Blackmail and the Bride — Sahara Kelly

“This is Brussels and we are on the verge of war. There is no time.” Lord Angleford leaned back. “So I must ask, Mr. Ridlington, how do you plan on settling up this debt? And when may I and my colleagues expect payment in full?” Take a young woman caught in a scandal, a city readying for battle, a murder and an impossible choice. Mix well and you have Richard Ridlington's current situation. It's 1815 -- so he has a lot of company in town, including the Duke of Wellington, vast numbers of the military, and his current employer, the Earl of Perrenporth. Richard is his aide-de-camp, an important role at this time and in this place. But Fate is breathing down his neck and he finds himself in the worst kind of mess, with only one way out. Marriage. Cressida Branscombe's situation is not dissimilar; there's only one way to save her family's reputation, and she finds the alternative unthinkable. Reluctantly, with no other options left, she agrees to become the wife of a man she's never met. The newlywed couple, who have known each other all of four hours or so, set sail for England, determined to sort out their future as best they can, given the circumstances. What they find in the gloriously wild countryside of North Devon is something quite out of the ordinary, especially when secrets from the past reveal a grave injustice. Richard and Cressy will have to face a ghostly mystery, eccentric household staff, and their growing desire for one another -- all without forgetting to walk the dog.