Heart of the Sword (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781482879599)

For almost three centuries, the Tokugawa Shogunate has held sway over Japan, bringing an unprecedented period of peace and political stability where once anarchy reigned. Yet all things must pass. Through the fiercely drawn bamboo curtain, the restless nation stirs with the murmur of new ideas, like democracy, freedom, and industrialization.

Some embrace the change that these words bring, while others will die to preserve the Old Order. The ancient samurai exist somewhere in between. No longer the highly respected warrior sect of old, they are now ronin, samurais without masters. Among them is Saitou Hajime, a ferocious assassin, who lives by the power of his sword alone.

While engaged in a life or death brawl, he accidentally stabs a young woman named Tokio. They form an unexpected and mutual bond that includes a marriage of convenience that one day turns to love. But nothing is simple in this time of upheaval. Both stand at the crossroads of history but share one destiny in a country aflame with passion and ambition.