He thought he had his life all planned out.
Hugh de Maury wishes to bury his tragic past beneath a life of orderly discipline and hard work. He plans to make Thornwood Keep one of the finest in the land. But when King Richard orders Hugh to find a husband for the outspoken Lady Eleanor de Taine, Thornwood Keep is soon overrun by family, suitors, and spies. As Hugh's organized life starts to crumble around him, he finds himself facing his greatest fear ... that his hardened, cautious heart might start to beat again for a woman who is the personification of chaos.

She's willing to accept her fate.
Lady Eleanor has been shuffled from relative to relative and keep to keep since her parents died years ago. Now, King Richard has demanded that she wed. With her dream of a real home about to come true, Eleanor's mind turns to the man she has loved since she was twelve summers old, the devastatingly handsome Sir Hugh. But when she learns that Hugh is to oversee the search to find her a husband, she is forced to face her worst fear. How can she marry the man chosen for her, when all she has ever wanted is to thaw Hugh's frozen heart and show him the real meaning of love?