Lady Emmalene Eberhart never really knew what it meant to be a wife in the complete sense of the word but she knew that what she and her husband had done on her wedding night wasn't it. She seeks an audience with the King and asks him to order her husband to go to bed with her.

When her husband dies without fulfilling his duty, Emmalene fears that she will end up wed to his lecherous cousin, Bertrand. Instead the King offers the lands to Amaury de Anford, a knight who defended the King with his strong arm. Amaury knows nothing about his bride-to-be except that her husband happily spent years away from her. Resigned to wedding a hag for the chance of a permanent home, he resolves to do his duty. When he arrives at the estate, he is surprised to see everyone dressed in black. When he discovers the bed linens are all black as well, he begins to wonder about the sanity of his future wife. All doubts fade as he meets the beautiful Emmalene. Life with Emmalene will never be dull, especially as there are multiple attempts on their lives.

Ms. Sands has a wonderful way of writing believable, incredibly naive heroines that keep the reader chuckling as they try to explain events to the hero. She is one of my favorite authors for when I need a good laugh. Even though I had read this book in the past, Ms. Sands worked her magic and I fell in love with her writing all over again.