Between Shores and Scandals: Victorians at the Beach

Armed with an elite culinary education, a small inheritance, and the famed Mrs. Marshall’s recipes, Clara Ward is ready to open a gourmet ices shop that leaves the vacationers of Margate Beach talking. She didn’t anticipate feeding them a scandal… Or gaining a husband.

Clara Ward has dreamed of returning to Margate ever since her grandmother brought her as a little girl. Now, after years of working toward buying her own home and starting a gourmet ices shop, Clara’s goals are finally within reach. When a startling encounter with local doctor Ellis Archibald threatens to create a scandal before Clara has a chance to even start work, the enigmatic doctor proposes a marriage of convenience.

Between family and friends’ expectations, preparing her shop for its grand opening, and rescuing her own reputation, Clara feels the pressure of convincing everyone that she married for love. As she falls for Ellis on the shores of Margate’s beaches, Clara must decide whether her reputation and her shop’s future is worth upholding the lies or if the truth is worth causing a greater scandal.

This is a sweet Victorian novella with only kisses.

© 2025 Dove & Crown Press LLC (Audiobook): 9798992840414

Release date

Audiobook: November 18, 2025