EXCERPT

David listened carefully, not certain she realized tears were trickling down her face. She spoke methodically between gasping inhalations. She’d obviously put a great deal of careful thought into what she said and now concentrated mightily on getting all the words out in the right order.

Rochelle grabbed his hand, kissed the back of it then gripped it tightly between both her own hands. “I want to say that I am sorry for all of that. It is an immense number and magnitude of things to be sorry about, but I am. And the most important thing I want you to know is that I love you. I realized it too late, but I do. I love you and I want to be with you, no matter what happens.”

David stared at his hand held in a deathgrip. He cleared his throat. “I must confess, the combination of hearing your words and seeing you weep leaves me speechless.”

She released him, her hands wiping at her cheeks in distress. “ Oh, I did not want to cry! You will think it is some female trick!” She began to sob in earnest, dropping her head to her knees.

“Rochelle,” he murmured, putting an arm around her waist to straighten her. She curled toward him so easily, so naturally, to press her wet face to his neck, spasms of remorse wracking her frame. “Go easy now. Calm yourself.” He rubbed her back and spoke soft nonsense until she was able to recover.

She held on around his waist, drinking in his warmth and solidity and familiar scent, in full knowledge that this could be the last time she was this close to him.

“By this time tomorrow, all will be decided,” he said firmly.

She nodded, afraid to ask exactly what his decision would be.

“We will talk again, after the tournament.”

“Oh, David, please,” she cried, “please do not ask me to wait another day!”

“After the tournament,” he said firmly.

“You do mean tomorrow after the tournament, not five days after it?” she asked with a sniffle.

He chuckled. “Yes, tomorrow, as soon as I am able.”

END OF EXCERPT

Unbidden is book one in the Evolution Series and is free on most vendors. Learn more about Unbidden here, and leave a comment on this blog for a chance to win a print copy of my Evolution Series novella, Little Witch. Please have a mailing address in the continental US, and make sure you leave your email address so I can contact you. But don’t stop here, there’s more blogs to visit and a Rafflecopter to enter!

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My story, Unbidden is set in 831, when enough time had passed for Louis and his family to start screwing things up. This is a snippet from the scene where Rochelle, the heroine, meets her emperor.

EXCERPT

“Is there something you wish to say?” the emperor asked with a teeth-clenched softness, more than a little warning in his voice.

“I do not wish to marry,” she said, her voice cracking on the word marry. A hiss of indrawn breath came from her right, though she wasn’t sure if it was Theo or David. A slight buzz filled the room as the repetition of her words passed to its furthest corners. She lifted her chin to stare at him. “And I do not want a war fought on my estate.”

“I do not care what you wish,” he said quietly, his narrow face beginning to mottle with red. Then he shouted, “I do not care what you wish!”

END OF EXCERPT

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In this passage from historical romance Unbidden, the heroine endures a journey in the unexpected snow as her villainous brother-in-law kidnaps her to Bavaria. Since many of us are feeling the effects of holiday spending, I offer this first book in my series for FREE. Treat yourself to a warm, sensual read with a classic hero and a feisty heroine.

EXCERPT

Snow began to fly on the third day, setting up a night of misery. Rochelle couldn’t help but imagine how different it would be if David were curled behind her. She wondered if he slept safe in their bed. The thought of that chilled her as much as the weather, that he might be ensconced at Alda while Doeg dragged her across the empire. Her thoughts preyed on her. She swung the gamut of imagining him healthy or dead or every possibility in between. Healthy meant he’d sent her away from him, her home, and their marriage. Injured or dead meant Doeg had finally succeeded at whatever nefarious motivation drove him. If that was the case, however, what did he want from her now?  For what purpose would he kidnap her?  Exhaustion eventually stemmed the wild flow of her thoughts, letting her sleep.

A wet covering of snow as deep as the horses’ fetlocks coated the ground by morning. The further east they traveled, the more remote the surroundings became.

Doeg announced heartily, “We will pass Eichstadt today. Tonight we sleep in a hut, and by tomorrow we should arrive at Atrum Calx, if the snow does not slow us down too badly.” He’d become less arrogant, perhaps even a bit cautious with her of late. He acted like someone who had belatedly realized his own blunder, finding himself set on a track he could not leave.

“What will you do with me there?” Rochelle asked cautiously, trying to make out his purpose.

“I will show you the estate,” he replied, “after you have had a day or so to rest, of course.

The strange answer threw her, but his caring whether she had rest was even stranger. They retreated into the usual uncomfortable silence, only heightened by the muffling effect of the falling snow.

END OF EXCERPT

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BLURB

Rochelle of Alda, a feisty Frank noblewoman, expects to continue her industrious life managing her family’s estate. When her emperor summons her to the palace to meet the skilled soldier she is required to marry, Rochelle engages in a battle for independence from David of Bavaria. As her own deceptions multiply, she suspects another of also plotting against their marriage. To her surprise, and too late, David’s passion and patience begin to win her heart. Can their love survive the tangled web of her schemes and the secret adversary David refuses to see?

In this excerpt of David and Rochelle’s first meeting, David has arrived to take Rochelle to the palace for the betrothal, and is dismayed to learn her mother has told her nothing about it.

EXCERPT

David turned his head as the noise from the door escalated, unsure what he expected to enter his life. Given her mother’s shocking hair, he didn’t hold his hopes too high for the girl’s appearance, no matter what Theo said. The need for deception to even get her to Aix did not indicate a particularly biddable personality. Based on the increasingly violent rattling from the latch, she couldn’t even open doors for herself.

He was about to climb the steps to offer assistance when the door finally wrenched open, releasing a storm of muttering about city workmanship and rotten carpentry carried in a whirlwind of deep blue linen. She all but flung herself onto the narrow staircase. Not exactly light of foot nor entirely graceful, she rushed down the stairs, noticing his presence in time to abruptly stop on the bottom step.

She stared at him.

From across the room he could feel the chill of cold caution. Even so, his concern about her looks evaporated. She stood taller than her mother, clear skinned, with eyes of a soft green. The gold circlet on her head held her veil neatly in place, covering what it was intended to cover. An unexpected desire to see the color of her hair shot through him. He could only approximate it from her eyebrows:  not quite brown, but certainly not red either. And her female attributes remained a mystery to him as well, hidden under layers of varying shades of blue, though a heavy gold girdle studded with aquamarines suggested narrow hips.

“Mother?” she queried.

David reluctantly turned to Marian, who, it appeared, had been watching him stare at her daughter. A small smile quirked her lips. Her tightly clasped hands now lay on her chest as if in prayer. She did not find her voice until David cleared his throat expectantly.

“Rochelle!” she said too loudly. “Theophilus, the gentleman who has helped us so much, sent this burly young man to escort ye to yer audience with the emperor. He is called David. A Bavarian, no less!”

David raised his brow at her rather obtuse explanation of his role in the upcoming event. Marian gave him a slight warning shake of her head. Well, if the woman hadn’t the courage to tell this girl the truth of the matter, he certainly did. He didn’t know much about getting along with women, but he guessed that starting his marriage with deception – and necessarily short-lived deception at that – could not be wise.

As he opened his mouth to explain exactly who he was, Rochelle spoke, “I do not see why I need an escort. I found the palace yesterday.”  She lowered herself off the last step and strode toward him with a confident swing of her arms. “But if Theophilus wants to share his guard, so be it.”

Marian bobbed her head. “It was quite thoughtful of him.”

David held up a hand. “I am not Theo’s guard. And did you just suggest you were wandering about the city yesterday, alone?”

Rochelle studied him assessingly. Yes, assessingly was the only word for it and, God help him, she was lovely up close. Her not brown, not red brows arched over green eyes flecked with hazel. A dusting of freckles decorated a thin nose that flared pertly at the nostrils. Her soft pink lips were slightly parted exposing straight teeth.

“Not alone. Our servant, Gilbert, was with me.”

“Gilbert, the bag of bones who opened the door?” David scoffed. “He could not keep a street rat away much less a pack of thieves. From this day forth, you will not leave here without an able-bodied man at your side.”  She smelled nice.

Rochelle placed her hands on her hips, pleasantly outlining a slim waist beneath her clothing. “What has given you the idea you can make pronouncements such as that to me?  I will go where I wish, when I wish, escorted or not, as I wish!”  Her chest heaved a bit and there were breasts under that tunic, he could tell, and damn it when was the last time he’d lain with a woman?  He mentally bridled himself. First, betrothal. Betrothal was the task set before him today. It was time to attend to that task.

He stepped forward, purposely crowding her and letting his hard gaze bore into her fiery eyes, daring her to challenge him. “I will tell you what gives me the right –“

Marian made a strangled sound before finding her words. “Ye should be going!  It will not do to be late to the palace.”

Rochelle eyed first him, then Marian, before backing away to grasp her mother’s hands. “Mother, I do wish you would reconsider. Certainly the nobles have forgotten your circumstances by now. Father would want you to have the honor of meeting Charlemagne’s son.”

Marian laughed a bit shrilly. “No, that is no place for me. Ye shall have the glory today, daughter. Here is your cloak.”  She kept babbling as she closed the gold and aquamarine clasp at the neckline of the pale blue garment. “David will keep you safe. Do as he says, my dear. He is in charge of you today. And possibly tomorrow.”

Rochelle chortled. “Mother, do not be ridiculous. This will be over in an hour or two and then we are going home!  Home, where I also do not require an escort!”  She fixed David with a significant look before she walked to the door, wrenched it open with relative ease, and stepped onto the street without him.

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Unbidden

     

Second Love: A Short Historical Romance Story

    

Redeemed

     

Vain 

     

Little Witch: Historical Romance Novella

   

The Evolution Series Bundle

     

In this scene, David, a Bavarian soldier, has arrived to escort Rochelle, a woman he has never met, to an interview with the emperor. Unfortunately, her mother did not tell Rochelle that the purpose for her visit to the palace will be to finalize her betrothal to a man of the emperor’s choosing. For a woman accustomed to managing her own life, this will not be a welcome surprise.

Rochelle chortled. “Mother, do not be ridiculous. This will be over in an hour or two and then we are going home!  Home, where I also do not require an escort!”  She fixed David with a significant look before she walked to the door, wrenched it open with relative ease, and stepped onto the street without him.

END OF EXCERPT

Unbidden is available at most online vendors, and right now the ebook is only 99 cents!

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