On the night before her wedding Lady Catherine secretly decides to go on one last ride before she is to marry the man her King has chosen to be her husband. There she meets a young knight (William FitzAlan) who accompanies her on this ride and returns her safely to the stables, but not before leaving them with memories that they think back upon over the years.

Five years later, Lady Catherine betrays her husband in order to protect her king. Her husband was violent and abusive and she has no remorse in betraying him for the traitor that he was. On the day of her husband's death, she learns that his/her lands and castle are forfeit to William FitzAlan. The King has left her with no choice but to either be taken to the Tower or to marry FitzAlan. Reluctantly she chooses to marry William - as for William, he recognizes Catherine as the young girl he still thinks of and immediately marries her despite his doubts as to what type of woman can betray her husband.

Although the main threat to Catherine is easily resolved with their marriage, there are still many other issues that they have to deal with. For one, Catherine has only been to the marriage bed with her late husband and it was not something pleasant for her. So she is none too thrilled about consummating her marriage. Secondly, William has issues trusting her - he is constantly questioning her actions not to mention his closest friend keeps reminding him of the outcome of her previous marriage. As passion ignites and danger closes in, Catherine and William must learn to trust in each other to save their marriage, their land, and their very lives.

I love historical romances - and this one has just the right amount of romance, witty banter and likeable characters. Ms. Mallory definitely did her research when describing the Welsh rebellion of the 15th century as well as Medieval England. This is a well-written story and you will see that the pages fly by with ease. It is riddled with love, lust and betrayal... what more could you want out of a romance novel? I can definitely recommend this to fans of the romance genre and congratulate Ms. Mallory on a very enjoyable debut.