Inheriting from a distant cousin who had no sons, Anthony Simon Wentworth, the new Earl of Danwood, finds that his predecessor had a unique way of stacking the odds so that a grandson of his would one day be Earl. Tony has inherited the title and the entailed land, but no way to support it. To win the non-entailed property, he must wed and get with child one of the former Lord Danwood's eight daughters, some legitimate, some not.
(Not yet written -- you know what they say about the road to hell and good intentions)
The legitimate daughters live at Danwood Castle in the North York Moors. In a nearby coastal village, the former Earl kept a second family by his wife’s sister (now deceased). The eldest daughter, Sophia, keeps life on an even keel for her two sisters and two brothers, despite a lack of money and the general disapproval of the village.
Tony thinks he will settle the mistress’s children somewhere out of sight and to marry one of the legitimate children. But he is distracted by the need to rescue his new relatives from smugglers, the coastguard, an angry farmer or two, the machinations of their aunt, and his growing appreciation of the feisty Sophia.
Lord Danwood’s dilemma is set in 1808 in north Yorkshire. I’m enjoying reading about smugglers!
This is the first of the Danwood’s Daughters series.