"A Lonesome Lord", (2023) by Gratiana Lovelace

The MacKittrick's of Woodbury, England were a very close family of loving parents and children, unusual for their time and for their station in life. And their little boy Mac knew that he would have a lifelong friend in his 8 years older brother Dart, as Mac nicknamed his brother when Mac was just learning to speak as a toddler. Because, his brother's given name of Dartmouth--from their paternal mother's family name--was too much of a mouthful for the little 2 year old Mac to say.

Yet sadly later at the tender age of 8 years old, Lord Pendleton MacKittrick, Mac, found himself a brotherless and parentless orphan after his parents and brother were waylaid by highwaymen who stole their money, jewelry, and possessions, as his parents were returning their older son to Eton for his final year before university-and then they and their carriage driver were killed by the highwaymen. Their loss was a devastating blow to the very young Mac.

Now an adult of 30 years, his life is a solitary one, and he is somewhat poignantly known as the Lonesome Lord by marriage minded noble Mamas who seek to suggest their daughters as helpmate wives for him. And though Lord Mac has graciously met these charming and worthy daughters of the ton, he does not feel a connection to them. His own grief is so ever present, that he has yet to find someone who truly understands his loss. And yet, Lord Mac will meet a lovely young lady who understands and shares his loss, if he will only open himself to the possibility of forming an attachment with her.

To be continued with the Prologue and Ch. 01