Set during the reign of Queen Victoria, the three sons of the Duke of Calhoun follow very different paths to serve their queen. While following their diverse courses, they each find love unexpectedly. The Marquis’s Healing. Heartbroken and disillusioned, the Marquis of Whittington joins his best friend as British troops go to the Crimea where they fight not only the enemy but also disease and pestilence. When Lady Alison Spencer’s brother and his best friend, the Marquis of Whittington, inform her of the deplorable conditions in the Crimea, Lady Alison joins Florence Nightingale, traveling to the war zone, to bring healing to the British troops. Can Lady Alison help heal the Marquis’s heart while he struggles to maintain his honor while finding perfect love? The Spare’s Discovery. Randall Carmichael’s eldest brother is in the Crimea fighting for Her Majesty the Queen by serving in the cavalry; his youngest brother is a known adventurer and author. What does Randall have to offer to support his Queen, his country, and his family? Could he help the war effort by supplying better, stronger horses to the cavalry? Eileen O’Malley, Irish orphan who has struggled to advance through society, finds herself back in Ireland reporting for the Times of London. Is there anything to the rumors that a member of the peerage is involved in a scheme to defraud Her Majesty through the breeding of horses? Who is “Lord Penrose?” Elle is the reporter to find the answers. Can two diverse individuals learn to be honest and truthful with each other to help Her Majesty’s troops in the Crimea? Will these very different, lost souls find love they did not know they sought? The Spy’s Salvation. The lone, secretive third son of the Duke of Calhoun, Elliott Carmichael, is haunted by dreams of the past. Unable to share his true reason for his travels and why he cannot always be with the family, he struggles to find love and to forgive those he feels have betrayed him. When Elliott meets a mysterious, alluring artist in the square of St. Stephen’s in Vienna, he begins to believe salvation is yet possible. Lady Rachel Armstrong is a talented and beautiful artist but is trapped in an abusive marriage — until one night when her life is turned upside down. Called upon by the queen to help solve an art theft, she meets a man of mystery. Was he involved with the theft, or might he be her salvation? Thrown together by their sovereign, might Elliott and Rachel find forgiveness and love as well salvation from their pasts?

The Carmichael family saga continues in D.W. Craton’s second book, The Spare’s Discovery: A Story of Honesty and Love. Join me in exploring how Randall, the adventurous, free-spirited middle Carmichael brother, supports the Queen, his country, and older brother Jonathan during the Crimean War.

—Marla Jones