Love, Duty and Loyalty Collide During the Disastrous Reign of Edward II

While love seldom enters into marriage considerations among the nobility, Maria d’Arderne risks all to flout convention and marry Phillip, a second son more interested in adventure than settling down. Maria is determined to be a dutiful wife, ignoring the attraction between herself and the powerful Richard, Earl of Sussex, Edward II’s illegitimate half-brother—and Phillip’s closest friend.

Inevitably, Phillip abandons Maria to indulge his wanderlust, and just as inevitably Maria turns to Richard, sparking a scandalous affair. When England’s discontented barons rebel against their feckless monarch, who prefers his favorites to governing, Richard tries unsuccessfully to rally public support for his half-brother. After King Edward is captured and his favorites executed, Maria, Richard, Phillip—and ultimately Edward himself--must pay the price for following their hearts.

The Lion and the Leopard is the first in the six book Knights of England series which spans the tumultuous fourteenth century—the century when England is transformed from a backwater nation into a medieval powerhouse.