As France prepares for the Hundred Years War, the king sends Squire Nicholas to relocate the occupants of Clairmonde. The estate is in a strategic location and will house troops for the duration of the war. This is not the first time that Jeanne, heiress of Clairmonde, has been uprooted. She vows to petition the king for exemption, but to reach Paris, she must join forces with her evictor. Undeterred by Squire Nicholas' wrath and warnings, she joins his troops as they make their way to Paris. A growing attraction develops between Jeanne and her squire, but each of them is burdened by a past that keeps them apart. As they travel snow-covered roads to the capital city, they are stalked by the enemy and the Black Prince himself. Can their love endure imprisonment, ambush, and hardships? And will false accusations at the French court ruin Jeanne's dream of regaining her land?
Since leaving the teaching field to pursue writing full-time, Joyce has reached a widening audience with her books, beginning with historical non-fiction and later, with an historical romance, Jeanne of Clairmonde, which garnered an RPLA award. Now she writes historical novels with settings that range from ancient Rome to Early Modern Venice. Conservatory-trained, Joyce's background in music is evident in The Tapestry Shop, which won a Bronze Medal for Popular Fiction from Florida Book Awards. The Tapestry Shop is an historical novel based on the life of a medieval poet/musician who wrote what many consider to be the earliest documented representation of the Robin Hood legend.
Joyce lives on the west coast of Florida with her rescued boxer dog, rabbits, tree squirrels, a resident coyote, and several gopher tortoises that call her wooded three acres their home.
