ground. The whinnying and neighing of the wild mustangs filling the fields as they ran and played around.
Men on their horses on the trails and roads, kids playing outside with their pets or imaginations, mothers inside getting dinner ready, bandits and gangs on the run from pinkertons and law men or causing more trouble.
This... Is where our story begins....
Just when she's decided to leave the Town, Lady Cressida Belverst is forced to marry Lord Calan Haverston, the man who coincidentally knows a way out. Agreeing to marry for all the wrong reasons, can Cressida and Calan find out where their hearts truly belong?
***
It is impossible to leave the Town, but one woman is determined to escape with the help of her betrothed.
Lady Cressida Belverst has always been judged as a walking scandal. Oh, how she tries (on some rare occasions) to be proper! When her parents arrange for her to marry a rich lord, Cressida has had enough. She has to leave the Town because she will not be forced to live with a man she doesn't love. But what happens if the very man she's betrothed to is the only one who can help her get out?
Calan Haverston, the Lord of Easton, takes the risk and helps his betrothed by using his knowledge of the Town's secrets because he is as willing as she to stay free of marriage for reasons completely different. He has dark secrets he cannot share with her, and his life is not one he can likewise open to anyone. But what happens when she leaves after awakening desires he thought he has under control? And what happens when he finds himself longing for her?
Cressida goes to a completely different place, one she has only heard in stories and read in books, with hopes of finding what her heart has always longed for. But love, mystery and secrets will chase her and it will only be a matter of time before she realizes what her heart truly desires.
*This story is a standalone title in the Haverston Family series.