Set in Ireland in the Regency period (early 19th century), this is the story of Sir Aidan Kane, a war hero and a man who was wronged by the woman he married. He lives with guilt he may have killed her as some say he did. The child she gave him, Cassandra, is his greatest treasure. When she is fifteen, Cassandra decides to give her father a birthday present, one she thinks he very much needs. But she fails to tell him it’s a wife.
Norah Linton arrived at Castle Rathcannon in Ireland, expecting to find a lonely widower because of the letters she’d received, which unbeknownst to her, were actually written by Cassandra. Instead, she finds a man in temper over the whole idea until it occurs to him that a woman of untarnished reputation, like Norah, could help smooth the way for his daughter into society, a daughter who would otherwise face scorn for her father’s many sins.
It’s a great story, well-told and brimming with angst. There’s a bit of the conflict between the English and the Irish as well since Aiden’s ancestors took their land from the Irish. Norah is a sensitive, caring and brave woman who sees beyond Aidan’s hard crust to the loveable man inside. Cassandra is endearing and the secondary characters satisfy.
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