She is waiting to be loved for the very first time. He is waiting to love her. But someone is dead set on making sure that never happens.

Widowed Arabella Northwick went from the home of a father who didn’t love her to the home of a husband who didn’t love her. It would seem at last she was on the cusp of forging a happier future for her baby and herself, were it not for her dead husband’s brother, who is determined to keep them captive.

Theo Dawson was born and bred into the textile industry. He has never wished to inherit the mill and run it, but as the eldest son, no other choice presents itself. He might be able to resign himself to a life of duty rather than happiness were it not for the beautiful, widowed Mrs. Northwick, who is coming to mean every bit as much to him as fulfilling his duties.

With a wicked brother-in-law keeping a tight rein on Arabella and swearing she will lose her son if she marries, and problems at the mill that prevent Theo from any hope of passing it on to his younger brother, the two hopeless lovers have arrived at point non plus. What they will need to overcome—their only chance, in fact—is a stroke of good fortune.