Book excerpt: Forced to wed a notorious Scotsman, a sheltered French heiress is drawn into a world of intrigue and debauchery as she battles for her husband’s heart against a dangerous rival in this thrilling sequel to Clandara Charles Macdonald has been given an ultimatum: To settle his gambling debts and avoid being sent to the Bastille, he must marry his cousin Anne de Bernard. Anne is beautiful, innocent, and the richest woman in France. Forced into a marriage of convenience, she vows that no matter what her husband takes from her, he will never have her heart. Charles wants only to return to court—and the bed of his notorious mistress, the captivating widowed Baroness Louise de Vitale. When Anne is brought to Versailles at the king’s command, the young, inexperienced bride is no match for Louise’s wiles. The French court soon becomes a stage on which a drama of jealousy and deadly intrigue will play out. As two women fight for the love of one man, a terrible act of malice will destroy one life as it transforms another. With its rich historical canvas, peopled by the real-life figures of King Louis XV, royal mistress Comtesse du Barry, and future queen Marie Antoinette, The French Bride is author Evelyn Anthony at her spellbinding best.