For This Knight Only
by Barbara Bettis
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GENRE: Historical Romance
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BLURB:
He’ll do anything for land, even marry her; she’ll do anything for her people, except marry him. If only either had a choice. It’s a marriage only love can save.
Sir Roark will do anything to gain land, even beguile an unwilling lady into marriage. He knows she’s much better off with a man to take control of her besieged castle, to say nothing of her desirable person. But it isn’t long before he discovers that, although her eyes sparkle like sunlight on sea waves, her stubbornness alone could have defeated Saladin.
Lady Alyss is determined to hold her family’s castle, protect her people, and preserve her freedom— until her brother’s dying wish binds her to a stranger. Still, she’ll allow no rugged, over-confident, appealing knight to usurp her authority, even if she must wed him. Especially since he thinks a lady’s duties begin and end with directing servants. Alyss has a few surprises for her new all-too-tempting lord.
But when a common enemy threatens everything, Roark and Alyss face a startling revelation. Without love, neither land nor freedom matters.
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Excerpt:
The kiss had been a damned mistake. Roark had meant it as a statement of possession. But her softness hit him like a mace. When he inhaled the rich fragrance of spice and roses and woman, his intent changed. He hauled her closer, slanted his mouth, stroked his tongue along the seam of her lips. At her whimper, a flicker of guilt undercut Roark’s stirring of desire. He ought not do this to the lady. He ought to gather his belongings and be on his way.
But the memory of the recent messenger lingered. That one portended nothing good. If Roark gave in to his inconveniently awakening conscience, by tomorrow night Chauvere, its people, and its lady would be the property of the neighboring lord. Of that, Roark was certain. So the way he saw it, either Lady Alyss married him or she’d be forced to accept someone else. And if Windom’s representative was any indication of his master, she’d not like that alternative.
What would it take to persuade her? A sudden pain burst between his legs, and he gasped, eyes blurry. The little hell-cat kneed him. Even though chain mail deflected some of the impact, he used every bit of his willpower to remain standing.
Apparently persuasion took more than a kiss.
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From The Author:
Research—Essential to the Story
Thank you for having
me here. I’m excited to feature For This Knight Only today, giving me something
of a break from researching my WIP.
Researching is
one of my favorite things. If I’m not careful, I can spend way too much time
gathering facts and data—fascinating pieces of information and specific
incidents that can lead into long digressions and many ideas for new stories.
Discovering something unusual is very exciting.
I must admit, my
preferred research sources are books. Undoubtedly because in my college days,
that’s how we did research. I still like
my desk (or the floor) stacked with volumes which sprout various colored sticky
notes marking important passages. I’ve driven many miles to consult library
collections, particularly when researching the medieval topics.
Finally, however,
I’m coming around to online searching, especially now that so many very old
documents, papers, collections, and the like have made their way to the Internet.
It’s quite exciting to see copies of original tax rolls or religious writings.
I’ve also found
that many secondary online sources have wonderful bibliographies—which usually
lead me back to books. LOL.
Being accurate in
very old historical material, as in Middle Ages, often is difficult but to me,
important. I find myself using rules I learned from my journalism
experience—verify sources. That is, find the same information in two different,
reliable sources before I use it. (Journalism says three, but I’ve settled for
two.) Dates of things that happened 800 or so years ago can be hard to pin down
unless they’re very well know historical events.
During the Middle
Ages, the Julian Calendar was in use—the Gregorian Calendar was introduced in
1582, although it took almost 300 years for all countries to finally adopt it.
So, that can make establishing timelines in the late 12th Century a
little tricky. For instance, unless a
document specifies, we don’t always know what day of the week a particular date
fell on. (Was January 28 a Monday or
Thursday or…?)
What I found
extremely helpful in researching Roark and Alyss’s story were day-to-day
itineraries written by priests for both Richard 1 (the Lionheart) and, later,
his brother, King John.
So you can see
that good, solid research is challenging but also exciting and rewarding. And for me, at least, an essential component
of my books. Happy Reading.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
BUY LINKS: AMAZON:
https://amzn.to/2Xlzynj
Bio:
Award-winning author Barbara Bettis has always loved history and English. As a college freshman, she considered becoming an archeologist until she realized there likely would be bugs and snakes involved. And math. Through careers as a newspaper reporter and editor, then a college journalism and English professor, she’s retained her fascination with history. Give her a research book and a pot of tea, and she’s happy for hours. But what really makes her smile is working on a new story. Now retired, she lives in Missouri where she edits for others and spins her own tales of heroines to die for—and heroes to live for.
Find Barbara Here:
Bookbub:
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/barbara-bettis
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/barbarabettis Facebook: .
http://www.facebook.com/BarbaraBettisAuthor
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/BarbaraBettisAuthor
Website / Blog / Newletter:
http://barbarabettis.com
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
Barbara Bettis will be awarding $25 Amazon/BN to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
RAFFLECOPTER:
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