Snow
in July
by
Kim Iverson Headlee
Genre:
Medieval Paranormal Romance
From
the award-winning pen of Kim Iverson Headlee comes the exciting,
poignant love story of a distressed damsel who wields a fierce
fireplace poker and the smoking hot knight she must save from
himself.
"Captivating!"
~ Kemberlee Lugo-Shortland, Heart of Fiction
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.
Kim
Headlee lives on a farm in southwestern Virginia with her family,
cats, goats, Great Pyrenees goat guards, and assorted wildlife.
People and creatures come and go, but the cave and the 250-year-old
house ruins--the latter having been occupied as recently as the
mid-twentieth century--seem to be sticking around for a while
yet.
Kim has been a published novelist since 1999 with the
first edition of Dawnflight (Sonnet Books, Simon & Schuster) and
has been studying the Arthurian legends for nigh on half a century.
GUEST POST
I
am Lady Kendra of Edgarburh, and I bid you warm greetings on this
fine day in the year of Our Lord 1067. You bestow upon me great honor
with your thoughtful questions, and it is my humble pleasure to
answer them for you.
Your
brother taught you how to use a blade. Do you feel confident you
would be able to defend yourself? Has the need to use it ever come
up?
We
live in a dangerous world, and my dear brother, Del—may God rest
his soul—knew this as well as any man does. Three years ago, at
Cristes mæsse, the season that you are pleased to call Christmas,
Del presented me with the dagger I now carry upon my person, and he
did teach me the basic wielding of it. But what he taught me above
all was to guard myself from becoming ensnared in a situation wherein
I would need the weapon to survive. Thus far I have heeded his
advice, and I pray that the dagger’s need shall not arise in the
future.
We
know that you are dead set against marrying that foreigner.
I also hear you had one proposal from a countryman a few years your senior.
You've vowed only to marry for love.
As you were growing up, were there young men your age that caught your eye? Someone you could daydream about marrying?
I also hear you had one proposal from a countryman a few years your senior.
You've vowed only to marry for love.
As you were growing up, were there young men your age that caught your eye? Someone you could daydream about marrying?
What
a fair question! And I fear I must disappoint you with the answering
of it, but I was always ever so busy seeing to the needs of my family
and our people. No man ever turned my head…until he
rode to Edgarburh: he of the enchanting smile and captivating voice,
he of the courtly manners and kindly spirit, he whose rank as a
squire stood well beneath mine…he whom I must despise because his
king slaughtered my countrymen to win the throne. He who, I confess,
haunts my dreams by night and
by day.
Your
mother had a gift for healing but did not bequeath that to you before
she died.
Your family believes your healing powers are quite strong.
Are they the result of studying natural means of healing? Do you believe you have some magical abilities?
Your family believes your healing powers are quite strong.
Are they the result of studying natural means of healing? Do you believe you have some magical abilities?
Kind
soul, prithee do not speak to me of the magical arts, for talk such
as this could cause both of us to be excommunicated…or worse. Nay,
my healing skills, as poor as they are, come only from study,
practice, and prayer.
What
are the disadvantages to being a female in your society?
Are you able to express your opinions on political matters?
Are you able to express your opinions on political matters?
It
is my lot as a daughter of Eve to suffer her eternal curse—not only
in the travails and dangers of childbed, but to be subject to the
will of my lord father and, one day, the will of my lord husband. I
am ever thankful my father, Thane Waldron, has demonstrated gracious
forbearance with me, for my tongue is ever quick to let slip things
of a nature that a lady of my rank and breeding ought not utter, even
privily. Father does have the right of it, for England’s new king
shall stop at nothing to see his crown secure, even executing a
person for treasonous speech. If it does transpire that I must marry
one of King William’s retainers, I pray with all my heart that he
is not like his sovereign in this regard.
I
thank you for this opportunity to share my thoughts, and I wish many
blessings upon you.
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