If only I'd realized earlier that it never pays to fight evil with evil. But after watching my father die, I'd been consumed with bitterness and had allowed it to lead me astray from what was righteous and pleasing to God.

I suppose you'll not let me rest until I admit that I like your company?""You're getting to know me well...""Very well, I'll admit. You're slightly more than tolerable.

Bulldog grunted. And I knew the matter was settled. My pulse thrummed with excitement. I was going to marry Juliana Wessex.

Living in the starkness of the Middle Ages had taught her there was something special about needing others and being needed in return. She'd learned it took courage to open her heart and allow people in.

The onlookers had seen not three men in the fire, but four. God hadn’t taken them out of the fiery trial. He’d walked with them through it.

His words were like a soothing balm covering over the voices inside always taunting she’d never be good enough. He’d accepted her in spite of her mistakes. He approved of what she’d done. And he believed she was capable.

She might not be able to eradicate every prejudice around her, but she had to start somewhere to make a difference. And the best place for that was with herself.

But one by one she’d been cutting away the tangle of propriety so that with each thread she cut loose, she was slowly finding the freedom to be herself and not someone else’s version of who she ought to be.

Pete had determined that this time, with this new ship, he’d be among the lucky ones to get a bride. And when Peter Kelly set his mind to something, he’d do it.