A Love Laid Bare

Nearly two years after her presumed death at sea, Lord Halcombe's missing bride suddenly reappears with a child she claims is his daughter. But this self-confident, passionate woman is almost a stranger. Honed by a desperate fight for survival, Frances is no longer the na ve girl he'd married. Torn between the pain she has caused him and the love he still feels for her, Halcombe must determine both her fate- and his. Pregnant, penniless and trapped in a foreign country, Frances had but one goal-survival for herself and her daughter. Only after a perilous move to Portugal is she free to choose her destiny-return to the husband she still loves and who may have betrayed her, or build a new life far from England. The decision lies with Richard-and whether he can accept the self-reliant woman she is now. Two strong-willed people who must navigate a rocky path strewn with heartache and risk. Only if they can learn to put the past aside and build on the future will they succeed in creating the loving union they both desperately desire.