Noblesse Oblige : Godiva, Warrior Lady: A Medieval Historical Romance (Wedding the Heiress #5)

Godiva Svensdottir never gave up. Never. No matter what. She knew her duty and she believed in it. If it took all her strength and will she would do what she was bound to do. It was unthinkable that she would betray the trust her father had placed in her.
Except that it shouldn’t have been this hard. If Sven Harthcason had known how cruel it would be he never would have left her to this. Not that he had much choice when it came down to it. Gone, slain without mercy in that turbulent year of 1066, like so many others.

She wanted to follow the path her father had marked for her, and make him proud to smile down on her from Valhalla. To marry the Saxon, Leofric, father had chosen for her; and with that union carry on the work of reconciliation between Dane and Saxon that her parents’ own marriage had begun. The protection she’d gain from the new Norman overlords slavering to marry eligible English heiresses wasn’t a negligible consideration either.

The arrival of one of the rapacious invaders at Ravensthorpe only made the matter more urgent. Sir Geoffrey deBruis had a brutal haircut and a self righteous mission to build his royal master’s castle on her land. In short the man was anathema to Godiva. Her father’s Danes weren’t particularly afflicted by self-doubt but this Norman appeared completely oblivious of the concept. And she couldn’t help herself but to take issue with him whenever he was in the wrong. Which proved to be most of the time.

Yet amidst the savagery and treachery of the guerrilla insurgency besetting England after the Norman victory Godiva cannot be mistress of her own destiny. Neither Church nor Court will allow it and she has to choose between the two men who contend for her: Saxon Leofric or Norman Geoffrey.

Hard enough but immeasurably harder when nothing and no one is as they appear. From Geoffrey’s shameful family secret to the mystery of her father’s death Godiva is snared in a web of confusion and deceit. Betrayal is her constant companion as her frantic efforts to protect her lands and people rebound on her. Till she no longer knows which way to turn.
Will mistrust and mystery vanquish any chance of her finding true, lasting love?