The Deception

A love forged through adversity.... Daughter of an illustrious artist, Lady Charlotte Pheland forges her late father's paintings for the survival of herself, her sister, and her widowed mother. Charlotte slips from a ball to sell a painting to naval Captain Patrick Landsdowne, Lord Hawthorne. Disaster strikes when a duke arrives with a crowd of attendees only to discover their clandestine meeting, compromising them. To salvage their reputations, they announce their fake engagement. Patrick sails for the West Indies, confident Charlotte will renege. But all goes horribly wrong when Patrick suffers a devastating accident at sea, returning to his family and Charlotte a broken man. Now, if Charlotte severs her engagement, society will vilify her. But if they marry, she will bind herself to a man who could reveal her secret forgeries. Patrick will never again captain a ship, and he rails against his loss of purpose. Yet while convalescing, his heart warms to Charlotte's kindness, talent, and perseverance. Meanwhile, she sees Patrick's quips and sarcasm mask a caring person with a steel backbone and a gentle heart. A murder complicates matters. Worse, a stranger's obsession with Charlotte and her father's art puts their lives in peril. Yet they find a harmony that surprises them both...until Patrick discovers her forgery. Will Patrick reveal all, thus devastating Charlotte's world and their budding relationship?Or will their engagement stand? Even so, murder and obsession may destroy them both.