Powerful and touching - A surprising tale of love that conquers fear and faith that burns away bitterness. 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 for the group of female hostages entrusted to him after battle-especially the sad-eyed widow with the golden braid. Thrown together after a cataclysmic battle, 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 his deepest fears to come to her aid.