Joyce DiPastena's Blog, page 8

Book Tour Grand Finale for Courting Cassandry

On Tour with Prism Book Tours.
Book Tour Grand Finale for Courting Cassandry By Joyce DiPastena
We hope you enjoyed going back to Medieval times, finding tokens of courtship from Gerolt to Cassandry, and their story at their chance for a rare second chance at love! If you have been gathering tokens for the giveaway, here is the eighth one (previously not posted):



If you missed any of the stops or tokens, go back and check them out now...



Launch - Author Q&A

What is your motivation behind Courting Cassandry? Why did you want to write it?

Courting Cassandry is the second book in my Hearts in Autumn Romance series. The couples in this series are older than couples in most romances, in their 40s and 50s. Now that I’m, oh, somewhere around those ages myself, I thought it would be interesting to explore how romances might develop between more mature couples, all based on the premise: “You’re never too old to fall in love!” Because really, don’t we all want to be loved regardless of our age?



The Written Adventure - What is a Hearts in Autumn Romance?

These are characters who have already lived rich lives, who have experienced depths of heartache and joy that my younger characters only stand on the threshold of. That gives my autumn couples layers of complexity that I can’t quite reach with younger characters. And I am finding that aspect exceptionally enjoyable!

Lampshade Reader - Interview

6. If you were presented with the opportunity to travel through time, which period would you choose and why?
My fascination with the Middle Ages began with King Henry II of England, who has played an offstage role in several of my books, so I suppose I would like to go back to the days when he was king and see what he was truly like. Not what his modern critics or supporters say he was like, but what he was really like.





Wishful Endings - Excerpt



Fire churned in her stomach. How dare you make me feel again? After you failed me so abysmally. You abandon me, then sweep back into my life as though you were never gone. But I will always be a child to you, your sparrow, when at this moment I want nothing more than to wipe away the taste of Sir Samson with your kiss on my lips.

Bookworm Lisa - Review



"The characters and story are well written. This is a clean romance that pulled me in from the beginning. I love reading Joyce's books and this book lived up to my expectations!"





deal sharing aunt - Excerpt



At the risk of another rebuff, Gerolt took her hand again, allowing some of the purple blossoms to scatter at their feet. How could she not feel his longing for her in his touch? His thumb swept lightly over her knuckles. “I cannot let you simply disappear again.”





I Am A Reader - Medieval Tokens



One event at which a lady might quite openly give a token to a man with few repercussions was at a tournament. These tokens were usually called “favors” and when worn by the knight, indicated that all his successes on the tournament field would be won on behalf of the lady whose token he wore.





Letters from Annie Douglass Lima - Medieval Rules of Inheritance



Sometimes well-meaning readers question the lines of inheritance in my medieval romances. More familiar with the popular and wide spread Regency romance, they assume that the strict rules of inheritance that basically disowned the rights of daughters during the Regency or even Victorian eras have always stood in England. This was not the case.

EskieMama Reads - Excerpt



“I hate seeing you in such distress.” The vehemence that shook his lowered voice made her turn her head to gaze at him. “As much as we love them, children can sometimes be the very devil. If you would like me to shake Egelina for you, I should be happy to oblige.”





Getting Your Read On - Review



"I loved the stories within stories. Each character in this book has a story to tell. They all weave together but shape each character separately. It was a gentle and slow unfolding and I feel like I became more personally acquainted with each character page by page."





underneath the covers - Medieval Entertainments, Part 1 – Dancing



The curious thing about medieval dancing is that no one knows how medieval couples actually danced. Written descriptions of dancing in Europe didn’t appear until the mid-1400s, during the Renaissance. Nevertheless, we know people did dance during the Middle Ages because there are references to dancing in medieval poetry, as well as glimpses of dancing in medieval paintings and illuminated manuscripts.

Singing Librarian Books - Review & Interview



"Readers will be captivated by the charming and beautiful love story, as well as the wonderfully developed characters. I would recommend this novel to readers that enjoy medieval romance novels."

5. What inspired the idea for your Courting Cassandry or Hearts in Autumn Series?

A couple of years ago, a writers group I was in challenged us each to try to write an autumn-themed story. While I was trying to come up with an autumn theme, the thought came to me, “What if I wrote a story about falling in love during the characters’ ‘autumn years?’” So I wrote a romance about an older couple and enjoyed it so much, I decided to turn it into a series called “Hearts in Autumn.” Courting Cassandry is the second title in the series. (The first was Loving Lucianna.)





Zerina Blossom's Books - Medieval Entertainment, Part II - Chess



Chess was a hugely popular game among the nobility of Europe during the Middle Ages. The game is believed to have originated in India in the 6th century and made its way to Europe somewhere around the year 1000. The rules were somewhat different than the modern game and the names of some of the pieces changed, translated into more familiar European concepts.
Courting Cassandry (Hearts in Autumn #2)by Joyce DePastenaAdult Historical Romanceebook, 348 pagesFebruary 17th 2016
Is it too late for second chances when the girl you loved in your youth comes back into your life?
Gerolt de Warenne became guardian to a child-heiress named Cassandry when he was only nineteen-years old. As he watched her grow into a lovely young woman, he found himself falling in love with her, but Cassandry viewed him as an older brother. So, burying his feelings, he gave permission for her to marry another.
Twenty-four years later Gerolt and Cassandry meet again. With the loss of their respective spouses, Gerolt hopes to finally court Cassandry, but she desires to remain a widow. Instead, they agree to a betrothal of their children.
Matters become complicated as their friendship begins to evolve into the romance Gerolt has always wanted. But by the law of the medieval Church, Cassandry and Gerolt can’t marry if their children do. Can they find a way to be together? Or must they sacrifice their future for the love of their children?
"Courting Cassandry" is a “Hearts in Autumn” romance, medieval romances revolving around heroes and heroines “in the autumn of their years.” Because love isn’t only for the young!

Goodreads │ Amazon │ Barnes & Noble │ Kobo │ iTunes

The First Book in the Series

Loving Lucianna (Hearts in Autumn #1)by Joyce DePastenaAdult Historical RomancePaperback & ebook, 220 pagesOctober 11th 2014
Sir Balduin de Soler gave up long ago on love. He never had the means to support a wife until an unexpected advancement in his fifties allows him to reassess his future just as the lovely Lucianna enters his life. 
Lucianna Fabio harbors a secret, painful memory from her past that has kept her unwed, as well. Now in her forties, she thought herself too old to marry until she meets Sir Balduin. Now suddenly their lonely autumn lives feel very much like spring again . . . until Lucianna’s brother appears without warning and threatens to revive the secret that will destroy Lucianna’s second chance at love. 
"Loving Lucianna" is the first in Joyce DiPastena’s new "Hearts in Autumn" romance series, medieval romances revolving around heroes and heroines “in the autumn of their years.” Because you’re never too old to fall in love!

Goodreads │ Amazon │ Barnes & Noble │ Kobo │ iTunes │ Smashwords


Joyce DiPastena dreamed of green medieval forests while growing up in the dusty copper mining town of Kearny, Arizona. She filled her medieval hunger by reading the books of Thomas B. Costain (where she fell in love with King Henry II of England), and later by attending the University of Arizona where she graduated with a degree in history, specializing in the Middle Ages. The university was also where she completed her first full-length novel…set, of course, in medieval England. Later, her fascination with Henry II led her to expand her research horizons to the far reaches of his “Angevin Empire” in France, which became the setting of her first published novel, Loyalty’s Web (a 2007 Whitney Award Finalist).
When she’s not writing, Joyce loves to read, play the piano, and spend time with her sister and friends. A highlight of her year is attending the annual Arizona Renaissance Festival .
Joyce is a multi-published, multi-award winning author who specializes in sweet medieval romances heavily spiced with mystery and adventure. She lives with her two cats, Clio and Glinka Rimsky-Korsokov, in Mesa, Arizona.


Website │ Goodreads │ Facebook │ Twitter
Tour Giveaway



$20 See's Candies Gift Certificate (if US) or $20 PayPal Cash (if international)Copies of Loving Lucianna and Courting Cassandry (signed print if US, ebook if international)Ends March 12th



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Tour Launch for Courting Cassandry

On Tour with Prism Book Tours.
Book Tour Launch for Courting Cassandry By Joyce DiPastena
Come along with us as we go back to Medieval times and find tokens of courtship from Gerolt to Cassandry as he wishes for a rare second chance at love...
Tour ScheduleFebruary 29th: The Written Adventure, Lampshade Reader, &  Wishful Endings March 1st: Bookworm Lisa, deal sharing aunt, &  I Am A Reader March 2nd: Letters from Annie Douglass Lima & EskieMama ReadsMarch 3rd: Getting Your Read On, underneath the covers, &  Boundless Minds March 4th: Singing Librarian Books &  Zerina Blossom's Books March 6th: Grand Finale
Q&A with the Author

What is your motivation behind Courting Cassandry? Why did you want to write it?
Courting Cassandry is the second book in my Hearts in Autumn Romance series. The couples in this series are older than couples in most romances, in their 40s and 50s. Now that I’m, oh, somewhere around those ages myself, I thought it would be interesting to explore how romances might develop between more mature couples, all based on the premise: “You’re never too old to fall in love!” Because really, don’t we all want to be loved regardless of our age?
My first book in the series, Loving Lucianna, was about two people in their “autumn years” who had never been married before. (Please keep in mind when I type “autumn years” that age expectancy was much shorter in the Middle Ages than it is today.) For Courting Cassandry, I wanted to explore what a relationship might be like between a widow and a widower framed by the medieval expectations of those times, and just for fun, I threw in a teenaged child for each of them. The dynamics between not only the hero and heroine, but between the parents and their children, proved tremendously fun to write.
What do you hope readers take with them after they’ve read it?
That sometimes second chances come around again. And that most people have more than one side to them, even the so-called “villains” of the story. The latter wasn’t my goal when I wrote the story, it’s just something that emerged from the characters and surprised me a bit when it did. But I felt they taught me something that I wasn’t actively looking for. Maybe they will do the same for some of my readers.
Do you have a favorite scene?
Well, I can’t give too much away because I don’t want share any spoilers. But there are two chapters involving the teenaged children that always make me grin when I reread them. I hope others who read the book will enjoy the scenes these young people appear in, too.
Share something about you that is unique.
Something unique about me? Hmm. I named my cats for two of the great loves in my life. Clio for the Greek Muse of History, although she’s more interested in sleeping most of the time than inspiring me. And Glinka Rismky-Korsakov for a Russian composer, because I love classical music. Sometimes he even sits on the piano bench with me when I play the piano. J
— Joyce
Courting Cassandry (Hearts in Autumn #2)by Joyce DiPastenaAdult Historical Romanceebook, 348 pagesFebruary 17th 2016
Is it too late for second chances when the girl you loved in your youth comes back into your life?
Gerolt de Warenne became guardian to a child-heiress named Cassandry when he was only nineteen-years old. As he watched her grow into a lovely young woman, he found himself falling in love with her, but Cassandry viewed him as an older brother. So, burying his feelings, he gave permission for her to marry another.
Twenty-four years later Gerolt and Cassandry meet again. With the loss of their respective spouses, Gerolt hopes to finally court Cassandry, but she desires to remain a widow. Instead, they agree to a betrothal of their children.
Matters become complicated as their friendship begins to evolve into the romance Gerolt has always wanted. But by the law of the medieval Church, Cassandry and Gerolt can’t marry if their children do. Can they find a way to be together? Or must they sacrifice their future for the love of their children?
"Courting Cassandry" is a “Hearts in Autumn” romance, medieval romances revolving around heroes and heroines “in the autumn of their years.” Because love isn’t only for the young!

Goodreads │ Amazon │ Barnes & Noble │ Kobo │ iTunes

The First Book in the Series

Loving Lucianna (Hearts in Autumn #1)by Joyce DiPastenaAdult Historical RomancePaperback & ebook, 220 pagesOctober 11th 2014
Sir Balduin de Soler gave up long ago on love. He never had the means to support a wife until an unexpected advancement in his fifties allows him to reassess his future just as the lovely Lucianna enters his life. 
Lucianna Fabio harbors a secret, painful memory from her past that has kept her unwed, as well. Now in her forties, she thought herself too old to marry until she meets Sir Balduin. Now suddenly their lonely autumn lives feel very much like spring again . . . until Lucianna’s brother appears without warning and threatens to revive the secret that will destroy Lucianna’s second chance at love. 
"Loving Lucianna" is the first in Joyce DiPastena’s new "Hearts in Autumn" romance series, medieval romances revolving around heroes and heroines “in the autumn of their years.” Because you’re never too old to fall in love!

Goodreads │ Amazon │ Barnes & Noble │ Kobo │ iTunes │ Smashwords


Joyce DiPastena dreamed of green medieval forests while growing up in the dusty copper mining town of Kearny, Arizona. She filled her medieval hunger by reading the books of Thomas B. Costain (where she fell in love with King Henry II of England), and later by attending the University of Arizona where she graduated with a degree in history, specializing in the Middle Ages. The university was also where she completed her first full-length novel…set, of course, in medieval England. Later, her fascination with Henry II led her to expand her research horizons to the far reaches of his “Angevin Empire” in France, which became the setting of her first published novel, Loyalty’s Web (a 2007 Whitney Award Finalist).
When she’s not writing, Joyce loves to read, play the piano, and spend time with her sister and friends. A highlight of her year is attending the annual Arizona Renaissance Festival .
Joyce is a multi-published, multi-award winning author who specializes in sweet medieval romances heavily spiced with mystery and adventure. She lives with her two cats, Clio and Glinka Rimsky-Korsokov, in Mesa, Arizona.


Website │ Goodreads │ Facebook │ Twitter
Tour Giveaway



$20 See's Candies Gift Certificate (if US) or $20 PayPal Cash (if international)Copies of Loving Lucianna and Courting Cassandry (signed print if US, ebook if international)Ends March 12th



a Rafflecopter giveaway

The travelogue inside my head

Here are some of the places my research and imagination have visited recently:
The world of medieval Pater Noster cords. How do they differ from rosaries? Both are used to count prayers, but rosaries form a loop, while Pater Noster cords hang loose at each end. 

(detail from Adoration of the Magi, by Stefan Lochner)

Crystal reliquaries

(14th century reliquary from Florence, Italy)

And St Edburg (also known as St Edburga or St Eadburh)

(stained glass rendering of St Edburg)

Courting Cassandry has a Pinterest board!

I've put together a Pinterest board with a few glimpses of the story in Courting Cassandry . (I don't want to give away any spoilers, you know.)

Here's a sampling of what you can see there.


This is how I imagine Cassandry, sitting and worrying about her teenage daughter, Egelina. All mothers worry about their children, right?
(The Lady of Shallot by J.W. Waterhouse)


Everyday someone leaves a token (small gift) outside the chamber Cassandry shares with her daughter, Egelina. Their first day at Lyonstoke Castle (Gerolt de Warrenne's home), the token is a shell. Are the tokens meant for Egelina? Or could they possibly be meant for Cassandry?(Visit my Pinterest page to see what other tokens Cassandry discovers!)


My hero, Gerolt, also has a teenaged child, a son named Rauffe. Rauffe is hound mad. He knows every breed of medieval hunting hound and the best way to train them. Egelina quickly grows tired of Rauffe's constant prattle about hounds, while he thinks the poetry she loves to quote is silly. Can these two ever make a match of it, as both their parents hope?


Cassandry and Gerolt want their children to marry. But if they do, then medieval law says that Cassandry and Gerolt cannot marry each other. Will they succumb to their own desires, or will they do what they believe is best for their children?
(Painting from Codex Manesse)

You can see the rest of my pins on my "Courting Cassandry" board on Pinterest!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Courting Cassandry is available at the following retailers:
AmazonBarnes & NobleiBooksKobo

Courting Cassandry: Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1England, 1201

            She curtsied as gracefully as he remembered. Twenty-four years and nothing had changed. Her tawny gown, with its sprinkling of embroidery beneath a modestly rounded neck, hugged her still-slender figure before it flowed into wide folds at her hips. Gerolt had come upon her unannounced as she’d crossed the great hall of Rengrave Castle before his footsteps had turned her about just short of the stairs. She had dispensed with a matron’s veil, allowing her long dark hair to hang in two thick plaits over her shoulders.
            “We were not expecting you, my lord,” she said in the cool, familiar tone he had once held so dear.
            He held out his hand as she rose, requiring her to place her fingers in his grasp. The blue sapphire from her wedding day still winked there, alongside a ruby he did not recognize, which graced her little finger. He bowed and brushed his lips against skin still smooth and white. He had not prayed for such a moment as this to come, but now that it was here, excitement fluttered in his stomach. Just for an instant, he felt as bashful as a squire.
            “My apologies, Lady Cassandry. I am returning from business at Glinfield Manor, and I could not pass Rengrave without telling my men that I must stop and pay you my respects.” Such visits to her castle had once been common until all communication with her had ceased two years after her marriage.
            Even after so long a time, he hoped she would welcome him. Instead she cast a doubtful glance over his shoulder. None of his men had followed him into the hall. He would not inflict his retinue on her before he was certain they would not be intruding. Rengrave had always been the smallest of her late husband’s fortresses.
            She withdrew her hand, and he observed the way she tried to conceal the nervous trembling of her fingers against the folds of her gown.
            “How many have come with you?” she inquired. “I will send word to the kitchen that we will have guests for dinner.”
            “I ride with a small party,” he said, trying to reassure her. “Five men only. Samson, Ingram, and Fithian are with me, along with two young knights unknown to you.”
            A smile curved her lovely mouth. “And does each of these knights bring a squire? Have you brought pages, too, and grooms? Perhaps a herald to bear messages for you and a huntsman should you decide to pause and chase a few deer along your way?”
            Gerolt felt his lips twitch upward in response. She knew him too well. “A falconer, not a huntsman,” he said. “The skies have been unusually fair this spring. Perhaps you will join us for some hawking while we are here?”
            Her smile faded and her brow furrowed with worry. “Antony sold our last gyrfalcon before he died. The mews have stood empty for three years. I fear your falconer will find sorry accommodations for your birds.” Her hands came together beneath her breast, twisting together in ill-concealed anxiety. “I will speak with Sir Patrick, our steward. Perhaps he can make the mews more hospitable. I will have chambers prepared for your men as well. You are all most welcome, of course.” She dropped another curtsy. “If you will excuse me? Invite your men in, and I will send up refreshments while—”
            He was not fooled by her attempts to appear at ease. He stopped her with a hand on her arm, ignoring the pang of disappointment that momentarily dimmed his excitement at being near her again after so long a time apart. He had hoped for a few days to reacquaint themselves before he made his proposal, but her apparent dismay at his suggestion of an extended visit swiftly changed his mind. Or perhaps it was the fact that she had not asked after his health, or that of the men she had once known, or after the affairs at Lyonstoke Castle, or any of the small questions that passed between people who had once been as close as they had.
            He swallowed his regret and said in an attempt to soothe her evident worry, “I do not mean to overwhelm you with our company. We will not be staying the night.”
            “You said you would be here long enough to go hawking,” she reminded him.
            “A whimsy,” he said lightly. “I would we could stay a few days, but it is a two-day ride to Lyonstoke, and I cannot tarry longer than I already have. My men would undoubtedly welcome the refreshment you speak of, but . . . is there someplace private we might speak while they partake?”
            To his surprise, she hesitated. Surely she was not afraid to be alone with him?
            “My solar,” she said. “If you will follow me?”
            It was as they passed the midday light slanting through one of the narrow, arched windows of the hall that he saw his mistake. She hadchanged. A few silver threads—only a few—were sprinkled through her dark braids, and a faint web of lines had gathered at the corners of her eyes. It did not dull his ardor. Only this morning he had engaged in a sober study of his own graying brown hair and the deeply tanned face, which years spent in the sun and the joys and sorrows of life had creased. They were both past the years of youthful courtship. But not, he hoped, past courtship itself.
            She paused to speak to a gray-haired knight she encountered at the head of the stairs, bidding him see to the welcome of their guests, before leading Gerolt on to the solar. He took a moment to take in the room before he spoke again. The intimate feminine space was not so different than his wife’s had been, save that this room was smaller. Tapestries had been hung to warm the walls during winter; a wide, arched window allowed for a streaming flood of morning light; two baskets filled with embroidery threads sat near a pair of cushioned chairs; and another pair of baskets with neatly folded squares of sewing and embroidered cloth sat just beyond those. He did not remember Cassandry being so tidy with her stitchery as a girl, but it was natural that marriage and motherhood would have taught her discipline.
            He motioned her into one of the chairs, then arranged the other so that he might sit to face her. “I have not even asked after your welfare. You are well? And Egelina? You were both understandably subdued when last I saw you.” Three years ago, just after Antony’s death.
            “Our lives are quiet here, but we are content enough,” she said. “You were generous to allow Egelina to remain in my custody after her father died. You must know how very grateful I am to you.” Her voice trembled a little.
            “Did you think I would take her from you, Cassandry?” he said, surprised.
            He noted how carefully she avoided his gaze. “You are our liege lord and now her guardian. If you wished to raise her in your own household, it would have been your right.”
            “As I raised you? But she still has a mother. You had no one but my father, who most inconveniently died when I was but nineteen and left your care to me.”
            The ten years between them had felt like a lifetime then. How swiftly those years had narrowed when she had entered her teens, and now the span felt no more than days. At least to him. He removed the round cap he wore and ran a hand through his hair, pretending to smooth it down but in fact trying to discern again the ratio of coarsened gray to the softer brown. Was it too late? Would he always be too old?
            He moved the conversation into pleasantries, asking after her now-fifteen-year-old daughter, telling her of his seventeen-year-old son who had been but fourteen when she had come to Lyonstoke to pledge her fealty for her dower lands and the lands Egelina had inherited from her father. When it came to his own daughter, Fleur, he assured Cassandry that the wound of her death had healed. It had not, of course, but he did not want any shadows hovering about him on this day.
            The exchange appeared to relax her at last, and she began to inquire after people she had known in his household during her childhood and youth.
            “Did you say Sir Ingram and Sir Fithian are with you? And . . . and Sir Samson? I must speak with them all before you leave. Why, Sir Fithian was still a page when I left you.”
            “He is three-and-thirty now and, alas, has never overcome his lisp. But he has the best sword arm among my men, and there are none who dare mock him now.”
            She smiled and bent forward to retrieve a piece of unfinished embroidery, thus averting her face. “Sir Samson still rides with you as well? Has ill befallen his inheritance?”
            “Alas, many ills have befallen Sam since last you saw him. Aye, he still resides under my roof. But that is not why I have come to speak with you today.”
            She straightened in her chair, the embroidery cloth crumpling a little beneath the tightening of her fingers. “It is of Egelina, is it not? I know she is of an age to marry now, but—”
            “No, Cassandry, I have not come to speak of Egelina. I have come to speak of you.”
            “Me?” She blinked at him for a moment, then the cloth slipped out of her grasp and fell at her feet. “Oh!”
            The dread in her face was so stark it drove him to his feet and to the window. This was not the reaction he had hoped for. But then, he had hardly made himself clear.
            He clasped his hands behind his back and gazed down on the dovecotes below. Antony may have closed the mews, but at least he had not robbed her of this comfort. The birds’ sweet, mellow cooing floated upward on the air and into the silence of the solar.
            Gerolt glanced over his shoulder and saw her sitting with her hands locked tightly in her lap.
            He turned back toward her but did not return to his chair. “Have you not thought of your own future, Cassandry? Antony has been dead three years. Do you intend to mourn him forever?”
            Her gaze fell to her laced fingers. “You wish me to marry again?”
            “Are you not lonely? Aveline has been gone but a year, and while I sorely miss her . . . Lyonstoke Castle is in need of a woman’s touch. I found other positions for Aveline’s ladies after she died, and we have become a bachelor household, but I cannot remember to order the rushes to be swept, or restore the spices in the kitchen, or wrap Rauffe up when he is ill, or—” Oh, blazes! What kind of proposal was this, to make it sound like he had come in search of a servant rather than a wife? “What I meant to say was—”
            “It is different for men,” she interrupted. “Poor Sir Patrick was so miserable when his wife died that I encouraged him to marry again, even though it had scarce been six months. Now he is no longer glum and short-tempered with our bailiffs but treats them fairly as he did before, and our lands prosper for it.” She paused. “Your lands prosper for it. Forgive me, my lord. I’ve spoken presumptuously. My dower lands are most comfortable. If you wish me to retire to them, I shall willingly do so. Only—only may I keep Egelina with me just a while longer?”
            “I do not wish you to retire to your dower lands,” he said, an edge to his voice. What a fumble he was making of it! It did not help that she kept calling him “my lord,” as though he had not known her since she was nine. “I thought . . . It occurred to me after Aveline died that you might like . . . That is, I thought it might please you to come back to Lyonstoke.”
            She stared at him unblinkingly now, the blank look in her dark eyes shaking him almost as much as her former dread had. Was it so incomprehensible to her that he should offer—
            “You wish me to marry one of your knights?” She rose so swiftly she knocked over the embroidery basket next to her chair. Her laced hands began to wring one another. “My lord, I beg you, I am quite content as a widow. Do not—Of course, if you command me I must obey . . . but I pray you will not—”
            “Command you? When did I ever command you to do anything, Cassandry? And when did you cease to call me Gerolt?”
            She bit her lower lip before she replied. “When I became wife to your vassal, Sir Antony. Things are not what they were between us, my lord. They can never be so again. Too much time has passed. We both know that. I am your devoted servant.” She curtsied, her hands still moving with distress against her tawny gown. “And I must do as you . . . request. But I have no desire to marry again.”
            Disappointment pierced his chest. He stepped forward, ignoring the sudden urge to move within arm’s reach of her. Even as she stood rejecting him, he still felt the charge of desire for her.
            “None, Cassandry?”
            She did not look away this time but gazed with so much earnestness into his eyes that the hopeful fluttering in his stomach turned to a leaden ball.
            “I should not change my mind if you asked me to wed yourself. I am too old to be a wife again, my lord. This knight of whom you speak—no, please do not tell me his name—I wish to remember all of them fondly, without awkwardness should we meet. Whomever he is, he deserves a younger, merrier woman than I.”
            ’Twas the first time he observed it, the loss of merriment in her eyes. She had been so bright and cheerful at Lyonstoke, her spirit so warm, her nature so sweet and trusting. But she’d had a joyful future waiting to embrace her then. He supposed a woman who had loved as fervently as she had would be a woman who would mourn the loss of that love to her final days.
            He resolutely clamped down his hurt, as he had the day he had given her hand to Antony. He had lost enough years with her. Awkwardness was the last thing he wished between them now. He had hoped for a favorable response, but a part of him had been braced for failure. Nevertheless, he did not intend to let her simply slip out of his life again as she had two years after her marriage. If he could not bind her to him as his wife, he would bind her to him another way.
            “Very well,” he said. He set a hand on her shoulder and pressed her back into her chair, then returned to his own. “It shall be as you wish. We shall not speak further of it. I’ve another proposition for you, however. And this one does involve the Lady Egelina.”
            He watched Cassandry’s cheeks pale as though waiting for a blow. Have I become so great a stranger to you as that? He cinched the hurt down still tighter.
            He crossed his legs, determined to appear as calm as she was rigid. “As you say, your daughter is fifteen and of an age to marry. With four castles to her name—your two and Antony’s—she is quite the little heiress. She is pretty and lively, and with you as her mother, I have not the least doubt she is well mannered and sensible as well. I believe she would make an excellent match for my son.”
            This had been his original plan for their children. He had been preparing himself to speak of it to Antony just before Antony died. But the death of Gerolt’s daughter had distracted him from approaching Cassandry about the matter, and then Gerolt’s wife had died, opening an unexpected pathway to Cassandry’s hand for himself. But now that that hope had failed, he resorted to his first design.
            “You wish to betroth her to Rauffe?”
            “Have you any objections?”
            As Egelina’s liege lord and guardian, he did not need to take her mother’s feelings into consideration in this matter, but he was not a man who enjoyed imposing his will on others, and he had his arguments marshaled to win an agreement from Cassandry, however reluctant she might be.
            “Oh, Gerolt, you do not know how that relieves my mind!” Cassandry blushed. “I mean, my lord—”
            “The idea pleases you?” He had not been prepared for an immediate capitulation.
            “I knew Egelina must be married and that you have likely been considering the best alliance for her since she turned twelve. I have been in dread of your decision. Not that I thought you would choose poorly for her,” Cassandry added quickly, “but marriage is such a . . . weighty matter, and she has so little experience with men. Almost none, in fact, since Antony kept so few knights here at Rengrave Castle, and those he kept were old enough to be her grandfather. I hoped you would choose someone gentle and patient with her, but . . . oh, I never dared hope it would be you!”
            She leaned forward on the words, startling him when she reached out and grasped his hands.
            “I am not marrying her,” Gerolt said. Oh, heavens, how had he fumbled this, too?
            She smiled again. “Of course not. She will marry Rauffe. I only meant that I know she will be safe with you. You will see that she is happy. How could she not be, married to your son? I never knew a kinder, more patient man than you, and Rauffe is certain to be the same.” She rose, squeezing his hands as he followed her to his feet. “Thank you! I have worried for her ever so much, but now I will be at peace.”
            He felt another wave of yearning as he held her hands in his. Perhaps he had accepted her rebuff too quickly. He cast about almost wildly for some way to rescind the words he had just spoken. Once Egelina and Rauffe were wed, Church law forbade marriage between their parents. Gerolt would lose Cassandry forever . . .
            You have already lost her. You lost her the day you gave her to Antony. Her heart remains with him.
            Still, he answered himself stubbornly, if I insisted, she would have no choice. We were friends once. We could be so again.
            Friends only, his head warned his heart. Do you really want another “dutiful” marriage?
            No. He did not.
            He released her hands. “Then it is settled. You will bring her to Lyonstoke a fortnight hence—”
            “A fortnight? You are not thinking of marriage already? She is only—Rauffe is only seventeen! When I wished to marry Antony, you insisted that he wait for his twenty-first birthday.”
            Gerolt hated to see the alarm return to her face. And he hated it more that this time he could not reassure her. “I cannot wait that long with Rauffe. His health has been poor all his life. He falls victim to the slightest chill, has a paltry appetite, and now these headaches. As he is my only heir, I cannot risk—” his dying. Gerolt could not speak the harsh word and replaced it with the softest one he could. “I cannot lose him before he gives me a grandchild. I still pray he will outgrow his weaknesses, but I am too clear-eyed to count on it.” He strove for a lighter note he was far from feeling when he thought of his son. “Rauffe is not tottering at the edge of the grave yet, however, and I would like them to have an opportunity to know one another before they wed. I am suggesting a betrothal, with marriage in a year—when Egelina is sixteen, your own age when you married Antony. I think you cannot object to that?”
            She looked as if she wanted to object very much indeed, but she paused in what he sensed was a battle to hold her tongue. He wished he could offer her more, but with Rauffe’s health so tenuous . . .
            “As you wish, my lord.”
            He cursed the return of her formality, then held his breath as she caught his hand again, the stiffness once more dropping away from her.
            “I would fight you on this if you wished her to marry anyone else. I would, Gerolt. But I know you will care for her and be kind and that Rauffe will be kind to her as well.”
            Because he is your son. She did not speak the words, yet he read the thought in the brief, wistful smile she gave him. There is my Cassandry. A longing to sweep her off her feet and carry her and that smile back to Lyonstoke Castle shook him to his core, but the moment was fleeting, her smile already gone.
            “A year, then,” she said. “But when they are wed, may I ask of you a boon?”
            “You need not wait a year for that,” he replied. “When did I ever deny you anything you wished?”
            Her brows gave a small twitch over the bridge of her nose. “Perhaps you should have been more strict.”
            “I might have, had you not been so sensible. You never asked anything of me the least untoward—except to marry Antony when you were fourteen. Mad as you were for each other, he was far too ramshackle to be a husband yet. Was I not right to make you wait?”
            Did she hesitate before she nodded? Nay, surely it was only the shift of a cloud against the sunlight.
            “We have lingered overlong,” she said. “Your men will be thinking me the worst hostess in the world that I have not greeted them yet. Are you sure you will not stay to dine?”
            He strolled with her toward the exit. “I do not wish to inconvenience you—”
            “Heavens, it is no inconvenience. You took me unawares with your arrival; we are so unused to visitors. But a table is easily laid. We eat simply here, but your men will not go away hungry. I will have Egelina join us so that you may study her good manners.”
            She spoke in a light, bantering tone, almost teasing him the way she used to. Did she tweak him for praising her daughter for virtues she knew his limited acquaintance with Egelina could only allow him to guess at?
            He smiled in response. “Will you tell her of the betrothal before we dine?”
            Cassandry cocked her head to the side in thought. So she had not lost the habit that had prompted him to laugh and call her “Sparrow” when she had been but nine years old.
            “I think I will wait until you are gone. She has had no thought in her head of marriage. I know I should have been preparing her for this day . . . that is, I have prepared her to be a wife. You need not fear for that. She will see that your rushes are swept and your spices replenished and that Rauffe does not go out without his cloak. But we have not spoken of marriage coming so soon.”
            Many women wed at Egelina’s age, but clearly Cassandry had thought that because Gerolt had delayed her own marriage he would do the same with Egelina. Had Fleur lived long enough to give him a grandchild, he might have afforded her more lenience. But his daughter had not, and much though Gerolt wished Rauffe was older, fate had not left him with easy choices.
            “I thought you might wish for time to prepare her,” Gerolt said. He lifted the tapestry in the doorway to allow Cassandry to pass beneath it. “Will a fortnight be enough?”
            “Oh yes. Thank you.”
            “You will accompany her, of course, and I trust you will stay at Lyonstoke until she has settled in? A month or two at least—”
            “So long? I do not know. We shall see. I trust she and Rauffe will strike a friendship quickly and she will have no need for me to linger. I’m afraid I have grown to enjoy the quiet here too much.”            Her lips moved as though they intended another smile, but the upward curve he expected failed to fully form. She paused and touched his arm as they stopped just short of the top of the stairs that would take them back to the hall.
            “You will not forget about the boon?”
            “You will not tell me what it is now?”
            She shook her head. “In a year, when Egelina and Rauffe are wed. That will be time enough to speak it.”
            He was about to remind her that she had never kept secrets from him before when her words came back as a bitter reminder: Things are not what they were between us. They can never be so again. He cursed his own generosity, which had given her to another man and lost him the comfort of her companionship for twenty-four years. But no longer. She had no children save Egelina. Gerolt intended to make sure Cassandry remained deeply involved in her daughter’s life, even after her marriage. And perhaps, in time, friendship would grow between them again. It was not what he had hoped for when he had arrived, but it was far better than losing her a second time.
            “You promise me you will grant it?” she said, her hand now pressing into his arm.
            “This mysterious boon of yours? As long as it is a sensible request.”
            “It is most sensible. You will not find me to have grown into an impulsive, irrational woman since I left your house.”
            “I am very relieved,” he said. “I’d feared perhaps Antony may have taught you to be capricious and wayward. What a high-strung fellow he was. I’d never have let him marry you had I not seen how deftly you steadied him. He loved you more than I’d ever seen any man love a woman.” A self-protest tried to rear itself, but Gerolt thrust it relentlessly down to where he had buried his hurt. He laid his fingers over the hand that still rested on his arm. “I am sorry it has been so difficult since you lost him.”
            “Thank you. And my sensible boon?”
            He did not need more time with her to recognize once again that the sweet, confiding child he had loved was gone, replaced by this remote, self-contained woman who turned aside his sympathy as though it were some invasion of her privacy. Yet, still, he could not imagine her so changed at her core as to find any reason to deny her.
            “Whatever you ask is yours.”
            “Then you have made me twice happy this day. Now come. I must greet your men.”
            She swept ahead of him down the stairs, leaving him awash in regret as he followed her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Pre-order now for only $1.99(Release date: February 17, 2016 ~ $3.99)
KindleNookiBooksKobo

The travelogue inside my head

I can't afford to travel to all the places I'd like to visit to research my books--besides, the price of a time travel machine is absolutely prohibitive!--but thanks to the internet, I can virtually visit the places I research. Here are a few places I visited today.

Medieval Sicily:
(Did you know there was a huge earthquake there in 1169? It was over there on the east coast. It triggered a tsunami and at least 15,000 people died.):



Medieval Venice:



Medieval Florence:


Where will I go next?

Cover reveal: Courting Cassandry

Here it is! The cover for my next Hearts in Autumn Romance, Courting Cassandry!


Is it too late for second chances when the girl you loved in your youth comes back into your life?
Gerolt de Warenne became guardian to a child-heiress named Cassandry when he was only nineteen-years old. As he watched her grow into a lovely young woman, he found himself falling in love with her, but Cassandry viewed him as an older brother. So, burying his feelings, he gave permission for her to marry another. 
Twenty-four years later Gerolt and Cassandry meet again. With the loss of their respective spouses, Gerolt hopes to finally court Cassandry, but she desires to remain a widow. Instead, they agree to a betrothal of their children.
Matters become complicated as their friendship begins to evolve into the romance Gerolt has always wanted. But by the law of the medieval Church, Cassandry and Gerolt can’t marry if their children do. Can they find a way to be together? Or must they sacrifice their future for the love of their children?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coming February 2016! Pre-order link coming soon!

What is a Hearts in Autumn Romance?

My new Hearts in Autumn Romance ~ Courting Cassandry ~ is coming soon! I hope to have the pre-order up within a couple of weeks, with a mid-February publication date.
Why, you might wonder, am I publishing a title in a "Hearst in Autumn" series in February? Contrary to what you might expect, my Hearts in Autumn romances have nothing to do with the season of the year, but everything to do with the season of my characters’ lives. The stories themselves are equally likely to be set in the spring, summer, or winter as in the fall. The “life season” for the heroes and heroines of these stories, however, is their 40s and 50s.
Some readers ask me why I picked those particular years to describe as an “autumn romance.” 40 and 50 doesn’t seem very old, or “autumny,” to them at all! Certainly in our day and age, when many live into their 80s and 90s, we consider these years only the middle of what all of us hope will be a very long arc for our lives.
But this was not the case when my medieval romances take place. During these centuries, life spans were much shorter, even among the wealthy. Up to a third of all children died before the age of five. Women, whatever their status, faced serious risks in childbirth. Up to 20% of women likely died either during childbirth itself or of infection that often followed delivery. Many men were claimed by war. And protection from disease for men and women of all classes remained primitive, at best.
There were exceptions, of course. Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine lived to be 81 or 82. But this was far from the norm. She was the wife of two kings in her lifetime, Louis VII of France who died around the age of 59/60, and Henry II of England who died at age 56. Her children fared no better than their fathers. Her children by Henry II lived to the following ages:
William (died age 2)Henry (died age 28)Matilda (died age 32/33)Richard I (successor to Henry II – died age 41)Geoffrey (died age 27)Eleanor (died age 52)Joan (died age 33)John (successor to his brother, Richard I – died age 49).
And all of these people were royalty. Think how much more challenging life must have been for the less privileged of their day and age.
I hope this helps put into perspective the lives of my characters and what would have been very legitimate concerns to them during the “autumn years” of their lives.

Despite the odds my characters must have known they were facing, they remain determined to live with optimism and love for however many years Heaven is willing to grant them. It is in that same spirit that I hope you, the reader, will enjoy my Hearts in Autumn romance series.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coming soon: Cover reveal for Courting Cassandry! Would you like to be among the first to see it? Then sign up for my newsletter. Newsletter members get the first peek this Tuesday (January 5)! Everyone else has to wait until the following week for my blog reveal. Don't want to wait? Sign up for my newsletter now in the right hand column of this blog!

Summary Sunday

I'm still playing around with my medieval ghost story while Courting Cassandry is out to beta readers. Here are a few new lines I wrote this week:

Monday: Even with the wind lapping at his ears, he would know and cherish her voice to his dying breath. Dying breath. He shuddered. “Mariel?”
Tuesday: He shivered to know that she could read his soul. He sought to change the subject, hoping even spirits could be distracted.
Wednesday: Alric nodded. Mariel had always paid stricter attention at church than he. "But the grave." How did one speak tactfully to the dead of the tragic, but permanent, loss of their bodies? "What--um--am I to bury there?"   
Thursday: Before he could stop himself he tilted his head, as though seeking the comfort of her familiar, forgiving palm against his cheek. His skin met with empty air. Of course. Her hand withdrew to lie against what he imagined to be her breast.

Friday: “Forgive me. Jealousy is one of the sins for which I burn. But you are free of me now, Alric. If you wish to love another woman, I will not chide you for it.”

Summary Sunday

Courting Cassandry is currently out to some beta readers, and I'm beta reading for some other authors in return, so I haven't had a lot of writing time lately. But I couldn't stand not writing at all, so I broke down this week and started dabbling with a possible medieval ghost story. (Maybe. I'll let you know when I finish it how much of a ghost story it turns out to be. :-) ) It doesn't have a title yet, so I'm just calling it "my medieval ghost story." In case you're interested, here is a sampling of sentences from what I've written on it this week. (I see I didn't tell you who "he" is. His name is Alric, and for now at least, he's a journeyman pewtersmith.)

Monday: The wind gasped and shuddered and moaned through the barren branches of the timber sentinels that soared along either side of the road. Gasped like a woman laboring for her last breath of air. Shuddered as the waves of the sea lashed around her. Moaned with despair as the weight of her sodden skirts pulled her inexorably into the suffocating depths.
Tuesday: But she was gone, and no repentance could bring her back. Then no more useless tears. Tonight he would surrender himself once more to the fever and let it burn away the memory of his sin, as he had for ten years.
Wednesday: He could feel the fire of luck in his blood tonight. He would win enough silver to bed in a fat, soft inn—if he did not continue to roll the dice until dawn.
Thursday: A light, where no light should be, hovering without hands in the air, cast its muted glow against the old standing cross. An icy tickle shivered down his spine. What witchery was this?

Friday: Would it chill him to the quick to gallop through the shade? What if the demon snatched his soul in the midst of the blast, then let him ride on hollowed out, bereft of his former humanity?