Another good historical by Joanne Rock. Sir Tristan Carlisle and his knights have been assigned to bring Princess Anne and her group of Ladies in Waiting to England to marry the King. He is not interested in any of the ladies until Arabella Rowan arrives. He has seen her in the forest and believes she is not a noble at all. He discovers that she really is of noble blood, but her dark looks are very gypsy like. He is very drawn to her innocence and earthy sensuality. Unfortunately, someone seems to be after either her or Princess Anne. But why would anyone kidnap a poor barely noble lady? Tristan just wants this job completed because he believes that the King will award him with his own lands for the service he has provided over the years to both himself and his father. He does get his lands and castle, but he must also marry Arabella. She sees this marriage as the loss of her freedom and Tristan vows that he can never love her. And the danger has followed them. Again, another good one from one of my favs.
"It is to the credit of human nature that, except where its selfishness is brought into play, it loves more readily than it hates."
Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Scarlet Letter
