Troubadour by Mary Hoffman
This is a tale of a war started by the crusaders on the heretics seemingly as revenge for the murder of their monk. The tale of love is the substory about Elinor's pining for Bertran the troubadour, which is basically a jester-like singer/writer/poet. At the beginning, I was a little skeptical of the book due to it having a pampered noblewoman as one of the main protagonist, but Elinor's personality grew on me. The moment she made the bold decision that would drastically change her life, I was hooked. I am currently in the middle of this book and can't wait to find out the ending.