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Seen in a vision from her clan’s seer, the heroine knew that the man destined to be her husband and next laird was a great and powerful warrior whose tales of victory have resonated across the land. This doesn’t stop her from hating him with every inch of her being. When her clan was attacked and her father murdered, she had sent for the Black wolf to come and save them…and he never came. Now the villain who threatens their peaceful home is back and even though she despises him, the Black Wolf is still a god like warrior and his army can save them all. But when she arrives at the dirty hut the hero has made his home after being banished from his clan, the heroine is horrified by the pitiful sight she encounters. The hero is no longer that grand warrior but a cripple and a drunk. He turns away the men sent to take him back to save their clan but finally relents when he is told of his wealthy compensation. Taken back to the clan, he too in horrified that now only are the weak and vulnerable but even worse, they are expecting the Black Wolf and he is no longer than man. But he is prideful. Those he lives in constant pain, he hides it well enough and he decides to train the men and woman of the clan to defend themselves. As the weeks pass, he finds the clan to be ignorant of the ways of a warrior but capable enough to learn and soon he can see respect in their eyes rather than disappointment. He also develops a strange liking to the surly and dirty lad who speaks to him with no shame and makes his bitterness known. The heroine must dress as a boy to keep her survival a secret else the enemy and she does a good job if it as the hero begins to disturb himself with feeling strange things toward her disguise. Then he discovers the truth and everything changes. He sees the beauty of the woman who was once to be his wife and feels a horrendous amount of guilt over his inability to protect her back then but vows to do good now. Despite her desire for him and her growing respect towards a man who has battle such adversity in his life she knows that the vision for the next laird and keeper of the magical sword must be a true warrior and the hero isn’t him. She had built up this vision of the great and powerful Black Wolf warrior from the stories she was told and when he let her down is shattered her faith in him. Then when she sees the crippled man who drinks himself into oblivion every night to cope with the pain, she is disgusted that she let herself ever think he could be the one. She let herself be misled by stories when the truth of the matter was the hero was a great warrior- not the god like warrior of the tales but still a fearsome man. And in his heart he is a good man, one worthy of the sword and the heroines hand in marriage even if he himself doesn’t believe it. The story was so full of heart and angst and honor that I fell in love with it from the start to finish. The heroine was such a strong female lead, willing to sacrifice everything for the good of her people even if she does sometimes let this blind her to her own happiness. The hero however truly captured the show. His torment and shame paired with his pride and vulnerability made me love him and want him to find the pain relief as well as the peace he so deserved. Together they had a great and very real chemistry. Even when the heroine was disguised as Rob they had a friendship (of a sort) and later when he discovers the truth, they fell into a strained love affair. The story was well written and the angst was balanced out with some humor and adventure. Overall I adored the book and will keep this author in the to read pile for some time. ( )