Indigo Heiress

A gutsy woman is thrust into an unexpected marriage amid rising hostilities between Great Britain and the American colonies, in this sweeping historical from Frantz (A Matter of Honor). Juliet Catesby lives with her father on a Virginia plantation, where she helps him grow tobacco and indigo. She harbors a grudge against Leith Buchanan, a widowed Scottish tobacco farmer whose shady business practices have left the plantation deeply in debt. When Leith travels to the colonies to visit his trading partners and find a new bride, Juliet’s surprised to find she enjoys his company—though she has no interest in marriage and tries to set him up with her younger sister, Loveday. When Juliet’s matchmaking efforts fail and her father orders her to marry Leith in exchange for his forgiveness of the plantation’s debt, she’s humiliated and tries to resist, but desperate circumstances eventually force her to agree and begin a new life in Scotland. As Juliet and Leith navigate their tenuous union, their faith lends them the strength to endure unexpected challenges, including business intrigue, family jealousies, and a ghost from Leith’s past that threatens to destroy his reputation. Frantz’s characters leap off the page, propelling an ambitious, twisty plot that draws energy from the tensions of the Revolutionary era. The results are captivating. (Jan.)