Yesterday she was an English earl's wife eagerly anticipating a glorious victory over the upstart Scots and a new home on a Scottish estate. Today she's a widow, hostage of the Scottish king, watched over by the most unusual and reluctant of guardians. For years he was a warrior monk who fought for his beloved church. Today he's simply a weary warrior with a haunted past and a price on his head. And he has no clue how to care of the group of female hostages entrusted to him after battle&151;especially the sad eyed widow with the golden braid. The two of them weave an unlikely friendship and an even unlikelier love. She returns to England to protect a family inheritance. He stays to wrestle the demons of his past. But when danger looms, he'll have to face h is deepest fears to come to her aid. Even more difficult is living with the hope she has sparked in him after a lifetime of bitterness. After hears of failure and faithlessness…could he still bear THE MARK OF SALVATION?

© Copyright 2003 by Carol Umberger. Reprinted with permission by Integrity Publisher. All rights reserved.