Could she defy her king for love? England 1453: King Henry VI sends Sir Nicholas Gray to protect the recently widowed Lady Amice Winfield from undesirable suitors. Though Nicholas intrigues her, she yearns to run Castle Rising without a man’s control. Nicholas has no interest in marriage, but can’t deny he’s attracted to Amice. He’s surprised to finally find in Castle Rising a place he feels at home. A kiss sparks desire neither can ignore, yet serving opposing factions seeking to govern England threatens to pull them apart. At court, the king and queen reject Amice’s pleas and choose a new husband for her, a highly-ranked lord who’ll provide connections and coin for the king’s depleted coffers that Nicholas cannot. How can she follow the king’s command when she’s a scribe for his rival? How can she marry another man when she’s falling in love with Nicholas?

Joanna Peyntor has two uses for a man: to pose for a stained glass window design or to commission her skills. But when her brother conspires to ruin her reputation, she concedes to a third: a husband to help save her glass-painting workshop. On a quest to redeem his family name and lands, Sir Adrian Bedford must marry without delay. But what woman he’d accept would wed an impoverished former nobleman who insists on an unusual stricture in their marriage contract? Joanna, a woman striving to succeed in a man’s world, agrees that discussions of a personal nature are prohibited. When irresistible attraction makes their marriage of convenience inconvenient, will his dangerous secrets keep them from following their hearts?

Librarian's Note: Alternate cover for this ASIN can be found [here](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28104752). Can they attain what they most desire? Lady Eleanor de la Tour’s life turns upside down on her wedding day. Instead of her betrothed, she must wed the new earl, to whom the king has given his title and lands. Though Richard Courtenay is handsome and intriguing, she wants the man she loves and chose. And Richard pursues alchemy, anathema to her because the obsession to turn base metals into gold is destroying her father. Richard needs and wants to stay wed to Eleanor to uncover her father’s alchemy secrets. He vows to win her even as she arranges a bride tournament to find him a better, and willing, wife.