Tag Archives: medieval romance

Medieval Monday ~ NIGHT OF THE OWL

13 Monday Jul 2020

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Welcome to the eleventh and final week of Medieval Monday…for this round, at least!  We’re finishing our nature theme, and I’m sharing the conclusion to the excerpt from my time travel romance, Night of the Owl.  So without further ado…

Hugh frowned. “What is it?”

“Naught. I’m sure I’m wrong. Anyway, we found you, and the rest you know.”

“Not in full. You said you kicked and punched the man called Degarre. I would I’d seen you.”

Ardyth jumped to her feet. “I’ll show you now, if you’d like. I promise to be gentle.”

A wicked grin spread across her face. God’s teeth, but she was alluring!

He stood, all too aware of his stiff manhood. “Show me.”

She stepped closer. “I kicked here…” Swiftly, she lifted her leg between his, thankfully stopping short of the obvious goal. “…and he bent forward.” Grasping his shoulders, she made him fold over at the waist. “Then I punched him right here.” Her fist tapped his temple. “He fell to the ground, and your mother hit him over the head with a rock. Then I tied his hands and feet with my stockings.”

He whistled as he straightened. “Pray, remind me not to anger you in future.”

Again, she grinned. “Fear not. You’re safe with me.”

“Am I?” He inched closer, and an invisible cloak of intimacy wrapped around them.

Her smile disappeared, and her eyes darkened in a subtle yet soulful invitation. “Always.”

A little more about Night of the Owl:

PhD student Ardyth Nightshade has renounced men and pursues her twentieth-century career with single-minded focus. When fate whisks her to medieval England, she meets her match in a man whose passions mirror her own. Can she sacrifice ambition for a love she never sought?

Hugh, Lord Seacrest confounds all who know him. He refuses to marry without a meeting of minds and hearts, and no lady has even approached his ideal…until Ardyth. But she’s an odd one, with unique skills, shocking habits, and total conviction she needs no man. She also harbors secrets, and in the midst of rumors, plots, and murder, trust is fragile.

A woman outside of her time. A man ahead of his. They must take a leap of faith to forge a bond that will shape history.

Buy the book:

Amazon | Amazon UK | B & N | Apple Books | Kobo

Thanks so much for joining us for this round of Medieval Monday.  We’ll be back with another one soon!  🙂

Medieval Monday ~ WHITE ROSE OF AVALON

06 Monday Jul 2020

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Welcome back to Medieval Monday!  Our nature theme continues, and I’m delighted to feature Kelley Heckart’s Arthurian romance, White Rose of Avalon.  It was inspired by The Mists of Avalon, a book I enjoyed so much that I read it in English and Swedish!

If you’re following my excerpt from Night of the Owl, you can find the tenth snippet on Kelley’s blog today.  Now, let’s enjoy her tenth snippet:

Sighing, she lay down, closing her eyes, thinking of Lancelot. She missed his fiery touch. Melancholy weighed on her heart.

A large shadow blocked the sun.

“You are a fine sight to see, my dark beauty.”

Check out the ending to this excerpt on her blog next Monday: https://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

A little more about White Rose of Avalon:

Do you like captivating, passionate historical fantasy featuring King Arthur, Gwenhwyfar, Merlin, Nimue, Morgaine, and Lancelot? Inspired by The Mists of Avalon, this sensual retelling of the Arthurian romances brings these legendary characters to life.

Destiny cannot be altered.

With Britannia falling to the Saxon hordes, Morgaine, Queen of the Faeries, has no choice but to make a pact with the Christian monks. She promises to give them a High King who will unite the Britons against the Saxons if he takes a queen from the faery realm. Morgaine hopes this will restore the Goddess faith and return Avalon to its rightful place. She sends Lancelot to guard the future High King, but when a love potion falls into the wrong hands, all seems lost.

Gwenhwyfar is the only hope for the future, but betrayal, revenge, and forbidden love surround her, all of which could send both Britannia and Avalon into ruins.

Buy the book:

Amazon Kindle | Amazon Paperback

Also available in KU

That’s all for this Medieval Monday!  Join me next week for the conclusion of not only our nature theme round but also my excerpt from Night of the Owl.  See you then!  🙂

Medieval Monday ~ TO WEAVE A HIGHLAND TAPESTRY

29 Monday Jun 2020

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Welcome back to Medieval Monday!  Our nature theme continues, and I’m thrilled to feature my dear friend Mary Morgan’s To Weave a Highland Tapestry (A Tale from the Order of the Dragon Knights).  Such a magical cover, don’t you think?

If you’re following my excerpt from Night of the Owl, you can find the ninth snippet on Mary’s blog today.  Now, let’s enjoy her ninth snippet:

His features grew serious, and he brought her hand to his chest. “I can learn. Ye can start by telling me why ye ran out of the chambers.”

And tell you I’m from a land eight hundred years in the future? Nope. Not going to confess that to you. I’ll pretend some silly female problem.

“I think one of those awful men hit me too hard on the head,” she lied.

“Ye seemed taken aback by the year.”

She tried pulling him along, but the man was apparently built of steel. “Not really. You need to get out of this biting chill.”

Patrick lifted his hand and smiled. “’Tis mild.”

Follow along next week on Ruth A. Casie’s blog here: http://ruthacasie.blogspot.com/

A little more about To Weave a Highland Tapestry:

Patrick MacFhearguis, hardened by battles won and lost, desires what he can never have—peace within his heart and soul.  Yet, the ever-meddling Fae weave a new journey for him to conquer—a task this highlander is determined to resist.

When skilled weaver, Gwen Hywel, is commissioned to create a tapestry for the MacFhearguis clan, she embraces the assignment. While seeking out ideas, she finds herself clutching the one thread that can alter the tapestry of her life and heart.

A man conflicted by past deeds. A woman with no family of her own. Is it possible for love to unravel an ancient past, in order to claim two badly scarred hearts? Or will the light of hope be doused forever?

Buy the book:

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | APPLEBOOKS | BOOK PAGE

That’s all for this Medieval Monday.  See you next week!  🙂

Medieval Monday ~ A WINTER KNIGHT

15 Monday Jun 2020

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Welcome back to Medieval Monday!  Our nature theme continues, and I’m delighted to feature A Winter Knight by award-winning author and friend Barbara Bettis.  This book is part of her Knights of Destiny series and a wonderful read.  If you’re following my excerpt from Night of the Owl, you can find the seventh snippet on Barbara’s blog today.

Now, let’s enjoy her seventh snippet:

Luck was with him, however. The snow, while blowing like a needle-toothed banshee earlier, hadn’t completely filled in the tracks left by the riderless horse. Faint, but Nicholas could make out the slight indentations. Northeast, then.

He and Solomon plodded along the path, stopping once to investigate a drift at the edge of the road, only to find a skiff of hardened snow covering a low bush.  When he remounted, he tugged the heavy wool cloak tighter around his shoulders. The wind might have laid, but the air was turning colder. He beat his hands together. They were numbing in spite of his sturdy leather gloves.

See what happens next here: https://www.cathymacraeauthor.com/bits-n-bobs-author-blog

Find last week’s here: http://ruthacasie.blogspot.co.uk

A little more about A Winter Knight:

Sir Nicholas has given up on marriage. These days he’s content to captain his friend’s troops and avoid entanglements—until one winter night when he rescues a half-frozen woman from a snowstorm. Her irrepressible spirit and kindness to others reminds him that all ladies aren’t like his former intended, who wed his brother while Nick was on crusade. But he can’t open his heart to Lady Clare. She’s bound to another, and Nick won’t forfeit his honor. Even if she were free, he has nothing to offer but love, and this lady deserves everything.

Lady Clare’s dying grandfather has arranged her betrothal, but the arrival of the man she’s to wed sends her fleeing into a snowstorm. Injured when her horse stumbles, she’s rescued by a mysterious knight. She recovers at his run-down manor, safe at last—until her betrothed tracks her down two days before Christmas. Trapped at home with the wedding imminent, she longs for the winter knight she’s come to love.

Only a miracle can bring Clare and Nick together. But at Christmas, anything is possible.

Buy the book:

Amazon | Kobo

That’s all for this Medieval Monday.  See you next week!  🙂

Celebrate Weddings Bookish Event ~ SOUL OF THE WOLF

12 Friday Jun 2020

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The Celebrate Weddings event is still in full swing at N. N. Light’s Book Heaven.  Today, Soul of the Wolf (the second of The Novels of Ravenwood) is being featured.  Here’s a chance to get up close and personal with Lady Jocelyn de Bret and Wulfstan, Lord Nihtscua as they tie a knot neither of them wants but both need.  Read the excerpt and check out other books that feature weddings here!

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway.  You could win all 30 books featured in the event!  A winner will be chosen June 19, 2020.  Enter here and good luck!

 

Celebrate Weddings Bookish Event ~ FLIGHT OF THE RAVEN

10 Wednesday Jun 2020

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There’s a fun event happening at N. N. Light’s Book Heaven, and it’s all about the big “I do.”  You can read excerpts from 30 books featuring weddings, including my own Flight of the Raven, which gives you a front-row seat to the union of Saxon Lady Emma of Ravenwood Keep and the powerful Norman knight, Sir William l’Orage (William the Storm).  Read all about it here!

And guess what?  There’s a giveaway!  One lucky winner will get an e-book bundle of ALL BOOKS FEATURED IN THE EVENT!  That’s a wealth of stories, and you can enter to win here!

Open Internationally.

Runs June 9 – 12, 2020.

Winner will be drawn on June 19, 2020.

Enter now, and good luck! 🙂

Medieval Monday ~ THE PRINCE’S HIGHLAND BRIDE

08 Monday Jun 2020

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Welcome back to Medieval Monday!  Our nature theme continues, and I’m excited to feature Cathy and DD MacRae’s The Prince’s Highland Bride, the recently released, sixth book in the Hardy Heroines series.  Don’t you love the cover?!  If you’re following my excerpt from Night of the Owl, you can find the sixth snippet on Cathy’s blog today.

Now, let’s enjoy her sixth snippet:

“Please accept my apology, m’lady. I knew this, yet I thought . . ..” He sighed and stepped away, lifting an arm to the abbey’s walls. “We could strengthen the walls, raise the height, also. Replace the roof. Tile would be best, though mayhap a job for next summer.” His voice took on an impersonal tone.

“I would ask ye to inspect the interior, create a plan for the rooms within. New buildings or additions would also need to be addressed next year. There are not enough weeks left before harvest to do more than fortify what is already here.”

Maggie inhaled sharply. She liked Phillipe when he spoke to her as an equal, but not in this aloof tone that built a wall between them.

Join her next week on Kelley Heckart’s blog: https://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

A little more about The Prince’s Highland Bride:

Phillipe de Poitiers, a prince of Antioch, finds himself a breath away from wrongful execution. Risking everything, he leaves behind his crown, his family, his country—and a body sworn to be his by the Bishop, himself.

Free of court intrigue and drawn to Scotland by memories of a woman who once possessed his heart, Phillipe sells his sword to pay for his travels and accepts the task of guarding the daughter of Laird MacLaren.

When Maggie MacLaren’s abusive marriage fails, she wants nothing more than to retire to her childhood home on the banks of Loch Lomond. Trouble follows her, putting her clan in danger, and she travels to the Isle of Hola, placing her safety in the hands of a mysterious mercenary with a haunted smile and a kind heart.

As Maggie and Phillipe struggle with their pasts, love blooms. But when a pirate’s treasure offers a seductive lure, will it free them—or prove the downfall of all they hold dear?

Buy the book:

Amazon

That’s all for this Medieval Monday.  See you next week!  🙂

Medieval Monday ~ TIME ENOUGH TO LOVE

01 Monday Jun 2020

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Welcome back to Medieval Monday!  Our nature theme continues, and I’m delighted to feature Jenna Jaxon’s Time Enough to Love.  Isn’t this a lovely cover?

If you’re following my excerpt from Night of the Owl, you can find the fifth snippet on Jenna’s blog today.

Now, let’s enjoy her fifth snippet:

“Oh, Thomas made sure I knew what would happen. I told you, he tried to dissuade me.” Geoffrey would never understand why she had wanted that experience. Part had been the exhilaration of freedom but even more had been her sudden desire for Thomas. “I wanted to, Geoffrey. We had been cooped up in that cabin for five days. I wanted to smell the sea, to taste the salt in the air. I wanted…an adventure. Something to remember when I was old, something to tell my grandchildren and scandalize them. Most of all I wanted…to take control of my life for once.”

Follow Jenna to Mary Morgan’s blog for another excerpt next week.

A little more about Time Enough to Love:

When Lady Alyse de Courcy is betrothed to Sir Geoffrey Longford, she has no choice but to make the best of a bad bargain. The hulking knight is far from her ideal man, and although he does possess some wit and charm, he is no match for the sinfully sensual man she secretly admires, Thomas, Earl of Braeton, her betrothed’s best friend.

From the first, Sir Geoffrey finds himself smitten by Lady Alyse, and, despite her infatuation with his friend, vows to win her love. When Geoffrey puts his mind to wooing Alyse, he is delighted to find her succumbing to his seduction. But when cruel circumstances separate them, Geoffrey must watch helplessly as Thomas steps in to protect Alyse—and falls in love with her himself.

As the three courtiers accompany Princess Joanna to her wedding in Spain, they run headlong into the Black Plague. With her world plunged into chaos, Alyse struggles with her feelings for both the men she loves. But which love will survive?

GRAB YOUR COPY HERE

That’s all for this Medieval Monday.  See you next week!  🙂

Medieval Monday ~ MASK OF THE HIGHLANDER

11 Monday May 2020

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Welcome back to Medieval Monday!  Our nature theme continues, and today I’m featuring Bambi Lynn’s Mask of the Highlander.  A cool cover, don’t you think?

If you’re following the excerpt from my time travel romance, Night of the Owl, you can find the second snippet on Bambi’s blog today: https://bambilynnblog.wordpress.com/

Now, let’s check out Bambi’s second snippet:

She sauntered through what remained of a village, still struggling to survive after all this time, on the outskirts of the forest. She towered over the few humans she passed. Most of them kept their eyes downcast, easy enough, given her height. Others, bolder, gaped openly, waving their hands before them to make a sign that had been in existence long before it came to symbolize the sacrifice made by the Son.

She smiled. Humans would be pagans until the end of time.

Intriguing!  Here’s a little more about Mask of the Highlander:

Once she was afraid to touch him. Now she’s afraid to let go.

Forced to marry to avoid war between clans, Kenna Cleary endured three days of her new husband’s painful brutality, unaware of his demon heritage. Leaving her for dead, he rode off to battle the English. In the five years of his absence, she bore him a daughter, increased his holdings, and gained the love and respect of his people. Now he’s home. Must she and the clan learn to endure his cruelty once more?

Can an ancient Celtic god find peace in the mortal world?

The Laird of Domhnul has returned from war a changed man—moreso than his wife can possibly know. Now the warrior faces a new battle, one for his wife’s heart, and his peoples’ trust. He must walk the knife’s edge of deception and danger, all while learning to manage the supernatural power flaring inside him and discovering a heritage he never imagined.

But when his father embroils both of them in a deadly plot, can the couple find a way to prevent war between their clans?

Buy the book:

Amazon

That’s all for this Medieval Monday.  See you next week! 🙂

 

 

Medieval Monday ~ NIGHT OF THE OWL

04 Monday May 2020

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Welcome to a new round of Medieval Monday!  Our theme is “Nature”; perfect for this time of year!  The participating authors and I have each chosen an excerpt from a medieval romance and divided it into 11 snippets, which we’ll be sharing on our blogs.  Every Monday for the next 11 weeks, I’ll feature one snippet and tell you where to find mine.

Today’s snippet is from my own excerpt, from the award-nominated time travel romance Night of the Owl, the fourth of The Novels of Ravenwood.  I’m writing the 5th and final book in the series as we speak!  But for now, check out Snippet #1:

Hugh reined in his black stallion next to the burbling river. Ardyth, riding astride her brown palfrey, did the same. The hem of her violet gown rode too, all the way up to her knees, giving him a good view of a beautifully shaped, stockinged calf. The wooded valley was almost entirely surrounded by steep banks which formed a natural barrier to the world outside, and that was fine with him. He craved time alone with her. She filled so completely the lonely void created by his brothers’ leaving, and he wanted to learn everything he could about her.

Want to know what happens next?  You can read Snippet #2 next Monday on Bambi Lynn’s blog.

Or you can buy the book:

Amazon | Amazon UK | B & N | Apple | Kobo

The story:

PhD student Ardyth Nightshade has renounced men and pursues her twentieth-century career with single-minded focus. When fate whisks her to medieval England, she meets her match in a man whose passions mirror her own. Can she sacrifice ambition for a love she never sought?

Hugh, Lord Seacrest confounds all who know him. He refuses to marry without a meeting of minds and hearts, and no lady has even approached his ideal…until Ardyth. But she’s an odd one, with unique skills, shocking habits, and total conviction she needs no man. She also harbors secrets, and in the midst of rumors, plots, and murder, trust is fragile.

A woman outside of her time. A man ahead of his. They must take a leap of faith to forge a bond that will shape history.

Wishing you a lovely week ahead.  See you next Monday! 🙂