To Have And To Hate

A romance set in the Middle Ages.
"He wants to love her, she just wants to hate him."
It is the year 1158, Frederick I of Swabia has come to besiege and conquer Milan: Milanese fiefdoms are taken, nobles killed or imprisoned, and women used as bargaining chips.
Following the tragic death of her family, noblewoman Regina Celeste Balestrieri is now merely a spoil of war, gifted to a Swabian baron.
When he first sees her, Stephan Deinburg of Hezen, conqueror of lands and hearts, does not see her as a precious gift. The girl is clearly pretty, but she is scathing and far too proud for someone who is on the losing side. Locked in combat and determined not to be beaten, Stephan makes her his wife. He wants her body and soul, unaware of the fact that his own heart had already been conquered at first sight.
Regina cannot accept marriage to a warrior who brought death and destruction to her land. If ever she manages to return to Milan, how would she be received by her people? How could she bear to face Guido, the man to whom she was engaged to be married? She can't, but is forced to yield,  stubbornly ignoring the desires and feelings that could make her happy. She is too late to grasp that from hate quite a different emotion can flourish, that the heart knows neither homeland nor pride, and that one can kill for love.
This eventful novel is full of twists and turns, where the lives of conquerors and those they defeat are intertwined, along with their dreams and vendettas.