Description:
A corpse in the ale. A scandal in society. A love neither expected.
Lancashire, 1862. When a body is discovered floating in a vat of ale, Inspector Halliwell wastes no time in probing the town's most prosperous brewery. Every worker is a suspect-including Jacob Longworth, the enigmatic owner whose livelihood now hangs by a thread. Worse, whispers reveal the dead man was blackmailing Jacob, leaving him squarely in the constable's sights.
Enter Lady Jane Yate: a darling of Victorian society, beloved patroness of the Women's Temperance League-and the last woman anyone expects to defend a brewer accused of murder. Yet Jane cannot ignore Jacob's plight, nor the forbidden spark that ignites between them.
As passion simmers and scandal brews, Jane and Jacob are drawn into a dangerous game of secrets and lies. To clear his name, they must unmask a cunning killer before he strikes again-and before the desire that threatens to consume them both becomes a scandal all its own.
Brief description: As an amateur genealogist (aka an addict of family tree research) I became obsessed with tracing my English roots back to the Norman Conquest in the 11th century.This turned out to be a pipe dream since I am not descended from the nobility and records were not kept for "common folks" until much later. Even then, early parish records are often indecipherable.As a result, I began to write stories about a noble medieval family I conjured from my imagination. The Montbryces were born.Like many people, I had an inner compulsion to write one good book. What was originally intended as that one book about my fictional family eventually became the 12-book series, The Montbryce Legacy.In other words, writing superseded genealogy as my principal addiction, and I have since published more than 60 novels and novellas. Almost all are historical romances that feature Vikings, Highlanders, medieval knights, Elizabethan goldsmiths or Regency aristocrats. You can find more details on my website https: //annamarkland.com/.