Bride of a Distant Isle

She has everything to gain and everything to lose, including her life. Miss Annabel Ashton, a teacher at the Victorian-era Rogers School for Young Ladies, leaves to visit her family home, Highcliffe Hall at Milford-on-Sea. She believes her stay will be short but soon learns that she will not return to the safety of the school. Instead, she remains at Highcliffe, at the mercy of her cousin, Edward Everedge. Annabel protests, but as the illegitimate daughter of a woman who died in an insane asylum, she has little agency. Running out of money, Edward puts Highcliffe for sale to avoid financial ruin. He insists that Annabel marry, promising her to a sinister, frightening man. But as the house gets packed, it begins to reveal disquieting secrets. Jewelry, artifacts, and portraits mysteriously appear, suggesting that Annabel may be the true heir of Highcliffe. She has only a few months to prove her legitimacy, perhaps with assistance from the handsome but troubled Maltese Captain Dell’Acqua, who may not have Annabel’s best interests at heart after all. And then, a final, most ominous barrier to her inheritance and her existence appears: a situation neither she nor anyone else could have expected. Will Annabel regain her life and property—and trust her heart—before it’s too late?