Gwendoline, Lady Muir has long been known for her cheerful disposition in spite of her widowed status.  Lord Trentham, Hugo, is a former soldier and grumpy recluse who only emerges once a year to gather with fellow war survivors.  When Gwendoline experiences a moment of vexation, causing her to undertake a more ambitious walk than usual, she trips and badly twists her ankle.  The imposing Hugo is nearby and ignores her protests to scoop her up to carry her back to the manor where he’s visiting.  Their forced companionship leads him to question his original impression of her as a silly, vain woman and leads her to question whether she is really as content with being a widow as she originally thought.  In The Proposal, Balogh creates another sweeping Regency romance that you won’t be able to put down till the very end.