Grace Sheffey, the Countess of Sheffield, is a young widow who is shunned by society after being jilted twice. She departs for the Isle of Mann to avoid the kindhearted looks of her friends, but on the way she is stranded during a snowstorm, while her chaperone and driver seek help.

Michael Ranier finds Grace wandering in the snow. Realizing she’s hurt and near frozen, he takes her to Brynlow, an estate near Yorkshire that he recently inherited from a friend. There he tends to her wounds until she recovers. Michael, an orphan and blacksmith by trade, has a dark secret.  He has risked his life to return to England where danger and possible death await.  Fearing exposure to his enemy, he is determined not to become involved with Grace. Over time his resolution wavers, for he becomes charmed by Grace, whom he considers a tiny, soft-spoken package of femininity.

Eventually they make love and Grace finds passion for the first time in Michael’s arms. When her friends arrive the following morning, they insist she return with them to Cornwall.  Michael’s reaction leads her to believe she was right in believing that loving someone brings heartache.  She refuses to let Michael ask her to marry him, a relief to Michael for he knows that the vicious truths about his past could ruin the life Grace deserves.

Yet her absence leaves Michael feeling empty.  When the orphanage director asks him to conduct the young children when they sing at an event Grace will attend, Michael agrees despite his previous resolve.  When he finally gets Grace alone, he confesses his dark secret. Grace accepts the truth, realizes he truly cares and decides to risk everything for love.

Sophia Nash is an outstanding storyteller.  Her first two releases in the Widows Club series (The Kiss and A Dangerous Beauty—also reviewed on Myshelf) introduced me to her wonderful characters, all of whom left a deep impression even after I finished the last page.  Love with the Perfect Scoundrel is a beautifully written, sensual and emotionally-charged book—an enticing, not-to-be-missed love story.  I can’t wait for the next release in the series!