A Duchess of Mystery

<p><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)><em>An emotionally damaged widow with a dark secret falls for a rough diamond of a soldier.</em></strong></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Beautiful Isabella Hope was married ten years ago at eighteen to Marcus the spoiled and spiteful young Duke of Stourbridge. When her beloved father died shortly afterwards Isabella inherited his wealth which Marcus took control of.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Marcus turns out to be a cruel husband </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>and</em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)> a serial adulterer continually flaunting his mistresses. He holds it against Isabella that she hasn't given him the heir he needs and when he dies in mysterious circumstances his title and estate pass to the cousin he bullied when they were children.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Captain Richard Carstairs Marcus's long-estranged cousin is a rough diamond of a man who's been off soldiering since he was a boy. Eventually Richard receives news of his inheritance and returns from the peninsula to claim his title and property. He discovers he has a sitting tenant at his country estate - the previous duke's enticing widow. A widow who might be guarding a terrifying secret.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>Richard decides to marry in a hurry and get himself an heir so he can return to what he loves best - soldiering. To this end he asks Isabella to find him a suitable bride and in so doing he discovers that </span><em style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>she </em><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>is the woman for him.</span></p><p></p><p><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)><em>But the possibility arises that Isabella knows more than she's letting on about how her husband died... then Richard must use all his wits in a race to save the woman he's come to love.</em></strong></p><p></p><p><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)><u>Tropes/themes you'll love:</u></strong></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>✅ Emotionally damaged widow</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>✅ Grumpy / stoic hero</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>✅ Enemies to lovers (slow-burn tension)</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>✅ Forced proximity / living under the same roof</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>✅ Dark secret / hidden past</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>✅ Redemption arc</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>✅ Opposites attract</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>✅ Rough-around-the-edges hero</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>✅ Healing through love</span></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(15 17 17 1)>✅ Suspense / mystery element</span></p>