This Land, This Love Book

Aden Sawle cares for only two things in life: his land and lovely Rebecca Cottrel, the only daughter of a wealthy publican. But Rebecca has been educated above her station and her dreams are all of Sir Victor Roth, her best friend's handsome husband - an impoverished farmer is no match for her, despite her unwilling attraction. So Aden distracts himself with another girl, until tragedy leaves Rebecca orphaned and alone in the world. Realizing her own vulnerability - Rebecca takes refuge in marriage with Aden and, despite such unpromising beginnings, the match looks like a happy one. Through hard work and shrewd business deals Aden amasses a fortune and at last is able to offer his darling the position in society she deserves, as the lady of the wealthiest landowner in the district. But when a band of gypsies comes to work in Aden's fields, they bring with them a reminder of his final fling with a local girl, a reminder that threatens the life he and Rebecca have made together. For Rebecca is about to discover the first of many secrets the man she has come to love has kept from her. ...

Publishers Weekly

At the turn of the century, young, beautiful Rebecca Cottrel, a publican's daughter, is trying to make peace with her British home village after having lived a higher life abroad in boarding school. All too soon, however, she has a much greater adjustment to make, when her father is brutally murdered. Enter local farmer Aden Sawle, who has long loved Rebecca. Though she dreams of marrying high, Rebecca feels indebted to Aden and weds him. Her fantasy turns out not to have been unfounded, however, as Victor Roth, the aristocratic fianc of Rebecca's best friend, intimates that he'd have preferred to marry Rebecca. So, even though Victor goes ahead with his wedding, thoughts of him linger with Rebecca through the yearsand fuel Aden's jealousy. Rebecca is a mite jealous, too, harboring a suspicion that Aden fathered the child of one of her father's former barmaids. Over time, Aden acquires all the wealth and success he promised Rebecca, but their failure to trust each other completely slowly robs them of their happiness and makes each successive problem worse until there is a break. After all the hard things two married people can do to each other, can there be a reconciliation? Or will they be cursed by their history of cross-purposes and misunderstandings? No one will be surprised by the answers as Sole (Shadow Players) follows her romantic recipe to a tee, including a pinch of salt in a subplot about Aden's illegitimate son among the Gypsies. (Apr.)