The Doctor and Miss Darby by Avery Stern

“Everyone else cooperates with me, Ricky. Everyone but you. Why do you think you’re an exception to my rules?” Young, withdrawn Frederica Darby is not pleased at all when the War Office comes to commandeer Limewood House for use as a hospital. The doctor in charge plans to have her in a nurse’s uniform and put her to work as part of the war effort. But Ricky doesn’t want to be a part of anything.

Grieving over a childhood sweetheart, she’s let her mother push her into an engagement with a man she doesn’t love, to save her family home. Ricky fights Dr. Hart at every turn and begins to think he’s grown a bit too keen on keeping her in line. But the exacting doctor has a caring side as well, and when her feelings for him begin to change, she finds herself torn. Ought she marry her callous fiancé́ to please her ailing mother? Or give it all up for her blossoming love? When someone makes an attempt on her life, it becomes evident that the decision to marry for love or for money is much more fraught than she believed, as secrets from the past come to light...