Marie Baxter, the second eldest of the Baxter sisters, is the sensible, steady heart of Baxter’s Fine Books. Content to manage the family’s accounts, she avoids the hustle and bustle of book deliveries and prefers the quiet familiarity of Hatfield. But when a demanding earl insists that only she can deliver a valuable order of books to distant Cumbria, Marie reluctantly sets out on a journey she would rather avoid.
Her carefully laid plans fall apart almost immediately. The weather is treacherous, her companions vexing, and her destination, a forbidding castle perched high in the Pennines, is nothing like she imagined....
Marie Baxter, the second eldest of the Baxter sisters, is the sensible, steady heart of Baxter’s Fine Books. Content to manage the family’s accounts, she avoids the hustle and bustle of book deliveries and prefers the quiet familiarity of Hatfield. But when a demanding earl insists that only she can deliver a valuable order of books to distant Cumbria, Marie reluctantly sets out on a journey she would rather avoid.
Her carefully laid plans fall apart almost immediately. The weather is treacherous, her companions vexing, and her destination, a forbidding castle perched high in the Pennines, is nothing like she imagined. And then there is the earl. Sebastian, the brooding and book-obsessed Earl of Renwick, is nothing like the cantankerous old man she had envisioned. He is young, frustratingly handsome, and utterly lacking in social graces.
A sprained ankle leaves Marie stranded at Alston Castle for Christmas, surrounded by Sebastian’s mischievous twin sons, a bumbling tutor with terrible French, and a castle full of secrets. As the snow deepens, so does Marie’s connection to the Earl, who surprises her with his quiet thoughtfulness and shared passion for knowledge. But Sebastian has locked his heart away, and Marie must decide if she is willing to take a leap of faith or risk losing her own heart in the process.
