A
Choice of Secrets
A
Dark Glass Novel Book 4
by
Barb Hendee
Genre: Historical
Fantasy
Ever
since raiders from the north began attacking villages, Lady Nicole
Montagna has known that defending her people would come at a
cost. The betrothal of her sister Chloe to a neighboring lord
seems the perfect solution, forging a powerful alliance. But
shortly before the wedding, Nicole is shocked to discover that her
sister is with child—and not by her husband-to-be. Now she
must make a choice. She has just hours to decide . . .
~Should
she tell her soldier brother—who will take swift, ruthless action
to ensure the family’s safety?
~Should
she hold her tongue, let her sister deceive her husband into
believing the child is his—and then hope Chloe can get away with
the lie?
~Should
she tell her family, hoping they will know the right thing to
do?
With
the help of a magic mirror, Nicole lives out each path, fighting to
protect herself and those she loves with the weapons she has: wits,
herbs, and fortitude. But no matter her cleverness, neither she nor
her family can escape unscathed—for there are repercussions she
could never have foreseen, involving her own heart . . .
A
CHOICE OF SECRETS
New
York Times bestselling
author Barb Hendee spins a tale of intrigue, integrity, and the bonds
of love and loyalty as one young woman finds her place in a turbulent
world . . .
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Chapter 1
At the age of seventeen, I had no real understanding of the danger
of secrets…of keeping them, of sharing them, of telling the wrong person for
the right reasons.
But I was soon to learn the depths of my own ignorance.
One afternoon, in mid-summer, I was in the vast kitchen of my family
home, with six other women, rolling dough for both peach and strawberry tarts.
One of our housemaids, Jenny, stuck her head in the back door. “Lady Nicole,”
she said to me. “Lord Erik and Lord Christophe have arrived. They’re in the
hunting hall.”
This news made me smile. “Does Lady Chloe know? Or my mother and
father?”
“Not yet. I’ll go and find them.”
“Thank you.”
Not bothering to even take off my apron or shake the flour from my hair,
I hurried out the door and into the open-air center of what was known as White
Deer Lodge. All around me, ten large log buildings had been constructed in a
circle. Small paths connected each building to the next. Two of the
constructions functioned as our family’s residence. Others housed guests or
servants or our guards. One was designated for storage. The largest
construction was called the gathering hall for communal events. On the outside
of this circle, a village thrived, with dwellings, shops, stables, and a
smithy.
A stone wall surrounded the village, and heavy forests surrounded
three sides of the wall, but not far beyond the west side, the ocean stretched down
the coast of the nation of Samourè. This lodge was my home and my father,
Gideon Montagna, was lord of these lands.
In that moment, though, I gave little thought to my home or my
father, and instead, I continued in my quick pace to the smallest of the log buildings—known
as the hunting hall. I’d never cared much for this hall, as it was decorated
with spears, longbows, and the heads of animals. But nonetheless, once inside
the front door, I looked toward the unlit great hearth with a flood of
happiness rising inside me.
A
Girl of White Winter
A Dark
Glass Novel Book #3
Kara,
as a ward with no parentage and no future, has been raised knowing
nothing outside her lady’s chambers. Until Royce Capello, a
visiting nobleman, is struck by her ice-pale looks, and demands her
as payment for the land the family needs.
With
barely time to protest, Kara is sold and packed off for a life as a
concubine—until a raiding party descends on Royce’s company and
she’s kidnapped for the second time in as many days.
Whatever
happens, Kara will be alone in the world, inexperienced and fearing
even the vast unfamiliar sky. But one raider gives her a choice—and
a magic mirror appears to show her where each path will lead…
She
can leave with her protector Raven and journey with his performing
troupe, competing for his mercurial affections.
She
can flee the raiders’ settlement, and return to Royce’s manor,
chattel among devious nobility.
Or
she can stay in the settlement, bound to firm, silent Caine, who is
as gentle as he is staid and inscrutable.
Her
fates twist and turn to affect far more than she could have guessed,
tangling the bitter with the sweet—and Kara must choose which
consequences she can live with…
A
Choice of Crowns
A Dark Glass Novel Book
#2
Olivia
Geroux knew her king was reluctant to marry her, whatever the
negotiations had arranged. But she never expected to find handsome,
arrogant King Rowan obsessed with his stepsister instead. And before
she can determine what course to take, she overhears her greatest
ally plotting to murder the princess.
Olivia
must act quickly—and live with whatever chaos results. As the
assassin hunts his prey, a magic mirror appears to show Olivia the
three paths that open before her . . .
If
she hesitates only a moment, the princess will die—and she will
become queen.
If
she calls for help, she will gain great power—but she must also
thrust away her own happiness.
If
she runs to stop the murder herself, she will know love and
contentment—but her whole country will suffer.
As
she lives out each path, her wits and courage will be tested as she
fights to protect her people, her friends, and her heart. And
deciding which to follow will be far from easy . . .
Through
a Dark Glass
A
Dark Glass Novel Book 1
On
her seventeenth birthday, Megan of Chaumont discovers she’ll be
sold as a bride to the brutish Volodane family—within hours. Her
father grants only that she may choose which one of the ruthless,
grasping lord's three sons she weds:
Rolf,
the eldest: stern, ambitious, and loyal?
Sebastian,
the second son: sympathetic, sly, and rebellious?
Or
Kai, the youngest: bitter, brooding, and proud?
As
shy, horrified Megan flees the welcome dinner for her in-laws-to-be,
she finds an enchanted mirror that will display how her life unrolls
with each man, as if she were living it out in a breath. But there is
no smooth “happily ever after” in her choices.
Deaths
and honors, joys and agonies, intrigues and escapes await her in a
remote, ramshackle keep, where these rough but complex men reveal one
side and then another of their jagged characters—and bring forth
new aspects of Megan, too. But the decisions of one teenaged
marriage-pawn reverberate much farther than any of them have guessed
. . .
Barb
Hendee is the New York Times bestselling author of The
Mist-Torn Witches series. She is the co-author (with husband J.C.) of
the Noble Dead Saga. She holds a master’s degree in
composition/rhetoric from the University of Idaho and currently
teaches writing for Umpqua Community College. She and J.C. live in a
quirky two-level townhouse just south of Portland, Oregon.
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