Papa's Gift — Sue Lyndon; Celeste Jones

You belong to Papa now. Nineteen-year-old Daisy, Talcott House's resident eavesdropper, snoop and prankster, is about to marry Lord Edward Kensington. The unlikely couple fell in love when Daisy literally landed at his feet on the day he was supposed to wed another. Daisy is as surprised as anyone that a man as handsome and important as Lord Kensington would wish to marry a plain girl such as her. But, when she looks into his eyes and he touches her hand, a warm tingle moves through her and takes her breath away. After a period of darkness and despair, Edward decides to take a wife. For reasons known only to himself, he eschews the crush and crowds of the London season and seeks the assistance of Miss Wickersham in finding a bride amongst the Little Ladies of Talcott House. He asks only that she be biddable and obedient. Once they are wed, Daisy learns marital relations are even better than the sweet rapture she has read about in the romance novels she used to swipe from Miss Wickersham's private library. With Papa's loving guidance--and firm hand--Daisy blossoms and begins to hope she and her papa will have their own happily ever after. Except for that one, deepest, darkest, most horrible secret which she must never reveal, even to her loving papa. Publisher's Note: Like all the books in the Little Ladies of Talcott House series, Papa's Gift can be read as a standalone novel.