Their Passion Could Not Be Denied--But Could Their Love Transcend All That Had Gone Before?

Only a moment...And a decision born out of desperation had sealed Sigrid’s fate. With the raiding English army at her heels, the Viking widow had thrown herself on the mercy of a fierce Saxon warrior. Perhaps it was madness that had driven her into the arms of her enemy, but his look had promised shelter from the carnage surrounding them.

She had never wanted a man in her life. She remembered how much reason they had to hate each other. And now she had just done the most dangerous, stupid thing imaginable...

Helen's passion for creating emotional stories of romance interwoven with adventure began early. A childhood spent near the ancient walled city of Chester, England, sparked an abiding love for sweeping romance and colorful history. Harriet Klausner has called her "the leading pre-Conqueror post-Roman historical romance novelist."

Helen and her family moved from England to New Zealand when she was thirteen. She fell in love with New Zealand's relaxed and friendly atmosphere and its spectacular landscape (featured so well in The Lord of the Rings).

She achieved a university degree in languages, then some traveling, marriage and various secretarial jobs followed. But the dream of writing never died, and her career began when she won the Clendon Award for Best Unpublished Romance.

Helen now writes for Harlequin's mainstream romance imprint, HQN Books while looking after her husband and two sons. Romantic Times BOOKreviews says, "Kirkman's lyrically descriptive prose sustains an unusual emotional intensity [and] generates that rare urge to read it straight through."

Helen's powerful romances are both vivid and charged with passion. She recently traveled to Britain to have another firsthand look at some of the places and historical treasures that color her richly imagined stories.