First published 2013
Millicent becomes a countess at a young age through a practical arrangement: her family's wealth rescues an impoverished earl from bankruptcy, and in exchange she gains a title. The terms are clear. They will wait eight years before consummating the marriage, produce an heir, and then live separate lives. Millie agrees. She understands the logic perfectly. What she did not plan for was falling in love with her husband. While Millie quietly tends to the marriage and hopes for something real, her husband is counting down the years until he can return to his childhood sweetheart. He has honored the pact. He expects to be free. Millie has eight years to change the direction of a man who never chose her, using nothing but kindness, patience, and whatever small openings daily life provides. Sherry Thomas writes the push and pull between duty and desire with precision. The emotional tension here comes not from grand confrontations but from the slow accumulation of small moments, the ones Millie notices and her husband does not. This is the second book in Thomas's Fitzhugh trilogy, following Beguiling the Beauty and preceding Tempting the Bride.
Genres: romance, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, adult-fiction, historical-romance, 19th-century
Vibes: bittersweet, emotional, intimate, introspective, slow-burn, tender
Tropes: marriage-of-convenience, second-chance-romance, slow-burn-romance, unrequited-love
Setting: England
Period: 19th century
306 pages · Paperback · Headline