Fragile and fleeting, love is an addiction…Lady Sophia Winterbourne-Stratford-Forrester is a widow twice over. She suffers from a weak heart and has been advised to live a life without excitement or surprise. Wishing for one more romance before she leaves this mortal coil, and not wanting to leave her daughter an orphan, she begins looking, and her pulse leaps when she meets the American ambassador to England. Who gives a fig if she’s older than him?
When life is short and precious, one shouldn’t wait…Mr. Oliver Mattingly is visiting England on holiday. Vastly different from America, he’s anxious to see and experience everything, for adventure is in his blood. But when he immediately falls tip over tail for an enchanting, outspoken widow, the inexperienced bachelor knows where his next journey lies. After discovering her personal history, he asks for her hand. At least he can love her to the best of his ability before the inevitable happens.
Fate, though fickle, usually presents the perfect, if complicated, path…As the pair wed in haste and repent at leisure, they grow closer as desire only intensifies. A picnic by a rain-swollen creek turns into danger, and when Sophia doesn’t suffer ill-effects from the heart-pounding stimulation, they’re both shocked for different reasons. Could the doctor have been wrong?
Love doesn’t care about misunderstandings or the foibles of life, it just is. Only they can decide if they truly want it… forever.
Lady Sophia Winterbourne-Stratford-Forrester has had her share of sorrow and grief. She lost her father when she was young, a sister-in-law, and two husbands. And now, she has been diagnosed with a heart disease and told she has maybe 1-6 months to live. She is dealing with a lot of emotions…sad that she will miss her daughter growing up, that her daughter will be left parent less, lonely at night when she is alone with her thoughts, scared of dying, it’s a lot to handle.
Oliver is an ambassador from America who has traveled to England for a summer holiday when his carriage breaks down and he is sent to Sophia’s doorstep for help. He is very ambitious and focused on his job, so he has never married and is, in fact, a Virgin! He also has no family and is quite lonely.
When Sophia and Oliver meet it is simply meant to be…Oliver finds an instant family in Sophia and her daughter and immediately embraces the roles! Sophia is desperate for companionship in her final days and Oliver is so sweet and funny! He takes such good care of her and would be an excellent father to her daughter after she is gone. So, naturally, Oliver proposes and they get married quickly. They spend the rest of the book settling into their marriage and fatherhood while dealing with her illness and the emotions that come along with facing death.
While it was a very sweet book, it was also incredibly sad! I mean the woman is dying and leaving all her family, her daughter and now a new husband that she comes to love! I cried numerous times! I loved Oliver; bless his heart, an older gentleman who never slowed down enough to find a wife, let alone someone he wanted to sleep with! It almost made my tooth hurt he was so sweet to Sophia! There is a little twist at the end (I kind of saw it coming) which made the story interesting again right when my enthusiasm was waning.
Historical Romance, Regency Era, Country Life, American Hero, Beta/Cinnamon Roll Hero, Politician Hero, Virgin Hero, Experienced Heroine, Widowed Heroine, Single Mother Heroine, Age Gap Romance, Marriage of Convenience/Arranged Marriage, Four Star, Three Flame
HistoricalRomance, RegencyEra, CountryLife, AmericanHero, Beta/CinnamonRollHero, PoliticianHero, VirginHero, ExperiencedHeroine, WidowedHeroine, SingleMotherHeroine, AgeGapRomance, MarriageofConvenience/ArrangedMarriage, FourStar, ThreeFlame
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