| At the tender age of 7 Sterling Harlow is sold to his ogre of an uncle, the Duke of Devonbrooke and made his heir. For the remainder of his childhood he never wanted for "things" but never again felt the love of his mother. The result being he, as an adult, became as cold hearted as the man who raised him. At 28 he has spent 10 years fighting in France, has been the 7th Duke of Devonbrooke for 6 years and has returned home to due his duty to his title by marrying and setting up his nursery. Before he begins his search he learns of his mother's death. He also learns that she has for the past several years provided a home for 3 orphans of the village. He goes to Arden Manor to find "situations" for the 3 young people and to take Arden Manor.
On his way to Arden Manor he is thrown from his horse and is knocked unconscious. He is found by Laura Fairleigh. Laura is one of the orphans his mother had taken in. She finds Sterling and takes him to Arden Manor and nurses back to health. The one thing for him she cannot do is bring his memory back. He has no idea who he is.Laura does not know who he is either and as she needs to marry by her 21st birthday(3 weeks away) to keep Ardon Manor she tells Sterling that he is her fiance and begins to make wedding plans. Just minutes after their wedding he learns that he is really Sterling Harlow, Duke of Devonbrooke and he has just married very much below his station. He does not let a bogus marriage keep him from his wedding night though and he awakes the next morning to surprise all in the manor by proposing marriage to Laura. He packs her up and take her to London, installs her in his townhouse, and except for their nights together he ignores her. Laura knows that his mother died having never seen her son again and that Sterling blames his mother who loved him and not his father whose gambling caused the break up of his family. She finds all the letters his mother wrote to him and that he stashed in a drawer unopened.She confronts him with this information and then leaves him for Ardon Manor taking with her his unborn heir. Sterling must now read the letters and forgive himself for his treatment of his mother and figure out how to win Laura back and how to admit to her that he has loved her all along. | ||
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Plot & Themes Time/era of story Inner struggle subplot Yes Struggle with... Main Male Character Profession/status: Age/status: - 20's-30's Sex makes him Main Female Character Age/status: - 20's-30's Effect of sexing Unusual characteristics: Setting Europe Yes European country: - England/UK Misc setting - Fancy Mansion Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death What % of story is romance related? - 50% How explicit is the sex? - descript of kissing - actual description of sex Focus of story - equally on him and her How much dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog How much sexing? - 3-4 sex acts |
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