The Queen's Choice

"Her brother Gustaf stopped mid-sentence in the middle of the stables, looking first surprised, then angrily at the man beside Maria. "Your Majesty," he said, with the slightest possible bow that he could manage. "Lord Helmholdt," the man replied, his tone as cold as Gustaf's. Standing so close to him, Maria could feel how he physically reacted to Gustaf being there. From being relaxed his body was tense and he had straightened his back as soon as he had seen him. Maria looked from one to the other for a moment, not understanding at first. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I had no idea," she said, confused. "Well, neither did I," the man said angrily and quickly left the stables. Maria watched him go. This wasn't how she had imagined meeting her future husband for the first time." Having lost a battle to his cousin Gustaf Helmholdt, pretender to the throne, King Jonathan has to marry Lord Helmholdt's barren sister Maria. He reluctantly agrees to this, thinking that he can get an annulment as soon as he defeats Lord Helmholdt once and for all. Maria on the other hand has been promised by her brother that she will be free to join a convent if she helps him. She is to spy on her new husband in order for her brother to bring him down. Upon meeting each other for the first time they find they have good chemistry and a strong physical attraction – until they each learn who the other person is. It's no surprise that their marriage starts on less than happy terms, but slowly Maria and Jonathan realize they need each other's help: Jonathan needs Maria to help him convince the nobility supporting her brother that they should join his side instead, and Maria finds that Jonathan's promise of a castle of her own is far better than her brother's offer to join a convent. While the two of them get to know each other, they discover that they not only have a strong physical attraction, but they are also well suited and might very well be the love of each other's lives. This places Maria in a horrible situation, where she has to choose between her husband and her brother. The Queen's Choice is the first book in the series Dynasties and Desire.