A love that binds. A love that endures.

When the mysterious Thomas Applin arrived unannounced and made an offer to purchase my father’s land, I thought this would be a new beginning for our family.

I was wrong.

My father and brothers decided to travel far away to find a new home and are likely never to return. They have left me behind, having arranged my marriage to this unknown man.

To the people of Prudence, New Hampshire, I am the unfortunate and crippled Susanna Carr–plain, awkward, and past my youth. They certainly have their doubts about the stranger’s intentions, as do I. Why would the handsome Mr. Applin come to this quiet place and want to marry me?

Life here is harsh, uncertain, and difficult. Work consumes us from sunrise to sunset. Despite my unease about Mr. Applin, we need each other to sustain ourselves.

Thomas is convinced that we will love each other openly and with our whole hearts someday.

However, experience has taught me to guard my heart, and it seems reckless to fall in love so easily with a stranger.

Hold Fast is an emotional historical romance between a working-class man and woman in late 17th-century colonial New Hampshire.