The Summer House Accord
In 1896 Newport, widowed architect Lenora Bell has twelve weeks to restore a crumbling cliffside summer house before probate claims it—twelve weeks she must spend under the same roof as August Mercer, the railroad heir who controls her budget and wants the house demolished before its ledgers can implicate his father. What begins as rivalry over blueprints becomes a shared reckoning with a fraud that touches both their families: altered plans, missing wages, and a drainage failure that turns the past into a present danger as hurricane season closes in. Lenora has spent years proving her competence is not borrowed from any man; August has spent his life trying to prevent the next disaster before it happens. Neither expects the other to become the one person who sees them clearly. When old secrets surface—her one retaliatory affair, his own hand in a ledger he should have disclosed years ago—trust must be rebuilt one honest choice at a time, in public and in private, before either can risk everything on love. The Summer House Accord is an elegant, sensuous Gilded-Age romance about architecture, accountability, and a partnership built to last because both people insisted on keeping their own foundations intact. Free sample available.
About the story
In 1896 Newport, widowed architect Lenora Bell has twelve weeks to restore a crumbling cliffside summer house before probate claims it—twelve weeks she must spend under the same roof as August Mercer, the railroad heir who controls her budget and wants the house demolished before its ledgers can implicate his father. What begins as rivalry over blueprints becomes a shared reckoning with a fraud that touches both their families: altered plans, missing wages, and a drainage failure that turns the past into a present danger as hurricane season closes in. Lenora has spent years proving her competence is not borrowed from any man; August has spent his life trying to prevent the next disaster before it happens. Neither expects the other to become the one person who sees them clearly. When old secrets surface—her one retaliatory affair, his own hand in a ledger he should have disclosed years ago—trust must be rebuilt one honest choice at a time, in public and in private, before either can risk everything on love. The Summer House Accord is an elegant, sensuous Gilded-Age romance about architecture, accountability, and a partnership built to last because both people insisted on keeping their own foundations intact.
Plan your listen
By Eleanor Wren. Listed listening length: 48 minutes. Category: Historical Romance. Story dynamics: Forced Proximity, Rivals to Lovers, widow heroine, marriage contract.
Try the opening
An opening sample is available for The Summer House Accord. Hear the narration and pacing before choosing full listening access. The sample introduces the opening; use the book’s content guidance to assess themes throughout the story.