The Glasshouse Bargain (Blackthorn Hall Romances, #1)

A ruined inheritance. A false betrothal. A bargain neither of them meant to make with the heart.

Cornwall, 1878. When Miss Elowen Vale returns to Blackthorn Hall, she expects neglect, debts, and the usual cruelties of her cousin Peregrine. She does not expect to find her late mother’s beloved conservatory sold out from under her — or the buyer standing among the dying orchids with a contract in his hand.

Silas Gray is no gentleman by birth. A self-made railway engineer with everything to lose, he bought the glassworks beside Blackthorn believing the matter settled. But Elowen has a legal claim, a furious mind, and no intention of surrendering the one place that ever truly belonged to her.

When Peregrine threatens scandal, Silas offers the only shield society will a betrothal. False, convenient, and temporary.

But as broken glass, forged papers, and sabotage draw them into the same fight, Elowen and Silas discover that trust may be the most dangerous bargain of all. He needs the works to save his future. She needs the conservatory to reclaim her own.

Neither planned to risk their hearts.