Author Event: Mists & Moonrise: An Anthology (Excerpt & Giveaway)

Mists and Moonrise: The Reluctant Brides Collection by Kathryn Le Veque, Eliza Knight, Madeline Martin, Catherine Kean, Laurel O'Donnell, Elizabeth Rose
on June 20th 2017
Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo
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Welcome to the Mists and Moonrise collection, a new material set of historical romance novellas never before published.

An ancient Cornwall legend tells of king with a pregnant wife, warned by an oracle that the child born would be a woman so beautiful that countries would go to war over her. A princess was born to the king and queen, and when she became of age she was pledged to the son of an enemy. But the princess had fallen in love with a mere knight and together, they ran away to the caves of Cornwall to hide from the princess' betrothed. However, when it came clear that they would be captured - rather than live their lives apart - the princess and her knight took their own lives.

Now, it's said their blood stain the caves of St. Agnes' caves along the coast of Cornwall. Legend says that if two lovers touch the stain together, they will fall madly in love for eternity. But there's a catch - they must touch of their own free will.

Because of this legend, the caves of St. Agnes have drawn men - and women - seeking to make their mate fall in love with them, including many tales of reluctant brides and grooms.

In these six romantic novellas, read some of the romantic tales associated with this poignant legend.

Lady of the Moon by Kathryn Le Veque - A lady knight is hired by the father of a reluctant groom to take his son to the caves where he will meet his intended and they will touch the stains together. When the lady knight and the reluctant groom fall in love, will the groom honor his father's wishes or will he follow his own heart?

Laird of Darkness by Eliza Knight - When Lady Rosamond de Warenne is abandoned by her father in a remote cave, she doesn’t believe her fate could get any worse—until she’s kidnapped by a fearsome Highlander. Laird Tierney MacDougall, recently released from an English prison, is bent on revenge, starting with marrying the daughter of his tormentor. A union forged from vengeance is doomed to fail—or is it?

The Highlander's Untamed Lady by Madeline Martin - With long winters killing crops and food becoming scarce, Laird Evander Mackenzie will do anything to save his people from starving – even kidnap the feisty Diana Stuart at her father’s request. In a world filled with death and heartbreak, is it fate or legend that will hold them together?

That Knight by the Sea by Catherine Kean - Lady Adaline Mortimer never expected to see Garrett, the rebellious young lord she loved and lost, ever again. Yet, when she's kidnapped and held captive, the dark secrets of the past return. In the cave of St. Agnes, will she and Garrett win a second chance at true love, or will they perish just like the legendary lovers before them?

The Bravest Of Them All by Laurel O'Donnell - Sir Luke of Brackley rushes to save the sister of his betrothed when she is kidnapped. Always trailing in her older sister’s shadow, Nessa has kept her love of Luke hidden since their childhood. When Nessa discovers Luke is to marry her sister, will she condemn herself to a life of misery or risk her love on a legend?

Pirate In The Mist by Elizabeth Rose - When Brody’s crew turns mutinous, he is thrown overboard but is rescued by a fisherman and his beautiful daughter, Gwendolen. However, once it’s discovered he’s a pirate, everything changes. Can an act of nature and the legend of a cave turn enemies into lovers?

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This week we are excited to have the lovely ladies of Mists and Moonrise stop by to share snippets of their lovely anthology.

A reluctant bride,
A legendary love,
An anthology of brand new novellas by six best selling authors.
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Pirate In the Mist by Elizabeth Rose

About the book:

When Brody’s crew turns mutinous, he is thrown overboard but is rescued by a fisherman and his beautiful daughter, Gwendolen. However, once it’s discovered he’s a pirate, everything changes. Can an act of nature and the legend of a cave turn enemies into lovers?

 

 Gwen was having a horrible dream and wanted to wake up. She felt the weight of the world on her chest and wondered if she was trapped under the broken mast of the ship. The taste of saltwater burned the back of her throat, making her want to retch.

She needed to wake up from this horrible nightmare. Something warm touched her face and a bright light burned the insides of her closed lids. She slowly opened one eye and then the other. Sun and a blue sky were above her, making her realize she was in a prone position. The awful weight on her chest made her look down toward her feet. When she did, she screamed. The pirate was laying atop her.

“What’s the matter?” His head lifted and his big brown eyes stared into hers. “Are you all right, sweetheart?”

He’d used the endearment with her more than once now if she remembered correctly. He seemed like a nice enough man, but her father warned her to stay away from him since he was a pirate. Of course, she didn’t have a choice in this situation.

“Get off of me,” she said, trying to push him. He sat up. When he did, she fell into him. She realized they were on a raft and it had tilted. His arms closed around her protectively. Even though they were wet, she felt his body heat between them. Never before had she been in such a position with a man.

“Don’t move so quickly or you’re going to dump us back into the sea,” he warned her.

“Where’s my father’s ship?” she asked, looking out over the water. “Where are my father and the crew?” Terror-stricken, she realized she was alone with the pirate.

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The Highlander’s Untamed Lady by Madeline Martin 

About the book:

With long winters killing crops and food becoming scarce, Laird Evander Mackenzie will do anything to save his people from starving – even kidnap the feisty Diana Stuart at her father’s request.
In a world filled with death and heartbreak, is it fate or legend that will hold them together?

Something was not right.

She stepped cautiously to the entrance of the tower and glanced outside. A rustling came from the bushes nearby and two sets of eyes gleamed in the shadows – one pale gray, the other a golden yellow – the beastly stares of wolves. Diana put a hand out to stay them both.

She peered from the doorway, looking first right then left. The guards had been on a steady rotation ever since she’d been locked in the dank tower. Every six hours.

No one had been near her room in at least an hour. Enough time for her to determine their absence and pick the ancient lock with a mangled pin.

Where had the guards gone?

They knew she would escape if given the opportunity and had clearly been given strict instructions by her father.

A high-pitched whine came from the forest. Hera. Diana could make out the large gray head moving side to side in an anxious bob from where the wolf lay low in the bushes. Zeus watched her, his large black body blending into the forest’s darkness so only the glint of his golden eyes remained, steady and determined.

She pushed her hand out again with more finality to stay them both. An ambush on her would result in continued imprisonment. But if Hera and Zeus became involved as they had last time, Diana knew her father would make good on his promise to see them both slain.

The late spring wind blew like winter, but it did not pierce the heavy mantle and cloak she wore. She pulled her hood lower over her face. A clearing surrounded the tower, a good ten strides wide, which would take precious time – enough to leave her vulnerable. Enough for an arrow to be drawn and loosed, or for a pistol to be fired.

Her pulse thrummed faster and she began to sweat beneath the weight of furs draping her shoulders.

Was this how her father had decided to be rid of her?

After years of failing to marry her off, was he going to finally have her killed?

Diana licked her lips, not that it did much good to wet her parched mouth. She hadn’t had water in two days, food in one. Hunger she could deal with, certainly she had before when her father tried to starve her into submission. But water…

The sky was dark with the promise of rain. God, she hoped it would. She would lift her face and let the wet droplets bathe her mouth.

She tried to swallow, and her throat clicked in dry protest.

She shifted anxiously on the worn stone beneath her feet. Grit screeched and popped underfoot, echoing on the sad emptiness behind her. She shuddered. Better to be dead than spend another day locked in her prison.

Diana gripped the bolt of wood she’d fashioned into a pick. It’d do nothing for slashing, but it could kill a man if she stabbed it at just the right angle, and it was the best she had.

Now.

She bolted from the safety of the alcove, bounding forward in great strides like a deer chased by a hunter. Hera darted from her place in the trees, her large gray coat billowing in the brutal wind.

A low growl started in Hera’s throat before she reached Diana, a savage sound Diana seldom heard from the tamer of her two wolves. Hera stopped and glared right. Her nose peeled back from her teeth and she bent her front legs in preparation to lunge. To attack. To kill.

Diana didn’t stop running until she was in front of her wolf. Something was out in the woods. She held her breath and strained to listen. Nothing was discernible over the pounding of her frantic heart.

But she knew Hera. Something was there.

Diana tried as best she could to block Hera’s large body with her own, a feat made possible only due to the large mantle she wore.

Her efforts were in vain. Hera edged around to Diana’s side. The wolf’s growls grew louder, snarling, threatening, reverberating deep in a primitive place inside Diana that told her she should be afraid even as her heart reminded her there was no cause for fear.

Diana stared into the nothingness of forest where Hera watched with such intensity. There was something out there.

Or someone.

“You might as well come out,” Diana called. The cold air burned her dry throat, an intense reminder of her thirst.

Not a sound came from the forest in front of her where Hera stared, nor to the side where Zeus’s golden eyes were fixed upon her with his unwavering patience.

A masculine voice gave an indiscernible shout from somewhere she could not see. Diana flinched in spite of herself and darted her gaze through the darkness of the forest. Where the bloody hell was he?

Hera’s jaws snapped and her breath fogged hot and greedy in the icy air. Diana put a hand to the thick fur of the wolf’s hackles where the hair stood on end.

“Who are you?” Diana asked aloud. “Why aren’t you coming out? Are you afraid?” She couldn’t help the twist of her lips as she spoke. Of course, whoever was in the woods was afraid – at least they should be if they had any sense.

A man appeared suddenly, stomping through the woods with all the grace of a lumbering bear. And indeed he was tall enough to be one. Diana regarded him from the low hem of her hood, seeing him while keeping him from seeing her.

There wasn’t much to make out of the man from the distance. Dark hair to his shoulders, a lanky body in a kilt he’d wrapped around his hips and pulled over his shoulders. He had his large hands held in the air, palms out, and eyed Hera. “I’m no’ armed.”

He spoke with the thick brogue of the Highlands. At least he knew English. Many of his kind didn’t speak anything but Erse.

Diana swept her fingers over Hera’s back. The wolf immediately ceased her growling. Her glare, however, did not abate.

The man smiled, his teeth white against the shadow of his whiskered jaw. Nice teeth. Especially for a full-grown man. “See? That’s no’ so bad, is it?”

“Who are you?” Diana demanded. “And what do you bloody want?”

If he was put off by her language, he didn’t show it. He shrugged and shifted several feet closer. “I came here for ye.”

Hera began to growl once more. This time Diana did not stop her.

So Father had finally done it. “You’re here to kill me,” she surmised.

“With no weapons?” He lifted a dark brow.

Diana narrowed her eyes. “If you can’t do it without weapons, you aren’t even good enough to try.”

“Good thing I’m no’ here to kill ye.” He lowered his arms and strode closer, a gesture so relaxed, so obviously unthreatened, she felt the prickle of her own hackles going up.

“What are you here for then?” Her tone was sharp with impatience. She hated that she had to play to his game. “And where are the guards?”

“I’m here to bring ye home with me.” He closed the space between them and put a hand up to Hera. Her growl faded into a whimper. The wolf flicked a nervous pink tongue over her nose and pranced her front paws against the ground with obvious anxiety.

Diana stared at the man for a long moment, glad her face was masked by the massive hood so he couldn’t see how her mouth opened and closed wordless for a quick moment. He was tall, and he loomed over her. Dark whiskers covered his strong jaw.

“To take me home with you?” Diana wanted to meet his eye, but didn’t want to sacrifice the advantage of being hidden to do so. “What the hell are you referring to?”

“I am Evander Mackenzie, laird of the Mackenzie clan.” He bowed low as if his name carried some significance she ought to recognize. “And I’ve come to collect ye, my bride.”

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