Title: Apathy and Vigour
Description: *Will the love of a woman save him from his own apathy?*

Tristen Brone lived a carefree life of wealth and passion…until it all came crashing down around him. The night Tristen’s best friend died in a fire, Tristen tried to save him, but he failed. Not only did Jacob die, but Tristen is left with scars that make him feel like a monster. There are those in town who think Tristen is responsible for starting the fire, which includes Jacob’s sister, the woman Tristen is in love with. The once confident, handsome, young man is now on a downward spiral of sorrow and depression.

Soon after Amalie Fergus lost her brother in a fire, her father died and their family properties were repossessed. She had nothing left and no one to turn to. When she took a job as a maid for a wealthy gentleman she never expected that he would try to force himself on her, or that she would now be on the run for his murder.

Running from the scene of the crime, Amalie collides with a man from her past who offers to keep her safe from the police on one condition—she return to Tristen and steal some property papers from him.

When Amalie shows up at Tristen’s doorstep, begging him to take her in, he’s suspicious. Despite their passionate past, and the feelings he still has for her, all he can think about is how quickly she abandoned him. So why has she come back into his life after all these months?

With the two former lovers reunited, it becomes obvious that the passion between them is still smoldering, but can they overcome everything that stands in their way, and will they ever discover who is responsible for the fire that changed their lives forever?

*Content Warning: contains sex, strong language, and some violence.*
Subjects: Spicy Historical Romance, Western & Frontier Romance, Victorian Historical Romance, 19th Century Historical Romance Books, Historical Australian & Oceanian Fiction, Historical Romantic Suspense Fiction, Australian Historical Romance, Romance Collections & Anthologies, 7 Deadly Sins, Second Chance Romance
Places: North Queensland, Queensland (Australia)
Time periods: 1870