My medieval romantic historical, The Lady and the Minstrel, is now available for pre-order on Amazon!
In 13th century England, Robert Marcel chafes against the
law that holds him bound as a villein on his lord’s manor. He tries to
make a daring escape and is nearly caught by his cruel master, but a young girl
helps him slip away.
Years
pass and Robert takes up trade as a minstrel. Invited to play at a
banquet for the notorious Earl of Saxton, he is stunned to come face to face
with the girl he’s never forgotten—now Lady Marguerite of Winbourne, betrothed
to the earl. Her status as a noblewoman puts her completely out of Robert’s
reach, but he knows they are meant to be together. He vows to make her his wife
no matter what the cost.
Lady
Marguerite has often thought of the young man she helped escape. Her
tender feelings for him quickly turn into much more when they are brought back
into each other’s lives. She longs to be free to marry Robert, the man
she loves, but that will require her to sacrifice all she holds dear.
They
are tested at every turn by those bent on driving them apart and destroying what
they have found together. Can their love truly conquer all?
Pre-order price is only $1.99. Once published, the price will rise to $3.99, so order your copy now and save $2.00. Amazon will deliver a Kindle copy directly to your Kindle or Kindle app on January 29.
Pre-order your copy now on Amazon! (Additional buy links coming soon.)
I have a lovely early Christmas present from An Author's Art . . . a beautiful cover for my upcoming romantic historical novel, The Lady and the Minstrel!
In 13th century England, Robert Marcel chafes against the
law that holds him bound as a villein on his lord’s manor. He tries to
make a daring escape and is nearly caught by his cruel master, but a young girl
helps him slip away.
Years
pass and Robert takes up trade as a minstrel. Invited to play at a
banquet for the notorious Earl of Saxton, he is stunned to come face to face
with the girl he’s never forgotten—now Lady Marguerite of Winbourne, betrothed
to the earl. Her status as a noblewoman puts her completely out of Robert's reach,
but he knows they are meant to be together. He vows to make her his wife no
matter what the cost.
Lady
Marguerite has often thought of the young man she helped escape. Her
tender feelings for him quickly turn into much more when they are brought back
into each other’s lives. She longs to be free to marry Robert, the man
she loves, but that will require her to sacrifice all she holds dear.
They
are tested at every turn by those bent on driving them apart and destroying
what they have found together. Can their love truly conquer all?
Watch for The Lady and the Minstrel, coming in January 2015!
Have you read about my free keyring giveaway? Here are four readers who have sent me a picture of them and my sweet medieval romance, Loving Lucianna! That means four of my ten keyrings are gone. Only 6 remain. They're waiting for more readers to send me their pictures!
Click here or on the keychain in the left column to find out more about how you can get a Loving Lucianna keychain!
Karen H from Arizona
Tasha F from Wisconsin
Laura M from Michigan
(See? You can enter even if you're shy. :-) )
DeAnn S from Arizona
Thank you, ladies, for sharing your beautiful pictures with me!
Looking for some quick and easy stocking stuffers for Christmas? You can never go wrong with a book and you don't even have to leave the comfort of your home for these deals! I'm offering 20% discounts on THREE of my medieval romance titles. The sales start on Black Friday and run through Cyber Monday and beyond! In fact, this sale is available through December 13th.
The discounts are for PRINT copies of Loyalty's Web, Illuminations of the Heart, and Loving Lucianna. Purchases must be made through CreateSpace to use the discount codes. You can use the same discount code for any or all these titles. If you buy multiple books the discount will be applied to your entire order. Just use discount code: PDZJKR7D
It's Thanksgiving in the USA, and one thing that I'm grateful for this year (and actually year round) is music! My sister is visiting for the holiday, so I took her to visit the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, AZ. They permitted non-flash photography, so here are some of the photos I snapped with my iPod.
We started out in the Mechanical Music Gallery, where we saw some beautiful old time music boxes, some mechanical figurines, an old player piano, and some pipe organs that included mechanical instruments in their "performance." (I didn't get pictures of the music boxes or piano--I didn't start taking pictures early enough--but here are a few I did get.)
Pipe organ - those instruments you see on top (accordions, drums, saxophones, etc) played music along with the organ!
Another pipe organ
Musical mechanical doll. This one was accompanied by a video that showed it in motion, and it was even freakier than this stationary version!
After lunch in the museum cafe, we visited the gallery of musical instruments for Europe. I wanted to start with Europe because I was hoping to see some medieval instruments that I have used, am using, or might yet use in some of my stories! But I was also lured by a few instruments from other time periods, too. Naturally, in retrospect, I wish I'd taken dozens of additional pictures, but somehow I only came away with these.
This is called a rebec. It was a stringed instrument used in the Middle Ages and in later time periods, as well.
This is a lute. My hero, Robert, plays one of these in The Lady and the Minstrel.
This is called a crumhorn. It was used in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Stick around and I'll share a cool crumhorn video with you at the end of this post!
This one's called a serpent. (Can you guess why? :-) ) It originated during the Renaissance.
This is called a lur. It was a Scandinavian bronze horn used in the 7th century. That's even earlier than any of my books take place!
This is a bass horn with a serpent's head. I don't know what time period it's from, but I thought it looked cool!
And here's a slide trombone with a serpent's head. It obviously goes with the bass horn above, don't you think? Again, I don't know the time period, but wouldn't it be fun to march in a parade playing one of these?
This is a harpsichord, a replica of the oldest extant keyboard instrument, c 1480. (And yes, that's the same lute I showed you above in the background.)
This is the harpsichord as most of us are familiar with it today. This one was made in Florence, Italy in 1890.
Okay, now for the promised crumhorn concert video! I found this on YouTube and fell in love with it. The players are dressed in Renaissance costume. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
CRUMHORN CONSORT - Al Milanese Castell´Arquato Manuscript - XVI Century Italian Renaissance Music
My sister and I are hoping to go back at Christmas and visit some of the musical galleries from other areas of the world.
Wherever you live, I wish you a very happy day of reflecting on what you are grateful for!
In fact, I have 10 of them and I want to share them with you! If you have read and enjoyed Loving Lucianna, this is all you have to do: snap a photo of you holding a copy of Loving Lucianna (yes, the copy can be on your Kindle or iPad--just be sure the cover is showing) and email me the picture with your permission to post it here on my blog and on Facebook. Email me the photo with your mailing address to jdipastena@yahoo.com and I will send you a free keychain. I'll even throw in some magnets with the covers of Loyalty's Web, Illuminations of the Heart, and Loving Lucianna.
What if you borrowed a copy to read? That's okay, too. Just borrow it back long enough to snap a photo and send it to me.
One keychain per photo. No purchase necessary. (As I said, you're welcome to borrow a copy of Loving Lucianna.) 18 years old or older. USA entries only. Deadline is open until all the keychains are gone. Remember, I only have 10, so start snapping your photos now!
The picture above says it all! Bookmarked Bargains is holding a massive book sale that starts today and runs through November 20! Find free or deeply discounted books in the following categories: contemporary romance, romantic comedy, inspirational romance (LDS/Christian), historical romance, romantic suspense, non-fiction, inspirational fiction (LDS/Christian), YA General/YA Romance, Middle Grade, fantasy/sci fi, and YA fantasy. Two of my medieval romances, Loving Lucianna and A Candlelight Courting: A Short Christmas Romance will each be on sale for only 99 cents!
Each only 99 cents!
Also enter to win an awesome Reader's Party Pack, specially designed to include everything a reader needs to enjoy a good book!
Loving Lucianna is going on tour today! For the next two weeks, she will be visiting a variety of blogs who have a unique love for "all things Italian." The tour is being hosted by Italy Book Tours, and organized by Laura Fabiani. Since Lucianna and parts of her story take place in medieval Venice, the bloggers of Italy Book Tours have graciously agreed to spotlight and review my book.
And, because Loving Lucianna and I are still in a celebratory mood over her release to readers, I will be giving away 10--yep, 10!--ebook copies during the tour!
So follow along November 10-21 as Loving Lucianna tours Italy!
Congratulations to Chanel E, winner of the Spooktacular Blog Hop Giveaway here at JDP NEWS! Chanel has won a three-book combo of my three sweet medieval romances, Loyalty's Web, Illuminations of the Heart, and Loving Lucianna. Thanks to all of those who entered! I hope you had a wonderful Spook-holiday!
Award winning Regency author Donna Hatch has long been one of my favorite Regency romance authors! (Read an interview I did with Donna way back in 2009. See? I've been a fan a long time! Interview) I just discovered that she has a brand new Regency short story coming out for Christmas, and it's available for pre-order NOW!
A Christmas Reunion, the Gift of a Second Chance
Heartbroken that her betrothed has wed another woman, Emily is determined to pick up the pieces of her life and enjoy Christmas with her family.
Newly returned from war, Bennett holds a secret and will do anything to ensure Emily, his only true love, never discovers it...even if it means losing her.
Fate reunites the star-crossed lovers and reveals the truth that will either unite them or drive them apart forever.
The Gift of a Second Chance, published byThe Wild Rose Press, will be available in digital format everywhere ebooks are sold starting November 5, 2014
Donna says: It's not part of a series but it might feel like to readers because I seem to be enamored with long lost lovers reuniting, and also with chance meetings at a wayside inn. I'm sure a psychologist would read something into that but hey, I don't question the muse.
I chose the heroine’s name Emily because the root Latin word is Emil, meaning rival. In A Christmas Reunion, there is a rival for the man Emily loves, but it’s not who she thinks. A secondary meaning for Emily is ‘to prevail’ which Emily does and wins back the man she loves, but not in a way she’d ever imagined.
Excerpt:
She should step away. She really should. Allowing him to hold her created a longabsent sense of wholeness. As safety enveloped her, her shuddering eased and her tears faded to hiccups. He held her close, so strong and protective. She inhaled his aftershave, something clean and earthy and faintly spicy. The warmth of his body brought familiar comfort. She ached to kiss away all her hurt and loneliness. She ached to restore the love they’d once shared. She ached to be complete again. But he didn’t love her. He’d jilted her for another.
Pre-order (or order) your copy of A Christmas Reunion here.
Congratulations to Annette L for winning the $20 See's Candy gift card and autographed copy of Loving Lucianna! I had an amazing response to this giveaway. Thank you all for celebrating with me!
This giveaway is open to International entries (18 years old or above). Enter via the Rafflecopter form below. If the Rafflecopter form doesn't show up, click on the link that says A Rafflecopter Giveaway and it should take you to the form. The winner will be announced on November 1, 2014.
My new medieval romance, Loving Lucianna, is being published this Saturday! I'm so excited, guess what I did to celebrate? Yep, you guessed it! (Well, you did if you know me very well. ;-) ) I bought myself a box of See's chocolate. Of course, I can't eat any of it until Saturday when the book goes live--I had the sale's clerk wrap the box in paper so I wouldn't be tempted, and so far I've been a good girl. (I didn't say it was easy!)
(See? Wrapped in paper to keep me out, just as I said!)
You know what makes celebrating even more fun? Celebrating with lots and lots of friends! So I'd like to celebrate with you by holding a giveaway. The prizes? A $20 See's gift card so you can buy your very own box of chocolate, and an autographed copy of Loving Lucianna.
I'm afraid I will have to limit this giveaway to participants in the USA because of shipping charges for both the book and the chocolate.
There are three ways to enter.
First, everyone gets a FREE entry!
If you'd like additional entries, help me spread the word about my Loving Lucianna Launch Party on Facebook on October 15 by tweeting about it. You can tweet about the launch party once a day.
And if you actually come to my Loving Lucianna Launch Party on October 15, you can earn 5 extra entries! We'll be playing games and giving away over 20 books as prizes! (Don't forget to claim your extra entries on Rafflecopter, though.)
Enter via the Rafflecopter form below. I'll draw the winner's name on October 16.
