Book excerpt: "Family is everything." A decaying mansion. A feuding family. A dark secret that forces them together and drives them apart. Aubrey Eliot arrives at Ravenswood Hall in the guise of Angelique Coleridge's secretary when in reality, she has been hired to act as a spy. A man claiming to be the heir is living in the house and challenges the ambitions Angelique has for her sons. Aubrey is to spy on Carver Coleridge and report back to her employer. The young widow is stunned when the man she has been hired to expose is in possession of a secret of hers. He has protected her in the past. Now she must protect him. In doing so, she discovers a terrible secret about the Coleridge family that if known, would destroy the dynasty and Carver along with it. --- The Widowed Bride is the prequel to Constance Kent's Ravenswood Hall Series. Set in 1875 Maine, the novella introduces the wealthy and powerful Coleridge family before their fall.