A lonely earl, a competent heroine of dubious origins, family secrets, and three young boys…a goat on the roof, kisses in the barn, and mischief in the parlor…
Two passions rule Will Landrum’s life: family and a devotion to the land and those who depend on it. The only benefit of being Earl of Chadbourn that matters to him is the right to care for those things. Carrying family burdens can be lonely, however, without a life partner.
Catherine Wheatly’s mother married her beloved Papa when Cath was ten. No one ever had to explain to Cath that base-born daughters have few marriage prospects. She knew. She contented herself being the best land steward in the county, helping Papa with his research, and raising her two brothers.
Trapped by his brother-in-law’s death into responsibility for his traumatized nephew, grieving sister, and an estate gone to ruin, loneliness overwhelms Will. The first rate husbandry of a neighboring farm and Catherine, who runs it, draw him like a moth to a flame. With Christmas coming, can he repair the damaged estate and far more damaged family? Dare he hope for love in the bargain?
Excerpt
The line of a woman’s back surpasses the grace of any cathedral, Will believed. At least this woman’s does. He looked his fill at Catherine bent over his injured nephew and smiled to himself. He found her gentle competence oddly compelling, also.
And the boys? They grew up to be the heroes of The Children of Empire series.
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This book was previously published in Mistletoe, Marriage, and Mayhem.