"Great History"

I loved this book. Great characters, good story and excellent history combine to make it a highly recommended read.

Marcus of Anglesmore has been ordered by King Edward to marry the daughter of Llygad ap Madoc, the latest leader of the Welsh rebels. Since Llygad's death, Carwin His has led the rebels and Llygad's oldest daughter, Nesta, once married in Scotland and now a widow,is his confederate. Llygad's younger daughter, Genith, is to bind Wales to England through this marriage.

Climbing into the garden surrounding the Welsh women's home in London, Marcus encounters a beautiful woman he thinks is Genith. Nesta, figuring out who he is, continues to let him think she is her sister. Marcus, quickly falls unter her sensual spell and becomes happily resigned to the marriage....until the next morning when he finds Genith, instead of Nesta, is his promised bride. Knowing he must do his duty to his King, he determines to take the two women to his castle, Anglesmore, where the marriage will take place. But, before they can leave London, Nesta engineers the escape of her younger sister to a marriage long planned by her father before his death.

Setting out to find them before Edward returns from France, Marcus makes the decision to keep Nesta and let Genith escape. But Nesta, though greatly drawn to Marcus, feels the weight of her father's dream of a Wales separate from England, and continues to work to undermine Marcus' efforts and build an army to fight.

Both Marcus and Nesta are fully realized characters with noble and frustrating reasons for their beliefs. The history is not only correct, it is fascinating. As both Marcus and Nesta try to stay true to their beliefs and yet are unable to overcome their longing for each other, the story deepens and becomes more complex. I don't want to give away the secrets and plot twists that end up bringing them together, but I can highly recommend to book to any reader whether romance, historical fiction or other.

Reviewed by Merrilee Heffernan
Posted July 6, 2002

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Summary

In a world of rebellion and intrigue, their love divided their hearts and loyalties.

Marcus of Angelsmore was not at all happy about being betrothed by the king to a woman he'd never laid eyes on. So when the brooding English knight accidently comes across her in a moonlit garden, he was both surprised--and delighted. Intelligent, charming, and beautiful, she was the most captivating woman he'd ever met. But the magic of that enchanted moment is soon shattered by cold reality: Nesta is not the woman he is to marry, but her sister. Of all the women Marcus might desire, none could be more dangerous than the wild and tantalizing Welsh witch with secret ties to both rebellion and king. For Nesta no one could jeopardize her plans more than a man who would know secrets of both her heart...and her body. Yet the course of their lives--and the destinies of their two nations-- will be forever altered as they defy everything to surrender to the most daring seduction of all...