Thank you so much for hosting me on your
blog today!
When I started writing Conquest of the
Heart, I wanted a book that was very different. Conquest books are usually
about the conquering Norman hero taking over some poor Englishwoman's estate
and she has to marry him to protect her land and people.
In this clash of cultures, I turned things
around. My hero, Ranulf, is a Saxon. One of the conquered. In order to keep his
estate, he has to marry King William's ward, Madeline.
These two people from different countries,
different people, with different customs, laws, and dress, have to find a way
to trust and love each other. It isn't always easy, but there's a lot of humor
in this book, in spite of being set in a dark and violent time. For one thing,
the hero is a virgin, and it is Madeline who must lead the way! How she throws
out her lures and how he is finally ensnared is just one of the topsy-turvy
things I did in this book.
Conquest
of the Heart
Blurb:
Her people conquered
his country. How can they overcome the distrust they feel to find love?
In 1067 England, Madeline,
a Norman, wants a big, brash, never-defeated-in-battle, Norman knight. What she
gets, by order of the king, is a wiry Saxon who once studied for the priesthood
instead of warfare. But is this gentle man she is falling in love with
entangled in the rebellion now sweeping the land?
Ranulf
wants to marry the girl next door. What he gets, by order of the king, is a
lush, strong Norman woman who just might be a spy reporting his every move. He
wants her in every way a man can possibly want a woman. But can he trust his
heart to a woman who might have been sent to root out the struggle for freedom
his people are engaged in?
Excerpt:
He
let his gaze travel back to his bride walking stiffly, reluctantly, toward him.
For once, Ranulf felt speech was beyond him. She was so much more than he had
expected. So beautiful. So clean. She
glittered like a bright jewel in a dung heap. For Etherby, no matter how
much he loved it, was not much better than one right now.
If
only he could say to this magnificent woman, "Go away. Come back in a
year. Give me time to build the castle the king has ordered, tear down this
rotting hall, teach cleanliness to servants to whom filth is a way of life.
Then you won't have to grit your teeth and square our shoulders as if going
into battle as you come to wed me." But it was already too late. She was
here. The wedding was now. And he felt as randy as a billy goat.
He
would begin building the king's castle immediately. The work would distract him
from Lady Madeline's seductive lure. She would find no treason with which to
fill the king's ears, and, like his mother's attitude toward his father, he was
sure the lady would be glad not to have him in her bower, not the way he felt
now, the things he wanted to do to her.
Buy
links for Conquest of the Heart
Amazon:
http://amzn.to/1cVjVKN
Barnes
and Noble: http://bit.ly/1IWkXSq
Smashwords: http://bit.ly/1JP7QFB
Bio:
Michele
Stegman has always loved history and she lives it every day. She spins, weaves,
makes her own soap and bread, and lives in a 175 year old log cabin with her
husband, Ron, who is the basis for all her heroes.
You
can contact Michele on her website:
www.MicheleStegman.com,
or on her Facebook
page, www.Facebook.com/MicheleStegmanAuthor.
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