He needed a wife before his birthday cost him everything he owned. She needed a husband before a single ruined night cost her everything she was.
When a storm strands Cassandra Ashworth overnight with a wounded, fevered stranger, she does the only decent thing - she keeps him alive until dawn. By the time they're found together, the county has already decided what it believes happened. A hasty marriage is the only thing standing between her family and complete ruin.
Captain Gabriel Hart agrees to the match without a single objection. Too readily, Cass begins to suspect.
As his careful reserve slowly warms into something that feels dangerously like real tenderness, Cass starts finding pieces of a truth he clearly means to keep from her - solicitor's letters, a name struck through twice in his own hand, and a secret written into a dead man's will that may explain exactly why he agreed to marry a stranger in five days flat.
Gabriel knows the deadline that forced his hand no longer has anything to do with why he wants to keep her. Convincing a woman who has learned to trust no one but herself may cost him the one thing his uncle's fortune never could.
A deeply emotional story of scandal, slow-burn trust, and the particular ache of choosing someone freely after choosing them by accident.
Perfect for readers who love a marriage of convenience that becomes the real thing, and enemies-to-lovers with a soldier hero who has more to lose than his pride.
A standalone romance with a guaranteed HEA, and Book One of The Ashworth Ruin Series.
Scroll up and start reading today.
