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11/12/2014 0 Comments

Winners of the ebooks for The Highlander's Tempestuous Bride

11/10/2014 0 Comments

Medieval Monday with Jenna Jaxon

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?

Excerpt:

“Lady Alyse de Courcy!” King Edward called out again, bringing Alyse’s head up like a startled deer. “Present yourself before the court.”

Alyse shot off her seat. Oh, Lord! She had kept King Edward waiting.

“I beg pardon, sire.” She hurried from behind the table, too aware of all the eyes now on her. As she moved to stand before the king, the low drone of many voices rose around the room.

“Impudent girl.”

“I’d not want to be in her place.”

“Do you think the king will…”

Each snatch of conversation made her heart beat faster.

What will he do to me?

Her normal embarrassment at being the center of attention tripled at the thought of this blatant lapse of protocol. She stopped several feet from the dais and the room hushed as though everyone held their breath.

“What do you require of me, Majesty?” Her mouth so dry she could taste sand, Alyse fought to speak in a normal tone. With a sigh of relief, she dropped into a deep curtsy, hiding her face in the folds of her skirt. If only she could remain bowed thus before His Majesty for the remainder of the evening.

King Edward laughed. “Obedience, Lady Alyse, as I require of all my subjects. As your father requires of his daughter.”

Her heart thumped wildly in her breast. That could mean but one thing.

“Rise, my lady.”

She did so on unsteady feet. “I am ready, as always, Your Majesty, to obey my father as I would you.”

Holy Mary, let it be Lord Braeton.

King Edward lifted an eyebrow toward Alyse. “A very pretty answer, my lady. And are you ready to accept your father’s decree for your betrothal? His messenger has today reached me with the contract, as I am to stand in his stead in this matter.”

Alyse took a deep breath and hoped her voice did not tremble. “Yea, Majesty, I will obey my father.”

King Edward nodded and leaned over to whisper something to Queen Phillipa, who sat beside him, heavy with their twelfth child.

Mere seconds before she learned her fate. She could scarce affect an indifferent pose before the court when inside every inch of her quivered with anticipation of the name. His name, pray God, on the king’s lips.

Thomas.

In her mind, she heard the word.

The king straightened, glanced at her then at the man by her side.

“What say you then, Sir Geoffrey? Does the lady not speak fair? I vow she will make you a proper wife and a dutiful one as well.”

Alyse turned, until that moment unaware that Geoffrey Longford stood beside her. Chills coursed down her body as the king’s words echoed in her mind. The sensation of falling backward assailed her, as though she rushed away from the tall man at her side even as his figure loomed larger and larger in her sight.

Not Lord Braeton.

Her numbed brain repeated the phrase, trying to comprehend that instead he would be her husband. Geoffrey Longford.

God have mercy on me, for by the look of him, this man will not.

* * *
Buy Links:

Time Enough to Love (print) Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Time-Enough-Love-Jenna-Jaxon/dp/1500867926/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1410173549&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=Time+enough+to+love

Betrothal, Betrayal, Beleaguered : Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_p_n_feature_browse-b_mrr_0?rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3ATime+enough+to+love%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A618073011&keywords=Time+enough+to+love&ie=UTF8&qid=1410226747&rnid=618072011

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/JEnna-jaxon?store=allproducts&keyword=JEnna+jaxon

ARe: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html

* * *

AUTHOR BIO

Jenna Jaxon is a multi-published author of historical and contemporary romance. She has been reading and writing historical romance since she was a teenager. A romantic herself, she has always loved a dark side to the genre, a twist, suspense, a surprise. She tries to incorporate all of these elements into her own stories. She lives in Virginia with her family and a small menagerie of pets. When not reading or writing, she indulges her passion for the theatre, working with local theatres as a director. She often feels she is directing her characters on their own private stage.

Jenna is a PAN member of Romance Writers of America as well as a member of Chesapeake Romance Writers. Her debut novel, Only Scandal Will Do, is the first in her House of Pleasure series, set in Georgian London. Her medieval novel, Time Enough to Love, is a Romeo & Juliet-esque tale, set at the time of the Black Death.

Find Jenna online at:

BLOG: http://jennajaxon.wordpress.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jenna-Jaxon/146857578723570

GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4960704.Jenna_Jaxon

TWITTER: @Jenna_Jaxon

She has equated her writing to an addiction to chocolate because once she starts she just can’t stop.

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11/9/2014 6 Comments

Interview with Gilda and ebook giveaways!

Today’s treat is an interview with Gilda Macrory, the heroine in The Highlander’s Tempestuous Bride. I caught her out picking berries, but she has agreed to chat for a bit.

CMR: Thank you for letting me interrupt your berry-picking, Gilda! What a lovely name!

Gilda: (smiles) I thank ye. It means ‘gift of God’.

CMR: Oh, that is very nice. Can you tell me a bit about your life at Scaurness Castle?

Gilda: (shrugs) Och, `tis not so much unlike another lass anywhere else. I have chores and two younger brothers to look after, though they plague me sore. And sometimes I care for my wee baby sister.

CMR: But a castle is scarcely a crofter’s hut, right?

Gilda: I see yer point, though there are many more people who work and live in a castle. It can be difficult to have a bit of privacy, even in such a large place.

CMR: I suppose you need privacy from your brothers?

Gilda: (fists a hand on one hip) Aye! They are a pair of wee louns! Always pulling pranks on me since our brother Niall left to foster. I am too old for such nonsense. Punishment doesnae work with them for long.

CMR: What happens when they get caught?

Gilda: They must first apologize, then they usually must clean my horse’s stall for a fortnight. At least it works off a wee bit of their energy for a few days.

CMR: Let’s talk about you as a young child. What do you remember about your da, the laird, when he first came to Scaurness?

Gilda: He isnae my true da, though he adopted me when he wed my ma. I was four summers at the time. The first time we met, I had disobeyed my Auntie Tavia and waded into the water at the beach looking for sea shells. The tide was coming in and I found myself stranded on a rock, the waves crashing about me.

CMR: Oh, my! What happened?

Gilda: Like a braw hero, he strode through the water to me and picked me up. I had also lost my shoes, and he tweaked my toes and called me a mermaid.

CMR: Thank goodness he saw you. Were you friends after that?

Gilda: I was four. He was kind and dinnae scold me. I think I loved him more than ma did at that point.

CMR: Why is that?

Gilda: Och, she had been told by the king to marry Ranald, but she had known him as a lad and dinnae like him then. But Auntie Tavia says they soon fell in love. They always act as though they like each other.

CMR: Do you think you will marry for love?

Gilda: (bites her lip) As the laird’s daughter, I shall marry to benefit the clan. I dinnae believe my da would ask me to marry a man I couldnae respect. Love him? I am not entirely certain what that means.

CMR: Is there a lad at the castle you like? Or a laird’s son you have an eye for?

Gilda: Nae, the lads at the castle are all boys playing at being men. However . . . (she stares off into the distance)

CMR: However?

Gilda: Och, I am sure it is nothing. Just a lad I met when picking berries yesterday. But, he flustered me.

CMR: How?

Gilda: He was afeared for me because he saw me cut a wolf loose from a trap and spoke a bit sharpish. Then he was kind when a storm blew up—I have been afeard of storms since I was a bairn. But he vexes me.

CMR: (hides a smile) I am sure you will work it out. Do you know who he is?

Gilda: Nae, though I was trespassing on Macraig land, so I suppose he is a Macraig. (Frowns)

CMR: Oh, is that a problem?

Gilda: Aye. The Macraigs and the Macrorys havenae been allied in many years. Though I dinnae know exactly the why of it.

CMR: It is getting late. I will let you get back to your chores. Thank you for taking a moment to talk with me. I hope you are able to follow your heart.

Gilda: I thank ye. I am duty-bound, but wish with all my heart to fall in love with the man I marry. (waves as she picks up her basket of berries)
* * *

CMR: To discover who Gilda marries and if she falls in love, pick up your copy of The Highlander’s Tempestuous Bride! Available for pre-order now at Amazon for the introductory price of $2.99 http://www.amzn.com/B00P89UHME Release date: 11/11/14

Leave a comment for a chance to win one of three ebooks (kindle) of The Highlander’s Tempestuous Bride. Winners announced here 11/12/14.

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11/8/2014 0 Comments

The Highlander's Tempestuous Bride- Release Day 11/11/14!

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11/6/2014 0 Comments

Thursday's Threads with women's fiction author, Linda Bennett Pennell

Confederado do Norte by Linda Bennett Pennell

Genre: women’s fiction with romantic elements

Heat level: mild

Set during the aftermath of the American Civil War, Confederado do Norte tells the story of Mary Catherine MacDonald Dias Oliveira Atwell, a child torn from her war devastated home in Georgia and thrust into the primitive Brazilian interior where the young woman she becomes must learn to recreate herself in order to survive.

October, 1866.

Mary Catherine is devastated when her family emigrates from Georgia to Brazil because her father and maternal uncle refuse to accept the terms of Reconstruction following the Confederacy’s defeat. Shortly after arrival in their new country, she is orphaned, leaving her in Uncle Nathan’s care. He hates Mary Catherine, blaming her for his sister’s death. She despises him because she believes Nathan murdered her father.

When Mary Catherine discovers Nathan’s plan to be rid of her as well, she flees into the mountain wilderness filled with jaguars and equally dangerous men. Finding refuge among kind peasants, she grows into a beauty, ultimately marrying the scion of a wealthy Portuguese family.

Happiness and security seem assured until civil unrest brings armed marauders who have an inexplicable connection to Mary Catherine. Recreating herself has protected Mary Catherine in the past, but this new crisis will demand all of the courage, intelligence, and creativity she possesses simply to survive.
                                                     * * *
Buy link for Confederado do Norte:   http://amzn.com/B00LMN5OMI

http://www.lindapennell.com/

http://historyimagined.wordpress.com

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Winners of the ebooks for The Highlander's Tempestuous Bride

Medieval Monday with Jenna Jaxon

Interview with Gilda and ebook giveaways!

The Highlander's Tempestuous Bride- Release Day 11/11/14!

Thursday's Threads with women's fiction author, Linda Bennett Pennell

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