BOOK INFORMATION
TITLE – Snow in
July
SERIES – N/A
AUTHOR – Kim
Iverson Headlee
GENRE – Young
Adult Paranormal Historical Romance
PUBLICATION DATE
– July 2014
LENTH (Pages/# Words)
– 386 pages/94K words
PUBLISHER – Pendragon
Cove Press
COVER DESIGNER – Natasha
Brown
[FULL-WRAP COVER JPG
AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST]
BOOK BLURB /
SYNOPSIS –
Sir Robert
Alain de Bellencombre has been granted what every man wants: a rich English
estate in exchange for his valiant service at the Battle of Hastings. To claim
this reward, the Norman knight must wed the estate's Saxon heiress. Most men
would leap at such an opportunity, but for Alain, who broke his vow to his
dying mother by failing to protect his youngest brother in battle, it means
facing more easily broken vows. But when rumors of rampant thievery, dangerous
beasts, and sorcery plaguing a neighboring estate reach his ears, nothing will
make him shirk duty to king and country when people's lives stand at risk. He
assumes the guise of a squire to scout the land, its problems, and its lady.
Lady Kendra
of Edgarburh has been granted what no woman wants: a forced marriage to an
enemy who may be kith or kin to the man who murdered her beloved brother.
Compounding her anguish is her failure to awaken the miraculous healing gift
bequeathed by their late mother in time to save his life. Although with his
dying breath, he made her promise to seek happiness above all, Kendra vows that
she shall find neither comfort nor love in the arms of a Norman…unless it snows
in July.
Alain is
smitten by Lady Kendra from the first moment of their meeting; Kendra feels the
forbidden allure of the handsome and courtly Norman "squire." But a growing evil overshadows everyone, invoking dark
forces and ensnaring Kendra in a plot to overthrow the king Alain is oath-bound
to serve. Kendra and Alain face a battle unlike any other as their honor, their
love, their lives, and even their very souls lie in the balance.
BUY & TBR LINKS
(Fill Out The Ones You Use)
EXCERPT
FIFTEEN
THOUSAND MEN and horses writhed across the valley below, appearing as toys in a
children’s game.
Many
might consider war a game, but Sir Robert Alain de Bellencombre, knight of
Normandy bound to the service of Duke William and commander of a unit in the
cavalry reserves, did not number among their ranks.
Edward
the Confessor, King of England via his Saxon father but Norman by his mother,
was dead. This battle, raging near the coastal hamlet called Hastings, would
decide the right of one man to wear the English crown: William the Norman,
acknowledged by Pope Alexander to be Edward’s lawful successor; or Harold the
Saxon, brother of Edward’s wife, the man alleged to be Edward’s deathbed
choice.
Stroking
his war horse’s glossy charcoal neck to calm her, Alain pondered Harold’s
claim. It had to be true. This many men would not sacrifice their lives for a
lie. Yet the vast majority of Harold’s supporters were Saxons harboring no wish
to bear the Norman yoke. Perhaps such men might be desperate enough to fight
for a lie that promised to restore Saxon rule.
A
trumpet blared. He signaled his men forward, couched his lance, and spurred
Chou to send her careening into the melee.
Harold’s
shield wall, which had seemed impregnable, began to crumble under the onslaught
of Alain’s unit, hastened by the desertion of men who no doubt decided they
weren’t quite so willing to die. Their lord stood exposed just long enough for
a Norman archer to sight his mark. Harold fell, screaming and clutching an
arrow that protruded from one eye.
Harold’s
supporters closed ranks around him, blocking Alain’s view and giving him more
than enough to do as the Saxons redoubled their efforts to guard their lord’s
body.
A
familiar whirl of colors caught Alain’s attention. The saffron leopard prowling
on a green field—Étienne! A Saxon knight, with a blue arm and fist blazing
defiance across his gray shield, bore down upon Étienne with leveled lance.
Étienne tumbled from his horse. He scrambled to his feet and retrieved his
sword, putting it to good use on the Saxons surrounding him, although the
knight who’d unhorsed him had already ridden in search of other targets.
Lance
long since discarded and sword now rising and falling with fatal precision, Alain
surged to reach his brother’s side. Protection of her youngest son had been
their dying mother’s wish, and he had sworn on his own life to keep Étienne
safe.
Before
he could close the distance, another Saxon knight fought past Étienne’s guard
to thrust a war-knife into his throat. Through the visor the knight’s eyes
gleamed with startling, fathomless malice. Alain could only watch in stunned
disbelief as he laid his hand upon Étienne’s chest for a few moments. Uttering
a soul-freezing howl, the Saxon yanked out his seax and disappeared into the
press with Étienne’s shield, denying Alain vengeance.
Shame
and grief rent his heart asunder.
He
had failed the two he loved most; failed them so utterly that he could never
beg their forgiveness in this lifetime.
Pain
slammed into his shoulder, toppling him from the saddle. Étienne’s body broke
his fall. He tried to roll clear, but a spear through his chest pinned him to
Étienne. His gut convulsed, and bile burned his throat. Blinding agony killed
his struggle to free himself. Death’s stench invaded his nostrils.
He
closed his eyes and waited for his final journey to begin.
AUTHOR BIO:
Kim Headlee lives on a farm in southwestern Virginia with her family, cats,
goats, and assorted wildlife. People & creatures come and go, but the cave
and the 250-year-old house ruins -- the latter having been occupied as recently
as the mid-20th century -- seem to be sticking around for a while yet.
Kim is a Seattle native (when she used to live in the Metro DC area, she
loved telling people she was from "the other Washington") and a
direct descendent of 20
th-century Russian nobility. Her grandmother
was a childhood friend of the doomed Grand Duchess Anastasia, and the romantic
yet tragic story of how Lydia escaped Communist Russia with the aid of her
American husband will most certainly one day fuel one of Kim's novels. Another
novel in the queue will involve her husband's ancestor, the 7th-century
proto-Viking king of the Swedish colony in Russia.
For the time being, however, Kim has plenty of work to do in creating her
projected 8-book Arthurian series, The Dragon's Dove Chronicles, and other
novels under her new imprint,
Pendragon
Cove Press. She also writes romantic historical fiction under the pseudonym
"Kimberly Iverson."
AUTHOR FOLLOW
LINKS:
TUMBLR – N/A (I
have an account here but don’t use it except to look up other peoples’ items)
NETWORKED BLOGS – N/A
BLOGLOVIN – N/A
Thanks Kim for sharing,
Tina
