Summary Sunday

The temperatures are soaring in Arizona, but my hero is off fighting a war in the chilly month of March.

It's hard to write about camp fires when it's 115 degrees outside. Then again, I suppose it's one way to try to psych oneself through an Arizona summer!

Here are some new sentences from The Lady and the Minstrel.

Monday: Robert knew he should not cling to the surname, not with Kit Beckford in Gunthar’s camp, but if he was going to fight and possibly die for the king, he would do it as his father’s son, not some nameless minstrel.

Tuesday: Sometimes when Robert wrapped himself in his cloak, he fancied he could still smell Beck Manor in the threadbare cloth, though rationally he knew the scent had faded years ago.

Wednesday: “Mint plays havoc with one’s temper, and I am already cross enough.”

Thursday: He felt his blood churn up in anger, even as he wondered who Sir Warin was.

Friday: Robert noticed he did not mention villeins. That would be like acknowledging the milkmaid’s cow.

Saturday: He had been hungry to hear of her, but such slurs as this?

Summary Sunday

I only worked on The Lady and the Minstrel five days this week, because I devoted Saturday to another

little project. Here's a sampling of my Monday-Friday progress.

Monday: Robert knew exactly how many more heartbeats he had to savor the farewell in her lips before he need send her away to avoid discovery—and he meant to relish every one.

Tuesday: “Lord Cold-as-a-Fish, sneering down his nose at us these twelve years, making us grovel for his favor, crushing anyone whose glance offended him, Lord Lick-My-Boots-or-I’ll-Kick-Your-Ribs was finally disconcerted.”

Wednesday: Men who failed to consciously register his music often sensed the change when it ceased, though seemingly with little awareness of exactly what had altered in their surroundings.

Thursday: Robert had kept his head down when Kit Beckford walked past him, but some devilish daring in him had held Strode’s gaze steady.

Friday: The light of a torch set up on a bracket near the sentry point sent a ripple of fire down the threatening blade and lapped across the muddied face of a dazed and frightened young man.

Summary Sunday

My hero, Robert, had to work his way through some difficult memories and emotions this week, which
it was equally difficult for the author to write. (That would be me. :-) ) Now that is behind us, we're about to make a major pivot in the story, if nothing unforeseen arises to interrupt my flow this week.

Here are a few new lines from The Lady and the Minstrel.

Monday: He began to reassure her about being the sole love of his life, but memory and honesty checked him.

Tuesday: “Lottie and Alan wished to marry, but they could not without Kit’s consent, for any children she bore to Alan would become Sir Stephen’s villeins and Kit would lose their future labor.”

Wednesday: “Now that he was lord he could have run me through with his sword for the offense and suffered no more than a token fine, at worst, and likely not even that, for who would blame him for putting down a dog that’d grown vicious?”

Thursday: He remembered the wild exhilaration that had flowed through him as the three of them had ran together through the woods, guided only by a silvery half-moon that dappled the forest floor through the canopy of branches.

Friday: That had been the darkest day of Robert’s life after his father’s death, and in some ways it had been worse, for he could not have saved his father, but if he had been more careful, more cautious—if he had thought before he acted—he might have saved Lottie.

Saturday: “Kit clamored to his feet, infuriated, and swung his fist at me, but I dodged and hit him again.”

Summary Sunday

I missed one day this week because I spent the last night of my sister's visit with her instead of writing.

Then between Tuesday and Wednesday, I decided to rewrite the scene I'd been working on from an entirely different angle and POV. So Tuesday's sentence is no longer in The Lady and the Minstrel, although a friend said I should post my deleted scene on my website when I finish this book, so you never know, you may get to read it in context someday after all.

Monday: (Last night with my sister, spent the evening with her)

Tuesday: But something had provoked him six years after his father’s shame to risk his life in flight, for one man did not set hounds on another unless the hunter was prepared to hazard his pack savaging their prey.

Wednesday: Robert found it hard to hate a man who so clearly loved and respected his wife, even if nine times out of ten when Robert sang for the Earl and Countess of Gunthar, the earl behaved as if Robert wasn’t even there.

Thursday: His grey hair attested to his long life, the creases in his face that it had not been an easy one.

Friday: “I know what happened then,” Robert snapped. He had stood here babbling with Simon like a fool while Marguerite prepared to bring disaster down upon their heads.

Saturday: “I said something much worse in the end. I said that villeins should be free.”

Thanks to you all, I'm a RONE Award finalist!

Thank you to all of you who took the time to vote for one or all of my 2012 stories, Dangerous Favor, A Candlelight Courting, and/or A Timeless Romance: 2012 Winter Edition (which included my medieval short story, "Caroles on the Green") for a RONE Award sponsored by InD'Tale Magazine! Thanks to you, ALL of my stories passed the "reader preference" phase of the competition and are finalists for a 2012 RONE Award! Dangerous Favor, A Candlelight Courting, and A Timeless Romance each now advance to a panel of professional judges who will determine the best overall book of 2012.

The winner and runners-up will be announced and presented at the 2012 RONE Award Ceremony on August 9th at the Romance Novel Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. I don't know if I'll be able to attend, but I am thrilled even to be in the running, and I owe it all to you, my dear, faithful, supportive readers.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Summary Sunday

My sister has been visiting me this week, plus Saturday was an all-day/all-night headache kind of day (and night), so I only got three days of writing in on The Lady and the Minstrel. On the bright side—I got three days of writing in on The Lady and the Minstrel. J Here is a sampling of what I accomplished his week.

Monday: Even with Lord Christopher nearly on his heels, Robert kissed her one more time, as though he could not get enough of her—or perhaps she merely interpreted his passion thus because she could not get enough of him.

Tuesday: (Late night with my sister, no writing.)

Wednesday: (My sister’s birthday and another late night, no writing)

Thursday: She shook out the skirts of her gown as though the gesture could shake away her nervousness.

Friday: From the confident, satisfied gleam in his eyes whenever they rested on her, she knew he thought he had cowed her at last into submission with his vicious defeat of Sir Warin.

Saturday: (Headache and late night with my sister)

Summary Sunday

My sister flew to Arizona on Friday for a 12 day visit, so Friday was a washout writing-wise, but I got 

the other five days in. Here is a new sampling from The Lady and the Minstrel.

Monday: Marguerite joined her in searching through the little carved casket where Marguerite kept her ribbons.

Tuesday: She always suspected he had gone off someplace alone to weep, for he would have thought it weakness to do so before others, even his granddaughter.

Wednesday: “If you thought I did not care, then I did not kiss you soundly enough in the woods.”

Thursday: He asked me if I had a wife and when I said no, he said I was too young and they must look elsewhere, but Lady Helen exclaimed that my song enchanted her—it was a fairy song my mother taught me—and she said I must not heed her stuffy husband and that she would not allow me to say her nay.

Friday: 

Saturday: She wanted to know he was near her, not somewhere lost in throngs of the great city of London.

Summary Sunday

This week, a rival for my heroine’s affections enters the scene. Not each of these sentences relates to 

him, but some of them do. And of course, we had to have another tournament, right? I hope you enjoy these new sentences from The Lady and the Minstrel!

Monday: ’Twas the second time Sarah had observed more of Marguerite’s heart than Marguerite had wished her to, but she could make no reply for Sir Warin had rejoined them.

Tuesday: Clever. It was what men called women who knew how to read, and Marguerite knew it was not always meant as a compliment.

Wednesday: Speak, a voice whispered in her mind, but a vying flutter in her breast murmured, Not yet, not yet.

Thursday: She could not take advantage of his chivalry after rejecting his heart so cruelly.

Friday: (Two sentences, for context) Marguerite had earlier watched Lady Lovell draw a yellow ribbon from her hair and tie it to Strode’s lance as a favor. It fluttered its unabashed contempt of Marguerite’s pride for too many chagrining moments as the king uttered his royal blessing—“Fight this day with courage and honor. May God be with you.”—in a humdrum voice that revealed his continued displeasure with his “favorite”, and waved Strode on so that he might bless the next knight and the next.

Saturday: Thankfully, he never spoke to her for if he had, she was quite sure it would have shattered her restraint and set her flailing at him like a madwoman.

Summary Sunday

Sometimes, no matter how much a writer loves a particular line she writes, upon reflection it simply
doesn't belong in the story. Such is the case with this week's Wednesday sentence. By Thursday I had already reluctantly decided that it needed to be snipped out of the story because it didn't quite fit the mood of the scene. But good lines need never go entirely to waste. In my case, they go into a CUTS document, where if I wish to, I can pluck them back out and use them in another story. Such might be the case for Wednesday's sentence someday. :-)

Once more, these are all lines from this week's draft writing of The Lady and the Minstrel.

Monday: She swept her lashes against her cheeks to veil the revulsion she feared she could not conceal in her eyes and prayed Isabelle would interpret it as a sign of flustered awe that Marguerite had won so great a condescension as counsel from the queen.

Tuesday: Marguerite blamed Sarah for putting the idea into her head.

Wednesday: Marguerite did not realize how the gesture made her gawk in surprise until he winked a second time.

Thursday: Marguerite had learned that when the king’s wine-slickened voice garbled his bursts of bravado into “Shalleena, mlors?”, that the meal had reached it’s end, for the king soon thereafter stumbled out of the hall with his arm around a buxom wench, unless he dropped back into his chair and his head pitched snoring onto the tabletop first.

Friday: Strode took another leisurely sip from his cup, then murmured as the king drew breath to reply, “Ah, nay. As I recall, that man who called your actions dishonorable was not me, but the Earl of Gunthar.”

Saturday: Before Marguerite scarcely knew what she was doing, she gave Sir Aldus a bright smile, laid her fingers in his, and was stepping and sliding and skipping alongside him to the vigorous tune of the vielles.

Summary Sunday

This week's writing was evenly divided between my old/new couple reappearing in the story and my
heroine, Marguerite, being thrust into King John's court in London. Here are a few new sentences from The Lady and the Minstrel.

Monday: She knew, as he did, how men who ordinarily scorned learning as the labor of clerks found themselves unexpectedly intimidated when thrust into the presence of her husband’s obsessive collection of leatherbound tomes

Tuesday: “John, Marshal writes, is like a vengeful dog, determined to tear his former lands out of the grasping hand of the King of France like a hound all a-growl to recover a stolen bone.”

Wednesday: “She is a cordwainer’s daughter, which you would know if you had lent his prattle half-an ear instead of glaring him into silence every time he sighed her name.”

Thursday: Marguerite had thought Lady Lovell the most beautiful woman she had ever seen until she had laid eyes on Isabelle of Angoulême.

Friday: It startled Marguerite slightly when Sarah lay a finger to the rose Marguerite had chosen next to stitch, until she realized her friend meant the gesture to misdirect anyone who watched them into thinking they merely discussed Marguerite’s embroidery.

Saturday: “And I think you do not weep only because you are bound to so wicked a man as the earl. My love, I know a broken heart when I see it.”

Summary Sunday

I finished what I'm calling the first 3rd of my story arc this week. This has no reference to the actual number of pages per "3rd" in the final version, so trying to guess how close I am to the end will do you no good. Alas, even I'm not sure exactly how many pages it will take me to tell this story, and the three sections likely will not be divided evenly page-wise. But in my mind, it all basically breaks down like this: (1) Falling in love; (2) Separation; and (3) Reunion and Finis. Monday - Friday below are part of (1) Falling in love. Saturday's sentence is the beginning of (2) Separation. (And yes, it's from a new character's POV, although if you've read Loyalty's Web, the character will be familiar when you meet him again. :-) )

Enjoy!

Monday: “’Twas a jolly Christmas—I do think the lasses of this village have the lightest feet I have met for dancing—but I have stayed overlong and the road calls to me again.”

Tuesday: He wished he could have afforded a better bridal gift for her than the spring green ribbon embroidered down the center with a garland of red roses that he had wheedled from the candlemaker’s daughter for a penny and a song.

Wednesday: She sped down the rutted lane so fast he feared she might take a tumble over the uneven ground.

Thursday: Robert glimpsed the youth over Strode’s shoulder, his sullen face smug with revenge.

Friday: He heard the whiz of Strode’s blade one heartbeat before he ducked beneath its slicing edge so narrowly a lock of Robert’s raven hair landed in the dirt beside his right boot.

Saturday: They had shared more joys than sorrows, but the heartaches they had passed through had been the sort that never fully healed, and though over four years had passed, this last one still struck deep.

DANGEROUS FAVOR is up for a RONE Award!

My sweet medieval romance, DANGEROUS FAVOR, is up for a RONE Award, awarded to small or indie published books that

earned a 4 star or higher review by InD'Tale Magazine! The first round of judging is done by readers, so if you have read DANGEROUS FAVOR and enjoyed it, I would appreciate your vote! Click on the link below, then scroll down to "Best Historical: Up Through Medieval". Thank you! (voting for my category ends May 3rd.)

http://indtale.com/rone-awards/2012/week-2

Summary Sunday

This week was full of revelations to my heroine about my hero, along with a proposal she’s long been hoping for. Alas, this is not the end of the story, so next week will bring “complications.” :-)

Monday: “Then you have not told me everything—have you?”

Tuesday: “I said there were easier places to hide bells from her than underneath that heavy old chest and after we all stood guessing for awhile what else it might be, I remembered the silver and I said it.”

Wednesday: “I knew it was true when his face went so red, but he slapped me and called me a hysterical boy and said if I ever spoke such slander again I would regret it, despite my youth.”

Thursday: “Lord Simon said a knight can be turned for silver or ambition, but he knew my father coveted freedom for his family above everything else and promised him enough silver to achieve it for my mother and brother and sister and himself if my father returned him safe to England.”

Friday: Oh, she should not have said that, for Robert promptly disappeared again, soundless as a cat this time.

Saturday: His midnight eyes bore into hers with an implacable honesty. “Marguerite, if you marry me—I do not easily give up what I have claimed as mine. If you marry me, there will be no going back.”

Interview & Giveaway with Tina Scott

Welcome to the second week of the blog tour for Tina Scott's soon-to-be-released debut historical novel, Farewell, My Denmark! I am delighted to host an interview with Tina here at JDP NEWS this week.  Tina is also giving away a copy of her novel (June publication date), along with a $10 Target gift card. For a chance to win, leave a comment on this interview. For additional chances to win, Tweet or Facebook this giveaway and leave a comment here, letting Tina know you've Facebooked or Tweeted. Tina will be checking out the comments and will select a winner at 5 PM PST on Friday (April 19). BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS SO TINA CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN! (An international winner will receive an e-book only. Sorry.)

JDP: Welcome, Tina! Please tell us a little about your historical novel.

Tina: I’d love to.

A failed engagement sets seventeen-year-old Catherine Erichsen on a faith-building journey of self discovery as she follows her parents and other Mormon Saints on the 1863 immigration to America. When precious heirlooms start disappearing aboard the John J. Boyd, Catherine nearly loses her life at the hand of thieving sailors and fears she won’t live long enough to fulfill the desires of her heart.

JDP: Farewell, My Denmark is set in 1863. Is there a particular reason you chose that year?

Tina: This is the year that one set of my ancestors emigrated from Denmark aboard the John J. Boyd.

JDP: So there’s a link to your own family history. That’s exciting! What did you find most fascinating about this time period? 

Tina: It was a time of transition for modern technology. Bicycles had been invented, but chances that a farm girl would have seen one were slim. They traveled by train part of the way, but many of the immigrants, I’m sure, had never seen a train before they stepped aboard, and so many of their experiences were different and exciting.

JDP: I’m always interested in how authors research their historical novels. Could you tell us a little about how you researched the historical background for Farewell, My Denmark?

Tina: I got my information from a variety of sources. My family history gave me the idea for the story. I found other immigrants’ histories in the Mormon Immigration Index to broaden my perspective on their experience, I resourced a few books, and the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah, and I went to Denmark where I visited the Den Fynske Landsby, or Funen Village. It is here that they’ve brought antique homes and buildings from various regions of Denmark and turned it into an open air museum, and give snippets of their peasant history.

JDP: Oh, wow, can you see me turning green? That’s envy, because I would LOVE to visit this “village,” and I’m not even Danish. Can you share with us your top three favorite research books or other resources?

Tina: Going there in person trumps anything else. *grin*

JDP: Indeed it would! Are there any historical figures from the era who particularly intrigue you?

Tina: I would have to say Hans Christian Andersen. I grew up hearing his stories and loving them. And, when I was young, Danny Kaye starred in a movie about HCA, which I watched with delight.

JDP: Oh, that was a favorite movie of my dad’s and mine, too! Absolutely loved it! In fact, one of the songs from it has a link to my current WIP. (How’s that for a coincidence?) What inspired you to write Farewell, My Denmark?

Tina: There are so many well written stories about the American pioneers, but I hadn’t encountered any on the Danish pioneers. I feel that their stories are unique and interesting, and deserve to be told.

JDP: I agree. (In full disclosure, I read an early version of Farewell, My Denmark and am currently reading a second book of Tina’s, also set in Denmark, and I confess, I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring this “less told” aspect of LDS history.)  Are you working on any new projects? (Well, I kinda gave that away now, didn’t I. LOL!)

Tina: *Laughs* I forgive you. Yes, I’m in the middle of writing a story about Catherine’s sister who ends up staying in Denmark.

JDP: Where can readers obtain copies of Farewell, My Denmark?

Tina: Farewell, My Denmark will be available in June on Amazon, Kindle, and Smashwords.

JDP: Thank you for joining us today, Tina.

Now remember, for a chance to win a copy of Farewell, My Denmark along with a $10 Target gift certificate, leave a comment on this interview. Tweet and/or Facebook for additional entries before 5 PM EST, Friday April 19. REMEMBER TO INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS.

Summary Sunday

I confronted the darkest day in my hero's life this week. I've played it out in my mind for years, but this was the first time I attempted to write it down. It's interesting how malleable a scene remains until it finally takes solid form on paper or computer screen. Details I hadn't known even with my years of imagining suddenly appeared. It is part of the wonder of "writing."

I share a little glimpse of this scene with you below for Friday. Just one of many new sentences, dark and otherwise, from The Lady and the Minstrel this week.

Monday: He had many things to tell her, but some things felt too harsh for today.

Tuesday: He saw all too glaringly now how their hopes in one another had been at cross-purposes all this while.

Wednesday: Robert hated to admit he shared a common trait with the Earl of Strode, but he recognized stubbornness when he saw it, for the fault had plagued him all his life.

Thursday: Robert was appalled. “Is that what you think I am thinking?”

Friday: “I pelted home just in time to see my father throw a handful of coins in Lord Simon’s face and Lord Simon’s knights spring upon my father and my mother drop her lute.”

Saturday: So bitterly had Lord Simon’s hated face soared up before Robert’s vision that he did not see Marguerite until her hands slapped against his chest.

Book blog tour for "Farewell, My Denmark", by Tina Scott

I am happy to help my good friend, Tina Scott, celebrate the release of her first historical novel, Farewell, My Denmark! She is running a book blog tour, as you will see below, giving away copies of her new books along with Target gift cards. Visit each of the blogs below on the dates listed to be entered in the contest. And don't forget to visit Tina's own blog for an extra entry there!

Totally Tina Scott

I will be holding an interview with Tina on April 16, so I hope you'll come back and visit us then!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

!! HELP ME CELEBRATE MY NOVEL !! 

FAREWELL, MY DENMARK book giveaway and celebration APRIL 8 – 26th

 My Wonderful Helpers:

April 8____Tristi Pinkston  April 12___Valerie Ipson April 15___Cami Checketts April 16___Joyce DiPastena April 22___Joyce Smith
April 23___Jennifer Griffith and Julie Martin Wallace  Each Friday, April 12th, 19th, 26th, one winner will be picked from that weeks comments to receive a copy of my novel [You may choose from print or ebook.

and a $10 Target gift card.

INTERNATIONAL: ebook only, no gift card. Sorry.

Winner will be drawn Fridays @ 5pm Pacific Standard time.

Participants who didn’t win may re-enter each week w/ new comments and announcements.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

Leave a comment on hosts blog = 1 entry

Leave a comment on my blog w/ your email address in case you win = 1 entry
(Those w/o an email address posted will forfeit if they win.)

Tweet about giveaway w/ link to my blog = 1 entry

Facebook announcement about giveaway w/ link to my blog = 1 entry

Summary Sunday

I did a lot of editing this week, but I did manage a bit of new writing that moved the story forward. Here is a sampling of new sentences from The Lady and the Minstrel.

Monday: The earl did not need his temper further strained by intercepting Robert returning the longing looks Marguerite was too young to resist casting at him from the dais.

Tuesday: Somehow he kept his voice gentle when a swelling rage within him wanted to pull his dagger free and hunt the earl down.

Wednesday: But the plea in her eyes undid all his noble resolves and his mouth drifted towards her lips like a bee drawn to a seductively blushing rose.

Thursday: He pushed her away a little too hard, for he heard her startled huff as her back knocked up against the log and slightly winded her.

Friday: “If I was so clumsy that you could not feel my love in those kisses, then I am as contemptible a scoundrel as the Earl of Strode.”

Saturday: He had felt the promise of it before, whispering along his soul in those moments when his restlessness calmed as they’d blended their music and laughter.

Musical musings

I know many writers who write to music. I even know writers who choose specific songs to go with each character or even each chapter or scene of their books. In general, I am not such a writer myself. I can’t write to music or TV or any other background distractions. (Well, maybe my cats, but that’s about it.) Aside from medieval poetry, to which any musical accompaniments has failed to survive to the present day, there are no actual musical connections to my medieval novels . . . with one exception, and it’s not a medieval one.

There is a song that is bound in my heart to my current work-in-progress, The Lady and the Minstrel. It has been some time since I sang it, but I came across it recently as I was unpacking some music books in my new house. The song is Anywhere I Wander, by Frank Loesser, and was sung by Danny Kaye in the movie musical, Hans Christian Anderson in 1952. I grew up watching this movie as a little girl with my dad—it was one of our favorites—and in my house, whenever we found a musical we liked, we went to a music store and bought the sheet music (or book of sheet music) to the movie, then came home and sang and played it endlessly on the piano.

I learned this song long before I wrote my first draft of The Lady and the Minstrel (many, many years ago), but while writing that first draft, this song took on a new meaning to me—or rather, I should say, to my characters, my hero in particular. I think it is the theme in the song of wandering, since my hero was a wandering minstrel, coupled with the sad nature of the lyrics. The third verse became particularly poignant to me as it came to encapsulate a dark moment towards the end of the book where my hero sends my heroine away with another man. I promise my story has a happy ending, but for awhile towards the end, things do look very bleak.

These are the words to the song. They could easily be sung by my hero, Robert the Minstrel, about his lady love, Marguerite.

Anywhere I Wander

by Frank Loesser

Her arms were warm as they welcomed me,

Her eyes were fire bright,

And then I knew that my path must be

Through the ever haunted night,

For anywhere I wander,

Anywhere I roam,

Till I’m in the arms of my darling again

My heart will find no home.

Anywhere I wander,

Anywhere I roam.

Her voice was oh such a soft caress,

Of love it gently told,

And in her smile was a tenderness

I may never more behold.

But anywhere I wander,

Anywhere I roam,

 Till I’m in the arms of my darling again

 My heart will find no home.

Anywhere I wander,

Anywhere I roam.

Her tears were silver as morning dew

As she bade me goodbye,

And every tear was a promise true

That her love would never die.

So anywhere I wander,

Anywhere I roam,

Till I’m in the arms of my darling again

My heart will find no home.

Anywhere I wander.

Anywhere I roam.

I’ve been unable to find a performance of this song that includes all three verses, but here is one by Danny Kaye with verses 1 & 2 and one by Ed Ames that includes verses 1 & 3.

My books on sale for Kindle!

My publisher has made all three of my sweet medieval romances available at sales prices for Kindle through April 13! Each is now only $4.99, a $5 savings off the regular price. Just go to Amazon and type in any of the following titles:

Loyalty's Web

Illuminations of the Heart

Dangerous Favor

And check out my publisher's website for more great e-books on sale! Walnut Springs Press

Summary Sunday

A good friend once gave me a doll with frazzled hair holding a sign that said: "Some days are better

than others." That was certainly true for my writing this week, especially on Friday. I barely eked out a handful of new sentences in an evening otherwise mostly devoted to editing a pivotal scene from an earlier draft. (The editing session felt more like a wrestling match!) In spite of that, I did manage to write six days this week. Here is a sampling from what I accomplished this week with The Lady and the Minstrel.

Monday: She could barely eat or sleep for wondering where Robert was and what he was thinking and whether this time apart would cool the simmering heat in his eyes and replace it with a cold, sober assessment that the dangers of her inheritance outweighed the desire she knew he felt for her.

Tuesday: Holly, along with mistletoe and ivy, had always been hung in her grandfather’s hall during Advent, but her father held to the belief that it was unlucky to gather holly before Christmas Eve.

Wednesday: Strode even let her win twice at chess. He praised her cleverness, again conspicuously before the servants, when he forced her to take advantage of careless moves she knew a man shrewd enough to rise in power next to the king could only have made deliberately.

Thursday: His voice did not slur, but she recoiled, the aromatic mix of cloves and cinnamon and apples of the wassail soured with the wine on his breath.

Friday: The inexplicable sense of safety she had felt with Robert in the glade had become a promise fulfilled.

Saturday: “That glint in yer eye, that mulish set to yer lips— I’ve known ye too long not to recognize the signs that ye’re about to do somethin’ insanely foolish.”