House Toustain … House Maignart … two royal houses once embroiled in a bloody feud … Thirty years of peace now broken in an instant …
Sir Caden Maignart has been captured, beaten, locked in a dungeon, and wrongfully accused of kidnapping and oath-breaking. Determined to free himself and his men, and clear his besmirched name, Caden does not count on the willful nature of his captor, Lady Gwendolyn Toustain, the daughter of the man who was once his father’s mortal enemy. After several attempts at escape, the lady orders him bound and chained to a wall in her chambers—where he will remain under her personal guard at all times and kept from conspiring with his men. While the lady's high-handedness infuriates him, Caden cannot deny that everything else about her drives him to distraction. Forced into close proximity with her, Caden soon finds it hard to remember his mission of escape.
When Lady Gwendolyn of House Toustain first lays eyes on her prisoner, one thing about him is abundantly clear: Sir Caden of Daleraia is a dangerous man. Yet, she must show him no fear. The captured band of knights from Daleraia are her only clue in the mystery surrounding the disappearance of House Toustain’s sons, and it falls to Lady Gwen to seek justice. Is this kidnapping merely the ploy of mercenaries out for a ransom? Or has Sir Caden acted on the order of the High Lord of Daleraia and broken the peace? As she searches for the answers, she never expects the surge of passion that ignites between herself and her prisoner. The longer he remains in her clutches, the more Gwen realizes that though she has him chained, she is the one who has been captured.
Chained and its sequel, Bound, have both spent time in Amazon's top 100 in the Medieval Romance and Interracial/Multicultural Romance categories.
Kneeling in front of him, she forced herself to meet his gaze. “You are quite a rabble-rouser, aren’t you?” she said gently, sympathy pricking her as she observed his beaten and bloody face up close.
He smirked despite his split lip. “Aye, wench. Did you think you could keep me in your cells forever?”
Gwen shook her head slowly. “No, I suppose not. What am I to do with you, Daleraian?”
His lips split into a blinding smile, and for a moment, Gwen was taken aback. Despite his battered face, she had to grudgingly admit that the man had magnetism. His smile was disarming. “I could think of a few things, wench,” he murmured, his eyes lowering to the neckline of her kirtle.
Gwen’s jaw clenched, but she reminded herself of her vow to remain calm. “My steward thinks I should kill you.”
He scowled. “Your steward sounds like an idiot.”
Espan huffed and stammered in outrage at that, and Gwen stifled a laugh. “He is my advisor, Sir,” she said. “My father’s as well. I heed his council in all things.”
“Heed mine,” he offered. “You don’t want to kill me. To do so would be a grievous error.”
Gwen’s eyebrows raised. “Why?”
“Suffice it to say that if I were gone, Lord Theodric would miss me … enough to send thousands of warriors to Seahaven’s gates.”
“Lord Theodric has already set his forces against Dinasdale. Do not think I have forgotten that.”
The knight’s jaw ticked. “I have already told you, we played no part in the atrocities committed in Heywick.”
Gwen shrugged. “Forgive me if I’m not inclined to release you with only your word as evidence. I need more than that.”