Book excerpt: In Victorian England, a stranger on a train may rescue a young woman from a marriage she dreads—all due to a misunderstanding . . . Shortlisted for a 2018 RoNA Award After losing both parents, Ianthe Holt is being dragged by her brother to the wilds of Yorkshire—and pressured to accept a proposal from an ancient baronet to whom he owes money. Every attempt Ianthe has made to avoid the man’s off-putting attention, from acting distant to dressing in unflattering clothes, has failed. As she tries desperately to argue her case, her brother simply advises her to grit her teeth and soon enough she’ll be a rich widow. Then the handsome gentleman who’d been dozing next to them in the train carriage overhears and chastises her sharply for what seems to him her mercenary scheme. Ianthe’s protestations do her no good—and she is only more flabbergasted when he proposes that she marry him instead! But the attractive shipbuilder has his own reasons for doing so—and the baronet is not taking rejection well . . .