SOMEDAY MY DUKE WILL COME

Two people with painful pasts develop real feelings during their fake engagement.

After his beloved father died, Quincy Nesbitt ran away from home at age 14 and crossed the ocean to America, where he became a self-made man. Finally returning to England, he plans to confront his malicious mother and then move on once and for all and embark on his dream of traveling the world. His plans are turned upside down when he learns that all his brothers have died, he’s inheriting a bankrupt dukedom, and his mother is as awful as ever. Lady Clara Ashford, cousin of Quincy’s best friend, has no plans to marry since a man in her youth betrayed her trust. Not even her family knows the heartbreaking secret of her past. Her younger sister is about to wed, and their aunt is determined to see Clara married off as well. Quincy and Clara enter into a mutually beneficial fake relationship, but during time spent together in London and then the Isle of Synne, their feelings deepen into something true. The grief these characters have endured is palpable, but the joy they experience with each other is healing and beautiful. Their emotions and internal turmoil are convincing and poignant. Quincy and Clara learn not just how to be vulnerable with each other, but how to open themselves up to their closest loved ones and find comfort from their support. Relationships drive the story more than plot, and sometimes the pacing is slow.

Moving and heartfelt.