Willow is a picturesque lakeside community and home to town sweetheart and bakeshop owner, Ollie Vance. The town is buzzing with the restoration of an old and majestic mansion close to Ollie's heart but age-old secrets about an extraordinary world start weaving themselves into her life that is soon put on the line by her dangerous attraction to the mansion's new owner. She struggles against a brand-new passion unlike anything she'd ever encountered but she ultimately learns that it may cost her not only her heart but also her life. *** Copyright © 2012 by Nina Tippett. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Nina Tippett. This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The image used in the cover art is the property of its respectful owner.

Mature for adult content!! The world we live in is a beautiful, mysterious place. My home, my country, has been my world my entire life, living as the cursed princess of Iris is all I have ever know. Just as the only eyes I have known in the mirror were my own. And my hair was always white as snow. Iris has always been my home, its people my family. The kind smiles of villagers and the curious looks of children seeing me for the first time, the contrast of myself against the rest of my family in portraits. The whisper of the trees and the laughter of the flowers has always been what I lived by. "why are you so sad?" I rested my forehead on the cracked bark of the Soul Tree. My second home from the palace. The tallest tree in all the king's forest. Today it was deeply saddened, rumbling with a sort of bitter energy that leaks coldly into my bones. I wondered what it knew that I did not as I sat perched in its branches, it is not often that it's strong mass wavers. When it does it can only mean change is to come, nothing small. Something altering the kingdom itself. I sighed, my fingers brushing over its leathery leaves, it wouldn't be long until someone else noticed its unease, it will sicken the forest. By then it will be too late. ~~ Flora Duval, the cursed princess of Iris was always a quiet girl, working through her duties as princess and caring for the life in her country. Seeing beauty in the things most could not. Never has she expected an offer for marriage, not with her hair and her eyes the same pink of the Fenni flower. But then, she receives one. Less of a question for her hand and more of a demand, a demand caging her like a white rabbit in a deadly hunters trap. Trapped by the king of Taragon for her unusual features and the rumors of her life, Flora is stranded in a country she has never known, captured in cold castle walls without an ally in sight.

Sam is the most promising swordsman among this year’s crop of Paladin trainees...and knows it. Brash, cocky, and unbeatable with a sword (well, almost), Sam is the kingdom of Thule’s best hope against the violence wrought by demons. The only problem is that Sam is really Lady Samantha, daughter of the seventeenth Duke of Haywood, and if her father has his way, she’ll be marrying a Paladin, not becoming one. But Sam has never held much interest in playing damsel-in-distress, and so she rescues herself from a lifetime of boredom and matrimonial drudgery. Pity that Tristan Lyons, the Paladin assigned to train her, is none other than the hero of her childhood. He hasn’t recognized her as Lady Samantha--yet-- but if he does, he’ll take away her sword and send her packing. Sam is not the only trainee hiding secrets: Braeden is a half-demon with a dark past that might be unforgivable. Sam, Braeden and Tristan set out for the western coast, charged with rooting out an infestation of demons that has made the West unlivable. As they travel, they uncover a deep-seated corruption of power that threatens to derail everything they stand for. Rebellion stirs, led by a rival faction of warriors who tempt Sam to join them with an irresistible offer. A war between men is coming, and Sam must pick a side. Will saving the kingdom cost her life -- or just her heart? Reminiscent of Mulan, but with a medieval fantasy twist, Paladin is a tale of adventure, action, and romance.