Guarded Heart (Master at Arms Series #4)

The New Year begins with a lady's intriguing proposition for Gavin Blackford—though not the sort he's accustomed to. Alluring widow Ariadne Faucher requests private lessons from the rakish sword master in order to challenge her sworn enemy to a duel.

Though disinclined at first to teach a woman, Gavin is fascinated by this statuesque beauty, cloaked as she is in grief and mystery. Ariadne proves a quick study with a blade, her resolve fueled by a vendetta that is all she has left in the world. Their lessons crackle with undeniable electricity…but the secret of her all-consuming vengeance may have rendered her heart impervious even to such a virtuoso as Gavin.

The New Year begins with a lady's intriguing proposition for Gavin Blackford—though not the sort he's accustomed to. Alluring widow Ariadne Faucher requests private lessons from the rakish sword master in order to challenge her sworn enemy to a duel.

Though disinclined at first to teach a woman, Gavin is fascinated by this statuesque beauty, cloaked as she is in grief and mystery. Ariadne proves a quick study with a blade, her resolve fueled by a vendetta that is all she has left in the world. Their lessons crackle with undeniable electricity…but the secret of her all-consuming vengeance may have rendered her heart impervious even to such a virtuoso as Gavin.

Jennifer Blake has been called the steel magnolia of women's fiction, and a "legend of the genre." She is a seventh-generation Louisianian who married at 15, began writing at 21, sold her first book at 27 in 1970, and gained her first New York Times bestseller more than 20 years ago with Love’s Wild Desire in 1977. She has written over 50 books, including Royal Seduction, Fierce Eden, Shameless, Tigress, and her latest release, Garden of Scandal.

A writer of international bestseller status as well, her books have been published in 17 languages for worldwide sales approaching 22 million. She was honored with the position as writer-in-residence for the University of Northeastern Louisiana, and is a charter, and honorary, member of Romance Writers of America.

She has received numerous awards for her work, but among those she values most are the Golden Treasure Award for Lifetime Achievement from Romance Writers of America, induction into the Affaire de Coeur Romance Hall of Fame, and the Frank Waters Award for Excellence in Fiction.

Since 1998, Jennifer and her husband have lived in a lakeside Caribbean-styled retreat in North Louisiana. They often entertain friends and family, especially their four grown children and 13 grandchildren. Always a gardener at heart, she spends much of her free time encouraging her newly planted lawn to bloom with her favorite daylilies and azaleas, and with her transplanted antique roses.

Her love of history and antiques has given rise to her newest hobby, quilting. But evenings find her and her husband lounging on one of the expansive verandas, enjoyingcaféau lait and listening to the gentle lap of waves.

Here, as Jennifer says in her own words, "I write my fantasies of love and adventure in the romantic South. And sometimes, when I sit on the porch with the sunlight falling across the lawn and the smells of magnolia, sweet olive, honeysuckle, and roses wafting on the warm air, I live them."