A Dance in Heather

by Julie Beard

Lady Tess Farnsworth bitterly accepted the royal decree to wed the man whom she detested above all. The gloriously handsome Earl of Easterby had failed her in a desperate time of need, and her only solace in wedding him was the promise of vengeance. First, Tess plotted to seduce the Earl. Too late, she realized that the man she sought to seduce was himself a master of seduction ...

Genres: Romance, Historical, Historical Romance

371 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1996

About the author

Julie Beard is a former journalist who brings her reporting skills to her award-winning, bestselling novels. Imagine investigating weapons of the Middle Ages, or the importance of reputations in the Victorian era, as she did when writing Midnight Angel (Berkley Sensation, December 2003). Julie has been hailed for her ability to magically recreate the distant past. Now she's busy "world building" in the future.

Julie was one of the launch authors for the Silhouette Bombshell series, a new line of romantic action/adventure novels. She debuted with Kiss of the Blue Dragon (August 2004) featuring 28-year-old Angel Baker, a certified retribution specialist who strives to see justice done in the year 2104. The sequel, Touch of the White Tiger, will be a September 2005 release.

Julie was a reporter and a news writer before turning her writing skills to more creative venues. She worked as the night beat for KSDK-TV, covering everything from murders to visiting politicians to hometown parades. As a news writer at the Fox affiliate in Chicago, she wrote copy for the legendary news anchor Walter Jacobson and Robin Robinson.

Julie also has given dozens of workshops and lectures around the country at community colleges, bookstores and writers conferences. She's conducted seminars and written articles about editing, writing, promotions and journalism. She wrote the popular "how-to" book, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Your Romance Published. This comprehensive nonfiction title offers advice on everything from plotting and editing a novel to finding an agent and publisher.

Julie graduated from Northwestern University's prestigious Medill School of Journalism with a master of science degree in journalism. She graduated with a B.F.A. in theatre arts from Stephens College. She lives with her husband, two children and two incorrigible basenjis in the Midwest.

Sourced from: http://www.eharlequin.com/author.html...

Reviews

[Renee]

Firstly let me say this author writes with such a beautiful technique. She knows how to draw vivid pictures in the readers mind and engage the reader emotionally. Unfortunately this brilliance is sporadic and in the case of this novel, her emotional depth only stretched as far as the hero and then only into the first half of the book. The scene where the H&H ride into the moor, as viewed from the hero's perspective is, for me, one of the most clearly written depictions of a hero falling in love I have ever read. If felt it was just beautiful. The emotional clarity, the description of time and place and the authors thorough knowledge of her character made the scene truly beautiful to me. At this point in the novel I was excited about the rest of the book but unfotunately I was severely disappointed. There was little plot, no sub plots and a heroine I just couldn't understand most of the time. The primarly conflict could have been great but the heroine ruined it by taking an emotional stand from a perspective I didn't agree with. I liked him, though he was certainly flawed, but her I could not come to like. The sex scenes were also bitterly disappointing after the lead up. I will however read more of this authors work in hopes of coming across more poignantly written scenes such as the heather ride in this book.

[Gayle]

From the opening paragraph this story pulled me in. The hero is a trained lethal knight you learn from his perspective who he is and what his hopes and dreams are. The heroine has to reconcile her hatred of the knight (who shoved her away when she begged to him to save her father and the seductive handsome man who loves her.Great story of redemption. It is on my keeper shelf.

[Paula]

Tess hates Lord Richard of Easterby since the night she begged for him to stop the burning of her father for heresy. He could do nothing to stop it but she blamed him for it. The King arranges their marriage so Richard will have her money to help finance a battle for the King. Tess plans to kill Richard for revenge, but she never counted on falling in love with him first.

[Mary Vilarino]

The first few chApters certainly catch your interest. But as a whole the story fails to maintain it. It begins to drag and I prayed for it to end and end quickly.