Revenge of the Knights Templar — Adriana Girolami

This historical romance is set in Europe in the year 1480 at the conclusion of the Middle Ages, and features a beautiful heroine who triumphs over dark forces of violence and intrigue in the royal court. She arrives at the castle of the Duke of Nemours as the princess bride in an arranged marriage, only to learn her prospective husband has been killed in a coup d'etat. She is immediately captured and held in isolation, commanded to consent to marriage to the new Duke, a cruel man who rules with a combination of force and fear. He is so beguiled by her extraordinary beauty that he fails to realize she has been trained in extensive combat skills by the general of her father's army. Instead of giving in to the demands made of her and the threats leveled at her and her less powerful family, she manages to hatch a plot of her own to organize the intimidated citizenry and create a popular uprising against the Duke. She must prevail against many obstacles and counter-plots, but in her difficult struggle she also discovers the true love of her life in the spirited young cavalier who repeatedly risks himself to aid her cause.