 |
| Kendra vows that she shall find neither comfort nor love in the arms of a Norman… unless it snows in July. |
In today's excerpt from Snow in July, which is running on other blogs as part of the Medieval Monday exchange, Kendra musters the courage to become vulnerable enough to ask Alain to grant her a simple yet profound wish.
EXCERPT
“Would my lord knight grant me a boon that would enable me to fulfill an altogether different vow?” Kendra slid her hands up his chest, reveling in the feel of his taut muscles beneath the tunic’s thin linen.
“Name it, my lady,” Alain said in a husky whisper.
“Please…” She stood on tiptoe to reach around his neck and pull his face to hers, drawing a deep breath. “Please kiss me.”
He lost no time in honoring her request. Their mouths met, tentatively at first, then harder and more ravenously as their mutual hunger found freedom. Their tongues entwined, locked in a dance far more sublime than any pale dream. She felt the void left by her brother’s death beginning, at last, to fill.
So this was why Del had been so insistent that she seek happiness. He knew it would help her heal, God rest his dear soul. She increased the pressure on Alain’s lips, and he answered in kind.
Faint shouts forced them to step apart. Alain looked out the nearest window and hurried to each of the others in turn, muttering in French.
“Is it the outlaws? What do you see?”
“Nothing.” He spat the word as if blaming it for the interruption. “The surviving outlaws must have returned. Does this tower have someplace to hide where they might not think to look?”
SYNOPSIS:
Sir Robert Alain de Bellencombre has been granted what every man wants: a rich English estate in exchange for his valiant service at the Battle of Hastings. To claim this reward, the Norman knight must wed the estate's Saxon heiress. Most men would leap at such an opportunity, but for Alain, who broke his vow to his dying mother by failing to protect his youngest brother in battle, it means facing more easily broken vows. But when rumors of rampant thievery, dangerous beasts, and sorcery plaguing a neighboring estate reach his ears, nothing will make him shirk duty to king and country when people's lives stand at risk. He assumes the guise of a squire to scout the land, its problems, and its lady.
Lady Kendra of Edgarburh has been granted what no woman wants: a forced marriage to an enemy who may be kith or kin to the man who murdered her beloved brother. Compounding her anguish is her failure to awaken the miraculous healing gift bequeathed by their late mother in time to save his life. Although with his dying breath, he made her promise to seek happiness above all, Kendra vows that she shall find neither comfort nor love in the arms of a Norman…unless it snows in July.
Alain is smitten by Lady Kendra from the first moment of their meeting; Kendra feels the forbidden allure of the handsome and courtly Norman "squire." But a growing evil overshadows everyone, invoking dark forces and ensnaring Kendra in a plot to overthrow the king Alain is oath-bound to serve. Kendra and Alain face a battle unlike any other as their honor, their love, their lives, and even their very souls lie in the balance.
BUY & TBR LINKS
***
All this month, you are invited to...— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow
... and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books. Please enter often, and good luck!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Scribble a note on the wall of the Maze so you can find your way out again... ;-)