Here is a summary of the book from Amazon.com:
Eighteen-year-old Helen Thatcher grew up under the protection of her older siblings, Grace and Christopher. Living in their shadows and keeping to herself suited Helen just fine—until she met widower Samuel Preston. Watching Mr. Preston care for his young daughter and seeing his concern extend to her own family, Helen felt her reserve slipping away, as she learned first to trust him and then realized she had fallen in love with him. But instead of returning—or even noticing her affection—Mr. Preston developed his own tender, and unrequited feelings, for Grace.
In the midst of each silently nursing their broken hearts, Helen and Samuel are faced with a daunting task—reuniting Grace with her fiancé, Nicholas Sutherland. Now it is Helen who must look out for her sister and sacrifice her own fragile heart, as she and Samuel pretend to be engaged. Helen finds the role surprisingly easy to play, allowing herself to imagine that Samuel’s loving remarks are sincere. As the time for their charade to end draws near Helen must summon her courage and tell Samuel the truth of her feelings, or risk losing him forever.
Here is a copy of my review on Amazon:
I
do not normally like this type of romance book but I absolutely loved this
one. I loved that Helen’s story was
continually progressing and changing instead of staying in one spot like many
similar books do. I have read Grace’s
story and I can say I liked Helen’s story so much more. Michele Paige Holmes does a very good job in
her writing. Her stories are real and
she writes in a way that you are put right in the story. The one thing I would change is that I would
bring up the reason Helen has such a hard time around men earlier in the
book. It always talks about her being
uncomfortable around men and especially when a man touches her she
recoils. It did not come out until later
in the book that she had been attacked as a child. I wish I would have known that before because
you knew there was a reason. It was
hinted at but you didn’t learn what really happened for quite some time. I would still highly recommend the book and I
thoroughly enjoyed the story.
I
received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
