The Defiant Daughter (The Ashmead Heirs Book 2)

Madelyn “Maddy” Tavernash, widowed Duchess of Glenmoor, while at her brother’s wedding, is sitting alone on a bench when Colonel Brynn Morgan finds her. Brynn offers to take her home, and Madelyn willingly goes with him. Brynn harbors a secret and strong affection for Maddy but isn’t able to tell her how he feels. He knows he is undeserving of Maddy because her station in life is so far above his. When Maddy’s brother begs her to come to London to be a hostess for her best friend, she can’t refuse. Maddy meets her stepson, the current Duke of Glenmoor who is being threatened by his uncle who also raised another hidden son of the dead Duke. Madelyn holds a secret about who is really the true Duke which will could destroy her entire family and upturn everyone’s life.
What an intriguing historical romance adroitly told! The story is filled to the brim with many complications and a lot of angst. The many plot twists sure keep the reader guessing what will happen next, and yet the plot does drag at times. Madelyn, the widowed, reserved heroine, hides many secrets. Also, the life she had before, with her family and her dead husband, is alluded to but never fully explained. Brynn, the ex-military hero, silently pines for Maddy but both Maddy and Brynn are simply the height of stubbornness, so for them to get together seems impossible. Given that fact, how Maddy and Brynn see each other, putting each other on a proverbial pedestal, is a bit irritating. Nonetheless, Ms. Warfield still manages to write a truly interesting and enticing romance!
Roslynn Ernst