Book excerpt: Quinn de Sayerne vowed never to return home while his wicked father drew breath. Twenty years after his departure, the knight and crusader is summoned to claim his family holding after his father’s death. But the overlord decrees that Quinn must wed Melissande, the beautiful but frosty heiress of neighboring Annossy. Quinn resolves to win the heart of his lady wife, no matter what the cost, and thence the seal of Sayerne. Melissande cannot believe that her liege lord has ignored her betrothal and wed her to a mercenary. Worse, he has granted her beloved Annossy to her new husband against her every protest. Though Melissande finds herself the chattel of this rough knight, she is determined to fight Quinn on every front—for the sake of her betrothal, Annossy, and her own pride. But Annossy itself is in danger with brigands raiding its borders. Quinn is charged to oust the villains, but soon fears his lady wife is in peril—or is she allied with the brigands? Can this pair come to trust each other in time to work together for the sake of the future, or will a villain’s evil scheme cost them both everything they hold dear?