Heartstrings and Mercenary Things by Sarah Primiano

One believes in love. The other knows better. When Claire is promised to a wealthy stranger to settle her mother’s debt, she clings to the dream of a secure future, but the journey there is anything but safe. Her escort, Ash, is a hardened mercenary bound to the very man Claire is meant to marry, yet somewhere between shared nights by the fire and battles fought side by side, Claire begins to see beyond Ash’s hardened exterior and Ash realizes the line between protecting Claire and wanting her is starting to blur. As danger closes in and loyalties tangle with something far more fragile, Claire must choose between the life she was promised or risking everything for a love she was never meant to find.