She is the deadliest fighter in the district. The law says she cannot lift a blade to save herself.
When the powerful Eyvind Snorrason names widowed landowner Thyri Ketilsdottir's farm - and her hand in marriage - as the stakes of a holmgang, the law bars her from the duelling circle. The only champion her silver can buy is Kalf Ormsson, a once-famous duellist gone soft with drink and shame. So Thyri drills him in secret before dawn, hammering her ugly, winning craft into his arms - and finding, in the bruises and shared firelight, a heat neither of them bargained for.
But Kalf is hiding a truth: Eyvind is the man who broke him once before. Now Thyri, who has trusted nothing but her own two hands since her husband died, must lay her whole fate in his arm - and Kalf must fight not for his old name, but as her weapon, her craft, her way.
A fierce, steamy Viking romance novella of law, blood, and an equals bargain. Perfect for fans of Johanna Lindsey and Emma Prince.