4.5 stars
Miss Isolde Ophelia Goodnight, or Izzy, is the orphaned daughter of the author of a beloved series of adventure stories. She has barely a penny to her name, so when she is told that her recently deceased godfather has left her Gostley Castle, it seems too good to be true. Of course, her castle is a filthy ruin, currently inhabited by the scarred, bitter and extremely rude Duke of Rothbury, who’s adamant that he didn’t sell any castle, and it therefore can’t belong to Izzy. He wants to drive her away, so he can go back to his brooding. She refuses to leave, and dares him to try his worst to drive her away.
Realising that he needs to prove her wrong, Ransom, the duke, hires her as his secretary, so she can go through the piles of correspondence that have piled up since the accident that left him with a wicked facial scar and near blindness. Izzy agrees to spend the mornings sorting through his letters, but insists on spending her afternoons trying to restore the castle to a semblance of comfort, aided by the vicar’s daughter, a huge fan of her father’s stories. Ransom, quite happy to sulk in the bat-infested ruin, now has to engage daily with Izzy’s determined cheer, not to mention the hordes of fans who keep turning up to talk to little Izzy Goodnight.