Lesotho Diamond

A reckless lie in a mountain wilderness.A photograph that could destroy them both.And a forbidden love that defies an empire. Basutoland, 1962. High in the snowy, unforgiving peaks of the Maluti Mountains, a kingdom balances on the knife-edge of revolution.Fleeing a devastating social betrayal in Cape Town, Philippa Tremain—the spirited daughter of the British District Commissioner—is seeking a fresh start in the rugged landscape of her childhood. But when her charter flight encounters a brutal mountain storm, her survival is thrown into the hands of Stuart Price, a rugged, closed-book English pilot running from a past he can't escape.Stranded after a harrowing crash landing, Philippa tells a desperate lie to secure shelter from a local farming family: she and Stuart are newlyweds.Forced to share a candle-lit rondavel and play-act the part of devoted bride and groom, the lines between their make-believe marriage and simmering attraction rapidly blur. But the wilderness is watching. Their playful deception is captured in a single, incriminating photograph—and falls into the hands of a ruthless diamond syndicate.Stuart is coerced into flying perilous, unscheduled diamond runs into the frozen, high-altitude Letseng-la-Terai diggings. If he refuses, the photograph will be made public—destroying Philippa's reputation, ruining her father's career, and ending Stuart's freedom forever.As political unrest ignites and a deadly conspiracy closes in, Stuart and Philippa are swept into a treacherous web of illegal diamond syndicates, ancient medicine murders, and forbidden desire. With a blizzard raging and danger at their heels, they must decide what they are willing to risk for the truth—and for a love that could save them both.Drawn from the real-life investigations of the author's father, a British District Commissioner who investigated ritual medicine murders and illegal diamond buying in 1960s Basutoland, The Lesotho Diamond is an authentic, high-stakes romantic suspense set in the rugged, snow-bitten Maluti Mountains.