To Hold a Rebel's Heart

Ever since Laura Beckett and Seth Marshall were children, they've always loved one another-only, they didn't realize they were in love until it was too late.

During a loyalist attack amidst the War for Independence, Laura believes she and Seth, a schoolteacher-turned-military-captain, are going to die. Feeling there is nothing left to lose, she introduces him to pleasure for the first time. In the end, they do not die, and Laura comes to the staggering realization that she's willingly lain with her best friend.

Knowing they can never be wed due to their class difference, as well as her arranged, loveless engagement to a Pennsylvanian congressman, Laura attempts to dissuade Seth's affections by dismissing their entanglement as a mistake. She insists their coupling can never happen again-only, it does. Repeatedly.

Amidst their tentative dance around right and wrong, Seth is fooled by an insincere offer to trade a prisoner of war, and uses his rank to stage an exchange. Only, the trade fails with fatal consequences. The guilt spirals him headlong into an unhealthy dependence upon Laura's passionate touch.

Equally reliant on Seth's strong embrace and searing kisses, Laura writes home pleading with her father to dissolve her marriage contract. Unfortunately for the ardent couple, Laura's father grows deathly ill during their romance, and she must choose between obeying his final wish and following her heart.

Tropes you'll enjoy:

• childhood friends-to-lovers
• inexperienced man x experienced woman
• class difference
• mutual pining
• secret relationship
• forbidden love
• man in uniform
• military romance
• tortured hero