A Midnight Clear by Chasity Bowlin

Can love simmering for decades be denied?

Lady Sarah Middlethorpe, the Dowager Viscountess Vale, has lived a life beset by tragedy. Reunited after decades with her long-lost son, everything should have been perfect. Yet it wasn’t. Without the constant grief, she became aware of how empty her life was. Hoping that spending the Christmas holidays with her son and his new bride would improve her outlook, Sarah met an ill fate once more. With her carriage broken down in a snowstorm, she sets out on foot to reach the family home, not realizing just how treacherous the conditions are.

Bransen Middlethorpe is also at loose ends. Since his brother’s untimely but mostly welcomed demise, it’s been his job to look after the estates… and his brother’s widow. To say that Sarah had resented his interference was to put it mildly. But with his nephew returned, looking after the estates and after her, are no longer his purview—that is until he encounters Sarah braving blizzard like conditions. Furious with her and terrified at what might have happened had he not found her; they are forced to take shelter for the night in his small cottage on the family estate.
While they are trapped by a blanket of snow and ice, they are forced to face the truth. There is far more between them than simply shared history.

In such an intimate setting, they have no choice but to acknowledge the desire they both feel… and the love they’ve been denying for decades.