Philippa
Lodge will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via
rafflecopter during the tour.
France,
1668
Hélène de Bonnefoi’s
spirit has been squashed by the ever-critical aunt and uncle who raised her.
Serving as nanny and stand-in mother to her cousin’s child has saved her from
the convent, especially after her cousin’s death. When suspicious accidents
threaten the toddler, Hélène overcomes her near-blindness to seek the help of
the child's father, a colonel in Louis XIV’s army.
Jean-Louis, Colonel de
Cantière, has spent his life proving his worth, integrity, and honor, first to
his family and now in the army. When his daughter’s caretaker appears in his
camp during a siege, claiming someone is trying to kill the girl, his loyalties
are sorely tested.
Hélène must convince
Jean-Louis the threat is real. But the true danger is to the heart of a shy
young woman who has always loved her cousin’s husband from afar and to the
colonel’s desire to resist complicated emotions.
Excerpt:
His first view of Mademoiselle Hélène took his breath away.
She was sitting in a beam of light, smiling, her hair glinting gold in the
sunlight and her pink lips parting as she laughed.
“Mademoiselle Hélène, the Colonel de Cantière is here to see
you,” said the woman.
Jean-Louis bowed deeply, then found his little girl staring
at him, wide-eyed. Mademoiselle Hélène’s features blanked, erasing the sunshine
he had just witnessed.
“Ondine, chérie,” she said to the girl who peered around
her, “it is your papa, come to see us. Get up and curtsey, ma petite.”
The girl stood up on the bench and bobbed clumsily,
clutching at Mlle Hélène for support.
Jean-Louis hadn't seen his daughter since his wife's funeral
over a year before. He drank in the little round cheeks, the tangle of short
curls—shouldn’t her hair have grown more?— her delicate skin, and the huge blue
eyes wide in fear. Ondine likely had no memory of him, yet her mistrust cut him
to the heart.
“Please, Monsieur, join us for breakfast,” said Mlle Hélène
in that soft, shy voice that made him want to protect her.
He gritted his teeth. He was being ridiculous. There was no
threat here. Leftover nerves from the battle. Lack of sleep. The argument with
the Prince de Condé to get two days to solve the problem. The journey to the
inn had sapped what was left of his strength.
He sat across the table from the lady and his daughter and
waved Fourbier to a chair. The innkeeper’s wife bringing bread, jam, and
sausage.
They ate in strained silence. It had been weeks since he had
eaten properly, even though he ate better than his soldiers. “Well,
Mademoiselle, I would like the rest of the story of how you came to bring my
daughter to a war.”
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Philippa Lodge
is author of the Châteaux and Shadows series of historical romance set in
Seventeenth Century France.
Philippa Lodge
has been an avid reader since she asked her mother to point out where it said
"Ma" in Little House in the Big Woods. She read everything she could
get her hands on until grad school in French Studies, at which time she lost
her reading mojo.
Only through
the twin discoveries of Harry Potter and romance has she gotten her groove back
and gone back to the stuff she loved about seventeenth century France: kings,
swords, opulence, and love.
She lives in
the suburbs of Sacramento, CA with her husband, three children, two cats, and a
head full of courtesans (Oo la la!). She edits the newsletter for her local
chapter of the Romance Writers of America.
I enjoyed reading the excerpt. This book sounds like such an interesting read. Looking forward to checking out this book.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteWhat made you decide to sit down and actually start something?
ReplyDeleteI've liked writing since I learned how....but about 8 years ago, I realized I loved romance and really wanted to write it. And voila, 8 years later.... (and I posted on my blog just a couple of days ago about the bravery of being an author. Or maybe the naivete...) http://philippalodge.blogspot.com/2016/05/bravery.html
DeleteI've enjoyed reading all of the excerpts along the tour for The Honorable Officer and can't wait to read it! Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting me, Louise!
ReplyDeleteThank you once again for the giveaway and have a fun Friday!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Busy weekend ahead, too...
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