Michel and Angele [A Ladder of Swords] — Volume 1
France, 1589. The Wars of Religion have bled the country dry, and to be Protestant is to live with a price on your head. Michel de la Foret, a Huguenot soldier, accepts a dangerous mission: escort the Comtesse de Montgomery to the safety of England. He leaves behind Angele Aubert, the daughter of a wealthy Catholic family, whose love for him has already defied her father's wrath. On the island of Jersey, Angele waits. Then comes the silence. Then comes the news: Michel has been arrested by royal order, imprisoned in a French fortress, and awaiting execution. What follows is a tale of impossible love tested by torture, betrayal, and the machinery of religious persecution. Parker writes with the atmospheric weight of historical fiction at its best, layering intimate passion against the brutal politics of the French court. This is a romance where salvation requires sacrifice, and faith is both the obstacle and the salvation.
