Shadows in Velvet — Haywood Smith

A love conceived against all odds... darkened by a legacy of intrigue and betrayal...

A simple convent life was orphan Annique's whole world, until she learned of her noble blood... and her fate. Now, she must enter the gilded decadence of the French court as bride to Philippe, Duc de Corbay -- a man of mystery and secrets, and a legendary lover.

Philippe, embittered by his father's tyranny and this unwanted marriage, is left breathless by the country girl's luminous beauty and the wild passion it conceals. But Annique, about to open her guarded heart to him, is shattered by a secret from Philippe's past that could embroil them both in a treacherous uprising.

Together, from the opulence and pageantry of the court to the intimate shadows of the bedchamber, they will face the power and cunning of the highest princess in the land -- and the hand of fate that may destroy a love as tumultuous as its times...