Tag: historical romance

Book Brief |The Briton and the Dane : Timeline

TimelineThe Briton and the Dane: Timeline
by Mary Ann Bernal
Genre: Historical Romance, Drama, Fiction & Literature
Word count: 56,802
Available from Amazon.

Dr. Gwyneth Franger, a renowned expert in early medieval England, is set upon learning the truth about the death of Lord Erik, the last descendant of the powerful House of Wareham. Her quest becomes an obsession, a condition that began with the discovery of a portrait of the tall and valiant warrior. Digesting troves of mildewed scrolls and source documentation only enhances her belief that Lord Erik was brutally assassinated by a cabal of traitors in the pay of William the Bastard, shortly before the onslaught of the Norman Invasion.

On an archeological dig in Southern England, Dr. Franger finds herself transported back to the Dark Ages and at the side of the noble Lord Erik who commands an army of elite Saxon warriors. Witnessing the unrest firsthand, Gwyneth senses that her instincts had been right all along, and she is determined to learn the identities of the treacherous blackguards hiding in the shadows, villains who may well be posing as Lord Erik’s friends and counselors.

Gwyneth knows it is wrong to stop the assassins, but isn’t sure she can find the strength to walk away and watch her beloved Erik die. Will she intervene, change the course of history and wipe out an entire timeline to save the man she loves? Continue reading “Book Brief |The Briton and the Dane : Timeline”

Book Brief: Just Sophie

just sophieJust Sophie
by Susan Marmo
Genre: Historical Romance
Word count:78,500

Of all the things Montana rancher Bryce Fontaine expected to find hiding in his hayloft, a disheveled, beauty with sensuous freckles and blazing red hair, was not one of them.

The terrified, yet feisty girl was obviously running away from something. Bryce ignores his past demons and listens to the undeniable and unsuspecting pull of his heart toward Sophie. He takes charge of protecting Sophie from the man she claims murdered her family and is threatening to force her into a marriage bordering on sexual slavery.

The love they find for each other proves to be stronger than the uncertainties of their future as they bind together to defeat the monster that pursues them.

Surprises abound in this fast paced love story that will keep you spellbound until the last page.

This book is available from Amazon US and Amazon UK. Continue reading “Book Brief: Just Sophie”

Book Brief: Upon Your Return

Upon Your Return
by Marie Lavender
Genre: Historical Romance
Word count: 97,426

Fara Bellamont has been back in society for a year after leaving Cluny Abbey, where her uncle sent her long ago. When he chooses a suitor for her for marriage, she fears that she will be forced to marry a stranger and live a miserable life. But, Fara finds herself thrust into an adventure of a lifetime when unforeseen circumstances cause her to place her trust in a strange man for protection. His intervention not only saves her, but puts her in an even more compromising position. Grant Hill, a trading captain, is enchanted by the young heiress not only because of her beauty, but because she is hardly conventional. Underneath her ladylike exterior lies a tigress. Grant cannot help but offer his protection as she is in need and he is far from immune from her charms. Fara just never bargained on the passion that she feels for Grant Hill. As events unfold, she must decide whether her desires and the dictates of her heart should trump the rules of society…

This book is available from Amazon and CreateSpace. Continue reading “Book Brief: Upon Your Return”

The Historical with Romantic Elements

Guest post
by Frances Burke

I love ‘Historicals’, but in recent times this category has become divided into sub-genres, with the emphasis almost totally upon the emotional conflict. The old Historical Novel wasn’t intended to be a Romance, as such, but a novel set in a historical time frame with Romance as one, sometimes major element.

Today the term covers everything from erotica to sweet Regency, with some historical data thrown in. (Apologies to those writers who do their research, although still allowing the love story to overwhelm other aspects.)

I am proposing another, more specific category: “The Historical With Romantic Elements”. It would cover many genres – adventure, thriller, fantasy, paranormal, you name it. It would follow no pattern but the one in the writer’s mind, allowing her to bend rules and take flights of fancy, use any time frame and as many major characters as were consistent with the length of the novel and common sense. And the romantic element might be relatively small, or even relegated to a sub-plot.

A Historical With Romantic Elements (herein to be known as HWRE) would be distinct from Historical Romance and Historical Saga in that it tended to concentrate heavily on research, with the setting detailed and imprinted with colour and texture. Background would be all-important, with bonus points for an unusual setting. Georgian and Tudor times, for instance, are so well documented and used that research almost falls into the lap. With many other periods, it takes hard work to understand the intricacies of politics, wars and social upheavals and to weave these into a story without overloading the reader with detail. Continue reading “The Historical with Romantic Elements”