Sarah, playing the duchess and tending to the ducal responsibilities is surprised when the real duke Arthur, who is pretty much considered as dead, arrives at the manor in a wounded condition. Both Sarah and Arthur have strong personalities and they are evident with how they handle various tensed situations. Sarah is no damsel in distress even for a minute, in fact, she is healer and takes care of people and animals alike. Arthur is no boring and haughty duke either as he has enough life experiences to make him worldly wise. How such strong personalities get together to their happy ending with all villainous obstacles is pretty enjoyable even if it is predictable. It does have passion but is not too steamy so will work for a lot of readers.

Sarah is tending the abandoned ducal grounds while enchanting animals from horses to geese. Arthur, the missing duke is returning- incognito - from difficult world travel including captivity- the reason the estate has been abandoned. Arthur is hiding form being the duke and Sarah shies away from locals calling her duchess. How can they reach an HEA as a true Duke and Duchess? The characters are richly drawn and the plot, though familiar, is still interesting and satisfying. Although part of a series this book can easily be read as a standalone. Mild sexy, not graphic.

I would recommend this book to my patrons.