by Mary Balogh
Part of The Survivors' Club, book 5
First published 2015
Ralph Stockwood carries the weight of survival. He led his friends into the Napoleonic Wars and watched them all die while he lived. Now he faces a different duty. His family title demands an heir, and Ralph must find a wife to secure the bloodline. Chloe Muirhead knows her fate. Two failed London Seasons marked her as unmarriageable, and spinsterhood stretches before her like an empty road. When their paths cross, Chloe sees opportunity where others see obligation. She offers Ralph exactly what he needs: marriage without complications. Ralph accepts, but Chloe sets one firm condition. He must vow never to drag her back to the London society that rejected her. Their arrangement promises convenience for both parties, but promises made in desperation often crack under the pressure of daily life together.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, adult-fiction, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forced-proximity
Period: Napoleonic Wars
511 pages · Hardcover · Thorndike Press