Much Ado About Love — Flora Speer

A MAID: As a twenty-five-year-old virgin far past marriageable age, Halys did all she could to avoid male attention. And the male she wished most to avoid was Simon of Lyonne, the arrogant baron who had broken her heart when she was just fourteen.

A MAN: Recently returned from crusade, Simon was bewitched by Halys' rose gold beauty, but bemused by her shrewish tongue. He vowed he would have nothing to do with her... until a clever ruse convinced him she was pining for his love.

A MARRIAGE MADE IN HEAVEN: Long-standing enemies, Simon and Halys now found they were longing to stand at the altar. Neither guessed at the tender deception that had brought them together for a taste of ecstasy. But when the truth was learned, would their love prevail, or would pride remind them that their union was a fool's paradise, engineered by all too human hands?