Today I welcome a new guest on the blog. I must say I love the premise of Kirsten S. Blacketer's book An Irresistible Shadow and I am sure you will too! Over to Kirsten.
Hello everyone! Thank you, Michaela, for hosting me on your
blog today. My novel has several themes
that run through it. The one that stands
out the most to me is trust.
The story itself is set in a time when
trust was a hard thing to come by. Trust
between the classes, the government and her people, even between neighbors was
often a very thin string. It was about
survival, so there was always an element of distrust between people when times
got tough.
Trust is a complex and often emotional
thing. It takes time to develop it and
keep it healthy. The heroine of my
story, Lady Evelyn, is no stranger to the internal struggle of trusting and
being trusted. A woman in medieval times
was often considered property of her father, then property of her husband. They rarely ever tasted the freedoms that men
did.
Lady Evelyn wants her father to trust her
to make her own decisions when it comes to her fate. She dislikes the thought of marriage because
she knows there will never be that element of trust and balance between her and
a man.
When she meets Gabriel, a man who has
chosen to hide his identity from her and the rest of the world, she makes a
conscious decision to trust him.
Although that decision is hard for her to make, she will come to understand
the value of the trust she places in him as the story continues.
Trust is the lifeblood of this story. It is cultivated, nourished, broken, and
betrayed. I hope you enjoy reading An Irresistible Shadow and Evelyn and
Gabriel's journey of trust. Thank you.
(MR: That is an amazing cover! I LOVE IT!)
Ready for the Blurb?
Lady Evelyn Montgomery, only daughter of
the Baron of Rayne, detests the thought of marriage. She will never allow a man
to control her. Crushed by the
constraints of propriety, she steals away from the safety of the keep and
stumbles onto a plot designed to stir up trouble between England and Scotland.
When a mysterious hooded man saves her, she fights her attraction to him as
they join forces to hunt down a traitor and save her father. But can she save
her heart?
Gabriel is a Shadow Guardian. Hiding beneath
his black cowl and blending into the night, he is sworn to protect the Baron's daughter.
The spirited Lady Evelyn is far from the delicate flower he anticipated. She
makes herself crystal clear, no man will possess her. Can he prove to her that
love can be more than just possession? Or will the traitor they seek tear them
apart forever?
Here is a little Excerpt:
The forest thinned into small, flat
clearing. Gabriel dismounted and drew his sword, motioning for her to join him.
Evelyn slipped from her saddle and unsheathed her own. Facing him on the field,
she nodded.
Gabriel attacked, bringing his blade
across to hit her left shoulder. She parried to the left to block him. He
switched sides and swiped down toward her right shoulder. Evelyn countered with
a parry to the right.
"Is this going to be challenging at
some point?" Evelyn smirked.
Gabriel brought his blade across aiming
for her left leg, which she blocked, then down to her right. She blocked again.
"Truly? You think me simple?"
she asked.
He hesitated, then lunged. When she
tilted her sword to parry to the right, he retracted, spinning around her to
tap her bottom with the blunt of his blade. She shifted her heated gaze to him.
His face was still darkened by the deep hood, but she could sense his
amusement.
"That is trickery, a dirty
move," she exclaimed, tracking his movements.
"There is no such thing as a fair
fight, so fight dirty," he said. "Do you concede?"
"Nay." Evelyn lifted her blade
and charged him. He blocked her thrust, parrying to the right, pushing the
momentum of the blade around to wrench it from her grasp. Throwing her weight
into it, she stomped down on his foot with her heel and twisted it with all her
strength.
He dropped back, slipping from her grasp
and shaking his foot.
"You learn quickly, Princess."
Grab your copy here:
Here is more about Kirsten:
Kirsten S. Blacketer is a stay at home
mother of two energetic children and a Brittany Spaniel. A proud U.S. Air Force Wife, she spends a
majority of her time with her family, going where the military sends them. She is an avid romance reader. The countless stories floating around her
head fill notebooks stashed in her bookcase next to books of her handwritten
poetry. Drawn to male beauty, nothing entices or entrances her like
horses and handsome men in cravats (or a uniform). When she’s not lost in
a universe of words, Kirsten enjoys photography, horseback riding, gardening,
and rollercoasters. Her husband is her
daily inspiration and constant support.
Her passion for writing sparked in eighth
grade English, thanks to Mr. Mushrush.
Then it caught fire in high school, in Mr. West’s sophomore English
class. But it was her father’s
encouragement that made her push to become the writer she is today. Surrounding herself with likeminded writers,
they fostered her love for writing and helped her reach this monumental goal in
her life.
Find her here:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KirBlacketer
Tumblr: http://kblackship.tumblr.com/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/KirstenSBlacketer
