Banished from her profession of horse midwifery by the church, the heroine is homeless, pour and surviving only on the kindness of strangers. Then, one night, a colt is born in the small town, a colt with 4 white feet and she knows without a doubt that this horse is destined to be hers. With him she can earn enough to survive the harsh world she lives in. Then, just as soon as she bond with the baby, a hansom knight storms into the barn-sees the horse- and proclaims the colt to be his. See the hero has also been searching for a horse with these markings, a horse prophesized to him to lead him to the proof to avenge the murder of his sister and his nephew. He didn't count on the beautiful and proud peasant girl who refuses to give the horse up. And he needs her as the colt has bonded with her in his madness. Also, the hero can't very well leave the woman to the church-she'll be imprisoned or worse. No, he bargains for the colt and he girl and takes them both with him on the road to his masters castle. As a free woman who knows how her mother suffered under the rule of a master, the heroine is terrified to now be under the power of a master, no matter how beauty and kind he is. And this reluctance to be a servant remains well into their journey but as time goes on, she realizes that the horse does indeed need her with him as well and she herself becoming just as bonded to the hero. But he is a secretive man who holds his thoughts and emotions tight to his chest. It's only from his friend and fellow knight that she learns of his intense grief and guilt over his sisters death and though she knows he needs her to care for the colt, she's completely ignorant of the fact that he's come to care for her just as much. And so life at the castle goes on with the heroine trying to keep her head done and do her work and the hero riding off nearly daily to seek ways to bring his sisters murderer to justice. All the while they become so close and connected despite not actually becoming intimate until well into the story. Their love started with friendship then turned to intimacy which allowed for a better developed relationship in my opinion. I can say that though this book had the feel of a cheap harlequin romance, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. The main reason was the well developed and pleasantly level headed characters. Yes, there was passion and drama as any good romance novel has but it was tame and had it's roots in reality. The heroine was stubborn and often lead into trouble by her need to help but at the same time she listened to the hero when he ordered her to do things and was able to employ reason to the conflicts she finds herself in. I really liked the fact that she wasn't the obnoxious female who disregarded orders because she thinks she knows best and only ends up causing the hero trouble. Whenever she did finds herself in trouble it was usually at no fault of her own. The hero at first meeting was painted a bit of a rake and a gambler. But quite quickly the notion was disregarded as the reader can plainly see he is a generous and kind man who quite literally gives people the shirt off his back. He is single minded in his search for revenge and he does suppress the idea that the heroine means more to him than just a keep of his horse but never once was a cruel to her and come to think of it he never ever raised his voice to her. He is haunted by the ghost of his sister (both via his guilt as well as the keep actually haunted) but when is comes down to the colt and the heroine in exchange for a trial, he chooses the woman who's come to mean the world to him. This was why I enjoyed the book so much-the characters personalities and interactions. The plot was a bit flat and not entirely exciting but I found myself trapped within the pages, not wanting to put it down until it was finished. ( )

Guy of Warwick is lost, vengeful and not in the least willing do to anything to make himself happy. Add to this a horse midwife, a colt that barks and castle intrigue, and you have one of the best novels I have read in quite awhile!

Guy is out to avenge his sister and nephew's deaths. Sybilla is just trying to stay alive in medieval England where her understanding of horses is considered blasphemy and punishable by branding or death. And then there is Regalo, the beautiful barking colt.