Sir Richard de Cantor, a highly-skilled warrior, is hampered by guilt over the ambitious, materialistic way he'd lived before he joined the Templar Brotherhood -- a lifestyle he believes led to the death of his young daughter. Lady Margaret Newcomb is a disgraced daughter of a powerful English earl and has led a quiet life of penance and atonement. Though of different backgrounds, in truth they are both lonely, battered by the world, and in desperate need of each other's love and acceptance. Their fragile relationship is soon threatened when the French Inquisition makes its way to England, and Richard is faced with charges for his position as a Templar Knight, only to have their love further tested when someone from Meg's past reappears with the power to tear the two apart.
Mary Reed McCall once studied at the University of Leningrad and considered a career in national security. However, she soon realized her calling lay elsewhere and turned to her love of books for inspiration, eventually becoming a high school English teacher and a romance writer. She began work on her first novel one week after completing her M.A. in English literature. The award-winning author of seven novels for Avon Books, Mary lives in upstate New York with her family, sharing an often crazy but always wonderful life.