The Golden Dove (Lovestruck)

the long version

Love child - with no one to love her Dressed in ragged boy's clothing, a bond slave curled up on the stone steps of a New Amsterdam tavern waiting for her master to gamble away her indenture. It was almost too much for the spunky, red-haired Jericho to bear without letting tears fall from her pansy-blue eyes. But all sadness vanished when she saw the young blond nobleman stride into the barroom. Lord Dove was a lady-loving rascal and skilled swordsman who could gamble well enough to win her away from her brutish master. In one roll of the dice their fates would be decided, a destiny that would sweep them both into the intrigues of kings and the fires of passion. As time transformed her from a carrot-topped ragamuffin into ripe sensual beauty, Jericho would follow her heart from the brawling streets of colonial America to the shadowy castles of Restoration England. Their desire would carry her closer to the dangerous secret of her birth, the enemy who vowed to destroy her, and the one man who could make her a ruined woman, or a lady with no master but a loving lord.