Rose has been appointed as a healer's apprentice at Hagenheim Castle, a rare opportunity for a woodcutter's daughter like her. While she often feels uneasy at the sight of blood, Rose is determined to prove herself capable. Failure will mean returning home to marry the aging bachelor her mother has chosen for her -- a bloated, disgusting merchant who makes Rose feel ill. When Lord Hamlin, the future duke, is injured, it is Rose who must tend to him....

Sophie is trying desperately to escape her stepmother's jealousy, when a young man named Gabe arrives from Hagenheim Castle announcing that she is betrothed to his older brother. As Gabe, who is also betrothed, fulfills his mission to find Sophie, emotional conflict ensues as they realize that their feelings for each other have developed into romance, though they are both promised to other partners.

Margaretha hopes her newest suitor, Lord Claybrook, will be her one true love, but when an injured man's brought to Hagenheim Castle claiming to be an English lord who was attacked by Claybrook, she's drawn into a plot, not knowing who's telling the truth.

Evangeline is gifted with a heavenly voice, but she is trapped in a sinister betrothal--until she embarks on a daring escape and meets brave Westley le Wyse. Can he help her discover the freedom to sing again?Desperate to flee a political marriage to her cousin King Richard II's closest advisor, Lord Shiveley--a man twice her age with shadowy motives--Evangeline runs away and joins a small band of servants journeying back to Glynval, their home village....

In 1424 Hamlin, Katerina reluctantly allies with the handsome but brash Steffan to protect herself and her city from formidable dangers--missing children, hordes of rats, a marauding beast, and her devious stepfather, the town's mayor.

Frederick, a peasant farmer's son who dreams of earning a living using his God-given talent as a woodcarver, falls in love with Adela, a duke's daughter who yearns to prove herself as an artist. Includes discussion questions.