Maria McCann

London, 1760s: In her cramped rooms, Betsy-Ann shuffles a pack of cards. A gambler, a dealer in gin and stolen goods, and living with a grave robber, she knows there's no honour amongst thieves, but desperately wants to make a fresh start. Sophia, sitting in her Bath parlour, is newly married to the charismatic Edmund. She can hardly believe her luck, especially since she is hiding 'a little weakness', one she is determined to conquer. When both women uncover horrifying secrets about the men they thought they knew, their lives interweave through a dramatic series of events. Who will come up trumps?

"Torn in two by a vicious civil war, seventeenth-century England was the scene of extraordinary violence. Among the soldiers traveling the country from one deadly battle to another is Jacob Cullen, a former servant who dreams of baptizing himself with the blood of battle into a new life after the war. Only his brewing erotic obsession with a fellow fighter threatens his plans."--BOOK JACKET.

The long-awaited sequel to C.S. Friedman's epic, In Conquest BornThe tribal Braxana-created to become the ultimate warriors. The Azeans-raised to master the power of the mind. Two civilizations fighting an endless war over a long-forgotten cause. Now, after a century and a half, the legacy of their greatest military leaders threatens to tear apart both empires.