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| GIVEAWAY RANDOM RETRO READ DAY! |
FOR CASTLE AND CROWN
After years spent fighting alongside King Richard in the crusades, Lord Edmund of Hawksford is finally returning to his ancestral home. But far from a joyful reunion, what awaits him is devastation. His elder brother is dead, killed in a tragic fire at Hawksford Castle -- and the title of duke now falls to Edmund.
When he strives to rebuild the fire-scarred castle, Edmund learns that his was not the only life the fire shattered: his childhood friend Lady Phillipa survived the flames that took Edmund's brother, but badly burned, she has hidden herself away from those she loves. Yet as the pair renews their acquaintance, they find that their affection runs deep -- perhaps even deeper than they'd ever realized.
As Edmund and Pippa begin to question whether the fire was truly an accident, they must discover the truth of the past before they can plan for their future. While coming perilously close to the answers they seek, Edmund and Pippa find themselves at the mercy of a dangerous foe who will stop at nothing to lay claim on Hawksford -- and he will destroy any who stand in his way.
My Review:
published in 2017
Well, if I'm going to break my Regency Reading Rampage it might as well be for the Middle Ages! I actually love this timeline but there aren't many authors (or, at least, ones known to me) who write either/or Christian or clean fiction in this genre so I kind of gave up on it. But I discovered Sian Ann Bessey recently and after reading A Noble Smuggler and now I absolutely have to read everything she's ever written! Now! So here we are in the midst of Prince John/King Richard conspiracies and the valiant (or not so) knights defending them. Happy, happy bibliophile sigh of sheer delight!
Love the way the author weaves history into every nuance of the story. She's never heavy handed and this untutored English history reader never felt bogged down in the unfamiliar (or highly distorted presumptions thanks to Hollywood...oh and Disney. I think everything I knew about Prince John came from the animated Robin Hood. lol)
I also love the subtle but binding faith thread she's incorporated into Edmund and Pippa's lives. It brought such a hopeful vibrancy to their love story. Which is toe-curling, by the way. Childhood friends who have suffered horrific ordeals and come together changed but just as connected as before Edmund left for the Crusades.
And those ordeals are far from over! There's intrigue and betrayal and adventures galore before these two can even contemplate a happily ever after together. Absolutely riveting stuff!
I listened to the audible edition narrated by Aubrey Warner and loved every second of it!
GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:
Please Note: For Castle and Crown is not available in paperback format on Book Depostory so this giveaway is for an ebook. You will need to have an Amazon.com account int order to access the book.
If you would like a chance to win an e-copy of For Castle and Crown leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday August 29 2020 . Offer open to International Readers. Good luck
Oh my this sounds terrific!! Have you read Jody Hedlund's medieval books? Though they are YA, they are so good & very addicting!! She has a new series coming out soon that I absolutely MUST get my hands on. She made me love medieval stories of knights in shining armour and damsels in distress :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there's another author or two that writes in this genre, but I can't come up with them right now. I have not read "A Noble Smuggler", though it sounds like I must :-)
Count me in for this one, I love mixing up my reading norm every once in a while! I
teamob4 (at) gmail (dot) com
Oh yeah, here's one author for you! I read both "Salvation" and " Resurrection" and really enjoyed them. The writer is Olivia Rae and the series is called "The Sword and Cross Chronicles" , though it contains 6 books. I only read two of them, but I didn't feel lost because I hadn't read the others. I thought they were really good & kept my interst!
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DeleteOkay, the more I look, the more I find!
DeleteTamara Leigh has a series as well called "Age of Conquest" (4 books), though I haven't read them. I heard they are excellent. I'm not sure if what formats they are available in though, but it looks like Amazon has them in paperback, audiobook and ebook.
P.S. Looks like Tamara has a LOT of medieval books.....Guess I'm going to have to check them out for myself too!!! :-)
DeleteOoohhh -- Olivia Rae's are on Book Depository! There's even more than that series. Awesomesauce. Thanks, Trixi. I'd hard about Tamara Leigh's series but could only find them in ebook but tada -- they are on audible now...and there's a lot of them! Woot! Good luck, Trixi!
DeleteAnd I might just be downloading The Redemption by MaryLu Tyndall at this very moment. From Medieval to pirates in a nanosecond. That's how this reader's mind works. Bwahahahaha! Avast, ye mateys!
DeleteYou're going to get sick of me recommending....but what about MaryLu Tyndall? She has a series called "Protectors of the Spear" (3 books)....which I haven't read either. But I like her pirate books! :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm loving this series...can never get sick of friends flogging books at me. Bwahahahaaha. And you'll keep laughing when you hear that I rushed over to audible to see if any of those books by MaryLu Tyndall are there and the first one that came up was the first pirate book and now I'm all "ooohhhh, pirates, I haven't read a good pirate book in forever!" Snicker. I'm hopeless.
DeleteBwahahaha....I'm a book flogging fiend....😂😂😂😂
DeleteMaryLu Tyndall's pirate books are swashbuckling fun!!
Awe Kav I’d love to read this one but I only have a Canadian account too bad. But I’m going to look up this author and see where I can get her books.
ReplyDeleteBecky, you should be able to get the ebook on the Canadian website -- you just can't gift ebooks so I can't do a giveaway for anything but the .com accounts. :-) Otherwise it's Amazon for the paperback copy as well. That's it for us Canadians.
DeleteThis cover is gorgeous, and I love your review. Throw me in the hat!
ReplyDeleteJust a thought, I know we all like beautiful covers but would you ever not pick up a book and give it a chance if the cover didn't attract you? I often wonder if I'm missing some good ones by "judging a book by it's cover"?! Of course it goes both ways I've read some books that the cover was better than the story.
Thanks for the giveaway Kav!
tracey14567 at gmail dot com
It is quite lovely, isn't it? And I'm definitely a cover snob. Back in the day when I had a Christian bookstore I could browse through I definitely turned up my nose at the...not so lovely...books. I have no idea if I'm missing out because I didn't read them! Bwahahaha. There weren't many and they had to be real creative fails. Come to think of it, there was a series that I skipped over because of the awful covers but then discovered the same author in another genre with better covers and I loved those books! But, have I ever gone back and read the books I snubbed first time round? Nope. I'm so shallow! Good luck, Tracey!
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Delete*I deleted my comment because I misread what you said.
DeleteLOL, if you are shallow then so am I, but I admit I am definitely a cover snob too!
I can't imagine spending hours and hours writing a book and then putting a mediocre or bad cover on it. After all, the cover is what initially draws us!
Hi Kav, would love to win a copy of this book. I’m not familiar with this author, but it sounds like a great read!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance.
pwestfall7 at hotmail dot com
She's brand spanking new to me too. Two books by her in two weeks and I'm eyeing a third. Love that she's on audible! Just wish her paperbacks were available on Book Depository. Good luck, Pam!
Deleteohhhh I too gave up on regency era because I didnt find any christian/clean authors in this genre. I am excited.Thank you for sharing about this author. quilting dash lady at comcast dot net
ReplyDeleteThere are a bunch of clean and Christian Regency authors out there now. We just have to use our spidey sense to find them! Good Reads is great for that. This one is Medieval -- but the author has written Regency as well. Good luck, Lori!
DeleteI haven't read anything by Bessey yet but her books all sound very intriguing. I don't think I've read many books from the time period that get so close and personal with the Richard/John conflict.
ReplyDeleteecriggs1990(at)aol(dot)com
This time period can be tricky to write but it's fascinating even if we tend to romanticize knights in shining armor and all. :-) Good luck, Liz!
DeleteI also haven't read any of her books. The Middle Ages sounds interesting!
ReplyDeletepbclark(at)netins(dot)net
Glad I can introduce her. I think Sian Ann Bessey is fabulous! Good luck, rubynreba!
DeleteI haven’t read this author before but I do enjoy this time period.
ReplyDeletepaulams49ATsbcglobalDOTnet
It's so much fun to discover history through fiction. Good luck, Paula!
DeleteRachelle Rae Cobb has some Medieval books. She is a Christian author.
ReplyDeleteOooohhh, her books do look good. Thanks for sharing!
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