Grace Burrowes (the Lonely Lords series) opens her new Regency series with a story of pain, love and redemption.
Christian Severn, Duke of Mercia, returns to England after the Napoleonic Wars to find his duchess and infant son both dead. Captured and tortured by the French during the war and left with lasting mental and physical damage, Christian's only comfort is the hope of revenge. His dead wife's cousin Gillian, the widowed Countess of Greendale, insists Christian needs to put vengeful thoughts aside; his first priority should be his surviving child, Lucy, who refuses to leave her nursery and never speaks. But after the countess runs his household and soothes his emotional scars for a few days, Christian focuses on keeping compassionate, forthright Gillian beside him as long as he can--preferably forever.
Gillian has few tears to shed over her cruel husband's death and no interest in ever reentering the trap called marriage. Besides, the stern and regal Duke of Mercia could never be an option for an apparently infertile widow like herself. But with a sinking feeling, Gillian realizes their growing friendship and the feelings of intimacy from living under the same roof have turned into love. Even if she can find the courage to open her heart again, Christian's long-awaited chance at revenge could destroy them both.
The theme of captivity winds through the narrative not only in Christian's imprisonment, but in the fears and secrets that prevent each character from opening up to each other. Burrowes nimbly guides readers from darkness to healing and love in this promising beginning. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads