The Youngest Dowager by Louise Allen

Married very young, widowed within a few years, Marissa Southwood, Countess of Longminster, faints at the funeral when she sees the heir to the Longminster Earldom. Marcus knows he resembles his distant cousin, realises he must be a constant reminder of her husband – so perhaps his absence for months while he settles the affairs in the West Indies is for the best. Passion flares between them on his return but he cannot persuade Marissa to marry him. Does she still cling to the memory of her late husband or is something more sinister behind her reluctance? Marcus’s wayward young sister, the arrival in England of his former lover and the threats of Marissa’s father make Marcus’s search for the truth, and Marissa’s struggle to trust, that much more difficult – but when their relationship reaches a crisis that trust is all they have.

**Please note – This is a heavily revised version of the novel of the same name by Francesca Shaw published by Mills & Boon in 2000**