Bertrice Small, A Dangerous Love

A Dangerous Love

Bertrice Small

NAL, October 2006, $14.00

ISBN: 0451219783

Her mother, Lady Jane Radcliff and adopted father the Earl of Stanton die during the War of the Roses, so six year old Adair is raised by her biological father, King Edward IV. When she is sixteen years old, her royal sire demands she wed a fourteen year old by-blow as part of a political alliance with the Tudors; she refuses, flees the court, but King Edward IV marries her to the teen Llywelyn FitzTudor anyway by proxy. Scottish raiders kill her new husband, so she quickly weds her neighbor Andrew Lynbridge to avoid another royal entanglement, only he dies during the latest round of royal fighting.

She is branded a traitor and stripped of her title Countess Radcliff and her property. Scottish raiders abduct Adair and sell her into slavery to Lord Conal Bruce of Cleit. He purchased her to warm his bed and keep his house, but once she cleans up he realizes she is a beauty; once he tastes her spirit he realizes she is courageous. Soon they fall in love, but what is a future between a Laird and a slave?

Readers will root for the intrepid outspoken Adair as she faces royal condemnation, abduction by border raiders, and deaths of loved ones and spouses, but she refuses to surrender her core values and freedom for the convenience of security. Her actions bring to life late fifteenth century England during the War of the Roses and the subsequent intrigue between rival houses claiming the monarchy. Bertrice Small fans will enjoy this action-packed erotic historical romance that brings to life the transition between Plantagenet and Tudor.