Secret Sin Book One (A Certain State Of Marriage #8)

When Cerise marries the lord she has been betrothed to since birth, she has no hopeful daydreams of romance, or wishes for an adult future any better than the harsh reality of her childhood. Which proves to be just as well, since her new husband, on first lifting the heavy veil and viewing her petrified expression demonstrates his furious distain by leaving her standing alone in the chapel.
Over the following weeks she rarely sees Simon, and at first is grateful for his total lack of interest, and prays nightly that he continues to visit his mistress’ bed, rather than come to hers. For the Fifth Earl of Sommers, and lord of Crescent Court terrifies his bride with his brooding moods almost as much as her drunken and embittered father’s violence always has.
But by the time spring finally comes to settle her earthy breath upon England, Cerise’s fear is beginning to fade away, along with the harsh winter, allowing her to experience trust and love for the very first time. And as the earl stays ever more at his country estate, it seems a thaw has also begun within his shadowed soul, bringing a new acceptance of his forced marriage. Even the betrayal of his friend, Lord Erran, is bearable when Cerise is close by, and when grief brings Simon to his knees, and back home to his bride, their future can truly begin to unfold.

Olivia, the Duchess of Easterly, doesn’t bear well the hurt caused by the earl’s loss of interest in her. In an attempt to strike back at her former lover she decides on a play without fully considering the consequences. Those consequences threaten her very existence when her husband witnesses the seeming commencement of a new affair with his hated cousin.
For Lord Erran, it was a twisted sense of responsibility, interlinked with a compulsion to shame his cousin, which resulted in him stealing Olivia away, right from beneath the duke’s nose. Theirs is a story of deep friendship, rather than passion, as the couple travel from Paris to Rome, leaving drifting waves of gossip and rumour behind them. But such notoriety has a way of tarnishing all it touches, and threatens Olivia’s sudden chance of future happiness.
While back in England, the Secret Sin still lies threateningly over Crescent Court.

This is an unashamedly passionate love story