Julie Klassen

Set adrift on the tides of fate by the deaths of her parents and left wanting answers, Laura Callaway now lives with her uncle and his disapproving wife in North Cornwall. There she feels like a castaway, always viewed as an outsider even as she yearns to belong.

While wreckers search for valuables along the windswept Cornwall coast—known for its many shipwrecks but few survivors—Laura searches for clues to the lives lost so she can write letters to next of kin and return keepsakes to rightful owners.

When a man is washed ashore after a wreck, Laura acts quickly to protect him from a local smuggler determined to destroy him.

As Laura and a neighbor care for the survivor, they discover he has curious wounds and, although he speaks in careful, educated English, his accent seems odd. Other clues wash ashore, and Laura soon realizes he is not who he seems to be. Despite the evidence against him, the mysterious
man might provide her only chance to discover the truth about her parents’ fate. With danger pursuing them from every side, and an unexpected attraction growing between them, will Laura ever find the answers she seeks?

‘Danger abounds on the wild Cornwall coast and so does romance. With a perfect blend of intrigue and tender moments, A Castaway in Cornwall is my favorite Klassen title to date.’—Michelle Griep, Christy Award–winning author of Once Upon a Dickens Christmas

RITA finalist Julie Klassen has earned numerous awards for her popular historical romance novels. In The Maid of Fairbourne Hall, pampered Margaret Macy flees her home in London to avoid marrying a dishonorable man. Now, with no money and no place to stay, Margaret does the unthinkable: she takes a job as a housemaid in the home of two brothers- both of whom are former suitors. As an ”invisible” observer, Margaret realizes she may have misjudged one brother and wonders if it’s too late to win his admiration.

Abigail Foster is the practical daughter. She fears she will end up a spinster, especially as she has little dowry, and the one man she thought might marry her seems to have fallen for her younger, prettier sister.

Facing financial ruin, Abigail and her father search for more affordable lodgings, until a strange solicitor arrives with an astounding offer: the use of a distant manor house abandoned for eighteen years. The Fosters journey to imposing Pembrooke Park and are startled to find it
entombed as it was abruptly left: teacups encrusted with dry tea, moth-eaten clothes in wardrobes, a doll’s house left mid-play …

The handsome local curate welcomes them, but though he and his family seem acquainted with the manor’s past, the only information they offer is a stern warning: Beware trespassers drawn by rumors that Pembrooke Park contains a secret room filled with treasure.

This catches Abigail’s attention. Hoping to restore her family’s finances—and her dowry—Abigail looks for this supposed treasure. But eerie sounds at night and footprints in the dust reveal she isn’t the only one secretly searching the house.

Then Abigail begins receiving anonymous letters, containing clues about the hidden room and startling discoveries about the past.

As old friends and new foes come calling at Pembrooke Park, secrets come to light. Will Abigail find the treasure and love she seeks … or very real danger?