Though it's the second book of the series, it works fine as a stand-alone novel. Read more in A Beauty So Rare by Tamera Alexander.A Beauty So Rare is the newest installment in Tamera Alexander's Belmont Mansion series. Eleanor and Marcus have very different ideas about how to house the widows and orphans, yet even as they disagree, romance seems to unexpectedly arise.

She finds purpose and passion in serving the widows and orphans of the Civil War, but her endeavor brings her closer to Marcus Gottfried, an architect, botanist and man of secrets. However, Eleanor longs for more than an arranged marriage to a rich suitor of her aunt's choosing. Her wealthy and demanding aunt, Adelicia Acklen, provides her with a place to stay as well as proper care for her ailing father.

Read moreĮleanor Braddock's arrival at Belmont Mansion relieves some financial difficulties, but presents a new set of complications. But Marcus is not the man Adelicia has chosen for Eleanor, and even if he were, someone who knows his secrets is about to reveal them all.įrom USA Today bestselling author Tamera Alexander comes a moving historical novel about a bold young woman drawn to a group of people forgotten by Nashville society-and to the one man with whom she has no business falling in love. As work on the home draws them closer together, Marcus and Eleanor find common ground-and a love neither of them expects. Hiding his royal heritage, Marcus longs to combine his passion for nature with his expertise in architecture, but his plans to incorporate natural beauty into the design of the widows' and children's home run contrary to Eleanor's wishes. While Eleanor knows her own heart, she also knows her aunt will never approve of this endeavor.Īrchduke Marcus Gottfried has come to Nashville from Austria in search of a life he determines, instead of one determined for him. Adelicia insists on finding her niece a husband, but a simple act of kindness leads Eleanor down a far different path-building a home for destitute widows and fatherless children from the Civil War. Impoverished and struggling to care for her ailing father, Eleanor arrives at Belmont Mansion, home of her aunt, Adelicia Acklen, the richest woman in America-and possibly the most demanding, as well. Plain, practical Eleanor Braddock knows she will never marry, but with a dying soldier's last whisper, she believes her life can still have meaning and determines to find his widow. Pink is not what Eleanor Braddock ordered, but maybe it would soften the tempered steel of a woman who came through a war-and still had one to fight.