The Fatal Crown

The 12th century in England and Normandy was a time of pageantry, treachery, and unbridled ambition. Even as the age of chivalry was dawning, rampant desires fought a never-ending battle with spiritual ideals; archrivals became illicit lovers; and the question of who would wear the crown of England splintered loyalties across the land. — Set against this dramatic background is a remarkable fiction debut-The Fatal Crown-a tragic love story that brings a unique time and its people vividly to life.

When King Henry I, son of William the Conqueror, loses his only legitimate son and heir in a boating accident, he makes the unprecedented decision to pass the crown of England on to his daughter, the beautiful and headstrong Maud. Expecting the crown to be his, and now denied it, is the equally headstrong Stephen, King Henry's nephew and Maud's illicit lover.

Both Maud and Stephen are willful Normans whose blood races with the twin fires of ambition and passion. But theirs is a forbidden love and a doomed one, no match against their hunger for the crown. Defying Maud and disregarding his feelings for her, Stephen usurps the throne, an act that unleashes in Maud a vengeful fury to reclaim what is rightfully hers.

From shadowy intrigues at court and church to battlefields where there are no victories; against enemies known and secret; over years that sear their souls with memories of both passion and pain, Maud and Stephen must confront and accept their fatal destiny-a destiny that forces them to surrender their love for a crown.