Book excerpt: In this sexy medieval romance set in twelfth-century England, a tenacious lady’s surrender leads to a fearsome warrior’s seduction. England, 1147. On orders from his Empress, Lothar the Frank has come to Hertfordshire to lay siege to Castle Haword. Overpowering the depleted stronghold should be a simple task for the ruthless soldier—if it weren’t for the arresting beauty of the woman who stubbornly defends it. More tomboy than trembling maiden, Lady Juliana Danville would rather die than lose the castle. When she’s caught on opposite sides of a war, a marriage bargain is brokered to bring peace. But is blissful married life possible when Juliana has a dangerous secret hidden within the castle walls?