Lyonesse

I have one job in this arranged marriage, and that's to seduce my husband. It should be easy; I'm the heiress to a transatlantic fortune, bred and raised to make a good match. I've spent a lifetime building up my endurance, my discipline, my dedication to my god and my church. The danger lies in falling for the devil who put his ring on my finger-a mistake I made years ago, and can't afford to make again. There is one more danger: Tristan Thomas, former soldier and my new husband's bodyguard. A hero who stole my heart with salt-soaked kisses on the sea. But Lyonesse is not like other places, and this isn't like other marriages. Soon Tristan, Mark, and I are tangled in a knot of vicious jealousy and gorgeous wickedness, where suspicion is an aphrodisiac, and secrets and vows are one and the same. And there is something far darker at play than my real purpose, darker even than the twisted longings of my own heart. Because my husband has secrets of his own, and the reason he'll stop at nothing to possess me could slice my soul deeper than the honeysuckle-hilted knife he gave me once upon a time. Because when it comes to Mark Trevena and his games, the first cut is more than the deepest-it's the sweetest. And he always leaves you begging for more…

I think it's important that you know this about me, that you understand this: I'm not sorry. I'd do it again. After my husband died eight years ago, I made vengeance my only purpose, my religion, my destiny. But to get to my enemy, I had to make myself like him. He had a kingdom of secrets? Then I would make an empire. He had blood on his hands? Then I would bathe in it. But Tristan and Isolde changed everything. I hadn't counted on wanting them, needing them; I hadn't counted on how it felt to watch the two of them fall in love. I'd thought I had everything under control-I'd thought I was safe from my own long-dead heart. I'd never imagined that the wronged husband, the jealous king from my childhood fairy tales, would be played by none other than me. It no longer matters what I used to believe. My enemy is ready to finish the game, and for the first time in eight years, I have pieces on the board I can't afford to lose. I'll burn the entire world to keep Tristan and Isolde safe, I'll scorch the earth-but as any good assassin will tell you, fire will only get a man so far, because there's always something left in the ashes. And for the three of us, it's the cold, bitter bones of the truth: their story begins and ends with me. And every story needs a villain…