A Necessary Risk — Emily Ross

Against the turbulent background of Wales in 1171 and Henry II's conflict with the dispossessed Earl of Pembroke, career soldier Dominic du Bois finds himself unexpectedly betrothed to sixteen-year-old heiress Isobel de Lescaux. For Dominic, the illegitimate son of a minor nobleman, it seems like an unbelievable stroke of good fortune. Yet he just can't rid himself of the suspicion that if a thing sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

Isobel, brought up almost like her five older brothers, finds the ways of a noblewoman tedious but learns quickly -- except for any kind of sewing. Her relationship with Dominic blossoms, despite the odds against it, but when the political storm that brought them together threatens to tear them apart again, both Isobel and Dominic must use all their skills and wits as they take a necessary risk to stay alive and together.