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A wounded soldier.

An unwanted daughter.

A love neither believes they deserve.

Rescued from cruelty, Annabel is taken into the protection of the Earl of Brotherton as one of his Unexpected Wards. For the first time in her life, she has safety.

But the past is not finished with her…

Annabel has spent most of her life learning how to endure.

Raised by a stepfather whose affection turns to cruelty when he discovers she is not truly his child, she sees little hope of escape—until the Earl of Brotherton intervenes. Taken into his protection as one of his Unexpected Wards, Annabel is suddenly given something she has never known before: safety, kindness, and the chance to begin again.

Yet the past has not finished with her.

Determined to reclaim her, the man who raised her sends her half-brothers to abduct her and carry her back by force. Only the quick action of the Earl and Major Ralph Jackson, the steadfast commander of Bath’s militia, saves her.

Jackson is a soldier who has already sacrificed much for his country. Having lost his left arm in the war, he has long since accepted that marriage and family belong to other men.

Meeting Annabel begins to change that certainty.

Her quiet bravery and warm heart draw him more strongly than he ever expected—but he believes himself too old, too scarred, and too unworthy of such a young woman.

Annabel, meanwhile, harbours a secret of her own. As an illegitimate daughter, she is convinced no honourable man could ever choose her as a wife.

Yet when danger strikes again and old enemies return, both must confront the truth: sometimes the greatest courage lies not in battle, but in daring to believe one deserves to be loved.