Sharon Virts

Based on true events from the American Regency era, this riveting sequel to Masque of Honor explores the thin line between power and integrity, love and lust, honor and death. Though the twisted scars on his arm still tell the tale, Jack McCarty has worked hard to put his duel with Armistead Mason in the past. He’s one of Virginia’s brightest young lawyers, married to the love of his life, and poised once again for political stardom—an opportunity he thought he’d lost when forced to face Armistead on the field of honor. Lucinda Lee has also moved forward, closing the door on the betrayal that almost ended her courtship with Jack. But even as she and Jack begin to build a seemingly charmed life, Lucinda watches the women who fawn over him with suspicion—and bristles at the brazenness of her sister, Fanny, a hopeless flirt. When a horrible tragedy binds Fanny and Lucinda together in ways they never imagined, and Jack falls prey to a disastrous lapse in judgment, the family struggles to keep scandal at bay. As Jack is swept up in dramatic court cases and festering disputes, he once again finds himself at the wrong end of a dueling pistol. Is the man he has worked so hard to become slipping out of his reach?

From the bestselling author of Veil of Doubt and The Grays of Truth comes a riveting tale of political intrigue, romance, and betrayal set in antebellum Virginia. John "Jack" Mason McCarty and his second cousin Armistead Mason are proud sons of the Virginia aristocracy-and as different as two men can be. Deeply ambitious and politically minded, Armistead has his sights on Congress and demands a level of respect he may not deserve. Jack, too, longs to make a name for himself, if he can stop gambling and drinking long enough to use his considerable wit to his advantage. Jack has little patience for Armistead's arrogance, while Armistead views Jack as a debaucherous adolescent unworthy of honor or respect-and neither is afraid to voice his opinion of the other. A poisonous animosity begins to fester between the two men, fueled by political schemes, illicit affairs, and scandalous reports in the press. Though the women who love them urge restraint, their bitter dispute nevertheless sets into motion a devastating chain of events that risks much more than their honor. The first book in the Fields of Honor series and based on the true events behind the 1819 MasonMcCarty duel, Masque of Honor is a story of valor, conviction, and the cost of sacrificing one life to forge another.