09/30/2024
Tuft takes readers from Regency England to war-torn France in her fast-paced and emotional fourth Jennings Family romance (after An Accidental Romance). After Lady Anna Clifton’s father dies, she seeks help from family friends to locate her brother, Avery, who was reported missing in battle in France. If she can’t find him, her father’s earldom will pass to her profligate cousin, Ambrose, and she will lose her beloved home, Clifton Hall. Anna, along with two of her servants, finds passage across the English Channel to Paris aboard a yacht owned by the Duke of Aylesham. Fellow passenger James Jennings, a diplomat traveling to France for peace talks, initially disapproves of Anna’s presence on board, believing her to be just another spoiled aristocrat. After learning her true mission, however, James agrees to help Anna find Avery. As they travel across a country decimated by conflict, they discover a mutual attraction neither anticipated. The leads are affable and well-matched, and the perils of their journey keep the pages turning. Those looking for chaste and authentic historical romance will want to check this out. (Nov.)