READERS' FAVORITE FIVE STAR AWARD WINNER - As the daughter of a strong English baron, Isabel is compelled by peace negotiations to become the child-bride of the enemy, the powerful, handsome and fierce Scottish Laird of the Chattan clan, Alysandir. Her youth and his distaste for a marriage alliance with his enemy render her strenuous efforts to win the approval of her husband almost futile. Even though she failed him in a hopelessly complex situation, why would he allow his former fiancé to get away at an attempt to kill her? When her dying father calls her home to England, she is forced to be braver than her years as her exiled, murderous half-brother, Gilbert, attempts to wrest control of Bamborough Castle, their family home, from her father, who was determined to never allow Gilbert the inheritance. Could Alysandir, her wizened warrior husband soften her battle-hardened heart, protect her from her treacherous half-brother and win back her love?
Growing up amid the border wars taught Isabel to be strong, cautious and adaptable. Fighting in those wars made Alysandir inflexible, distrustful but patient and brave. Could he secure his lands and keep his new bride safe from those who wished to harm her, or even protect her from herself? After breaking her, could he gather her back to himself and teach her to trust him before her half-brother and brother-in-law kill her over a piece of borderland?
When Crown Prince Alaric of Eldoria is ordered to choose a bride to secure the line, the court arranges a spectacle of trials-tests of strength, statecraft, and worth-meant to end in a tidy alliance. What no one plans for is Prince Dorian of Caerthwyn, whose quiet courage, riverborn instincts, and inconvenient honesty turn duty into a dangerous question.
As suitors circle and factions sharpen their smiles, a flood exposes rot in the city's ledgers, whispers harden into sabotage, and a coded threat rises on the tide. On the eve of vows, bells break the night and Eldoria burns. In the chaos that follows, Alaric, Dorian, and a warrior-consort candidate, Nyra Ashfall, must hold the line-one with law, one with water, one with steel-while grief and politics try to pull the kingdom apart.
What begins as a prince's performance becomes a fight to redesign the future: succession rewritten in daylight, power made transparent, and love asked to be more than a secret. Allies become family, a city learns to cheer for truth over rumor, and a throne discovers it can be carried by two steady hands.
The Prince's Gamble is a romantic fantasy of palace intrigue and public courage-a slow-burn, M/M royal romance with a true happily-ever-after, a fierce female ally who refuses to be anyone's obstacle, and a kingdom brave enough to choose the leaders who saved it. Duty starts the story. Love finishes it.