Sarah Drayton is excited to spend time at her best friend's Northumberland castle estate. The last thing Sarah wants to think about is marriage during her holiday. Instead, she finds herself forced into a marriage of convenience with her friend's rakish brother.
When James Langley returns to his family's estate, he doesn't have time or the energy to focus on his responsibilities as the heir. The war is raging on and James doesn't want to deal with anything serious but, focus on his fledgling fancies. However, his father makes pushes James into a corner when he declares that James must get married or else he will lose his inheritance. James suddenly finds himself married to a woman he does not love.
Sarah wants a place where she can be belong. James is unable to offer Sarah anything she needs or wants before heading off to war. Everyone at the estate believe that Sarah married above her station and they are not too pleased when she becomes mistress of the house. However, when James returns from the war, Sarah feels that something might be different about him. Will they be able to find their happy ever after?
The book started off interesting but, then moving at a snail pace with nothing happening. I understand that Sarah was grieving but, she seemed to think that she was the only one who was in pain. She bonded with another person over grief but, then spend the entire time thinking "woe is me". I found the book to be boring and I lost interest half way. There was nothing keeping me tethered to this book and I didn't really care for any of the characters.
