If you’re seeing this notice, paperback book covers on booksellers other than Amazon do not yet have this cover. I haven’t gotten around to changing them as they’re being tested for popularity first.

An Excerpt

“… a stranger stood before them with all the friendliness of an executioner awaiting his next job. The sunlight was pouring in through a window behind the man and she could not make out his features at all, only that he was stocky and stood with his arms crossed menacingly.

“Which of you is Miss Lyle?” he barked.

From behind the looming silhouette, Marian was relieved to hear Mr. Jennings’ solicitous voice, “Miss Lyle, Esther, do come in! Mr. Talbot, step aside.”

Marian’s hand flew to her mouth and she stifled a gasp. Esther grabbed at her arm painfully.

The uncongenial human door block stepped aside, and the ladies pressed into the room giving him ample berth, their eyes wide.

While Mr. Jennings was hurrying from his cluttered desk with his hand extended in welcome, the door closed behind them with a shocking slam.

Mr. Jennings did his best to make them comfortable in two soft chairs that were in the corner of the panelled room, and only after Marian concluded that Esther looked none the worse for the shock, did she dare to study the stranger who no longer appeared as a frightening dark shape against the sunlight.

This Mr. Talbot seemed nothing like the Mr. Talbot she knew.”

A Fair-Weather Friend

Book Two: Summer

Is the wrong brother the right man?

Marian Lyle, the Cherrybrook vicar's daughter, has a talent for sewing and a memory for details. Give her something to memorise or sew, and she’s sharp as a pin. But when it comes to understanding men.… she's hopeless! 

Marian’s ready heart tells her that newcomer Jonas Talbot is more than a fair-weather friend, he might be the man she can say “yes” to. But just when Marian is expecting a marriage proposal, Jonas disappears from Cherrybrook unannounced, leaving her hurt and confused.

When Jonas’s curmudgeonly brother John arrives to discover his brother’s whereabouts, he finds that Jonas has apparently won the affections of naive Miss Lyle. Well and good, for if Jonas marries her, it might save the Talbot family from another scandal it can ill afford. But soon John begins to doubt the wisdom of insisting upon the match for Marian’s sake…. and maybe even his own. 

When threads are untangled and truths are told, which brother is the right brother, and what will come of summer love?

TAGS: late Regency, sweet, no bedroom scenes, “John Thornton”, “Cranford” vibes, early Victorian, neurodivergent heroine, not inspirational but with Christian/religious setting

165 pages

Reviewers say…

Joyful Reader writes… “Like Book One, this short novella is a sweet, gentle romance...”

Vibliophile writes… “The plot along with the characters are well written & developed. Its pace is gentle but steady with no lagging. And watching Marian's relationship with the Talbot family develop so positively was delightful.”