When Miss Dorothea Pankhurst arrives in Bath with her ailing father—and the four cats she’s never without—she is ignorant of the ways of Society, having never left her father’s significant estate in remote Lincolnshire. Then the kindly Lord Appleton and his gracious sister take her under their wing. She is immediately smitten with the handsome viscount and thrilled beyond measure when he asks for her hand in marriage.
After the murder of a young dealer at the gambling house where Appleton played, Dot and Appleton grow closer as they work together to find the killer. But they’re not fully aware of the sinister forces trying to pull them apart . . .
Cheryl Bolen is the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of more than three dozen romances. She’s also an Amazon All Star author. She’s written for Harlequin Historical, Kensington Books, Montlake, and Love Inspired Historical, and has published independently through her Harper & Appleton imprint. Many of her books have placed in contests, including the Daphne du Maurier (romantic suspense) and have been translated into nine languages. She was Notable New Author in 1999. In 2006 she won the Holt Medallion, Best Historical, and in 2012 she won Best Historical in the International Digital Awards, a competition in which she's had five other titles become finalists in Best Historical categories. Her 2011 Christmas novella was named Best Novella in the Romance Through the Ages contest.
A former journalist and teacher, Bolen adores reading about dead Englishwomen. She is married to the retired professor who captured her teenage heart when they were undergraduates. Their favorite pastimes include watching college sports and traveling, especially to England—often accompanied by their grown sons.