Lady Sarah Herriand's husband died in a duel and she has retired to a seaside village to run an art and tea shop and to try to decide where to go next with her life. Into this life comes Lucian Avery, Marquess of Cannock who is going incognito in the villiage to try to get his sister to recover from a disastrous love affair where she has descended into depression.

I liked the interactions between the characters and their attitude to each other, though talking a bit more could have sorted some of their problems. Still Lucian is a good foil for Sarah and the two of them sound like they will be a good couple long-term.

I have found Louise Allen to be quite a reliable writer for solid stories with characters who behave quite well in period. ( )