Hello, lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Barbara
Bettis and her new book, “For This Knight Only”! For other stops on her Goddess Fish
Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in
this post.
Be sure to make it to the
end of this post to enter to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Barbara
and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping
by! Wishing you lots of luck in this
fabulous giveaway!
For This Knight Only
by Barbara Bettis
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GENRE: Historical Romance
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BLURB:
He’ll
do anything for land, even marry her; she’ll do anything for her people, except
marry him. If only either had a
choice. It’s a marriage only love can
save.
Sir
Roark will do anything to gain land, even beguile an unwilling lady into
marriage. He knows she’s much better off with a man to take control of her
besieged castle, to say nothing of her desirable person. But it isn’t long
before he discovers that, although her eyes sparkle like sunlight on sea waves,
her stubbornness alone could have defeated Saladin.
Lady
Alyss is determined to hold her family’s castle, protect her people, and
preserve her freedom— until her brother’s dying wish binds her to a stranger.
Still, she’ll allow no rugged, over-confident, appealing knight to usurp her
authority, even if she must wed him. Especially since he thinks a lady’s duties
begin and end with directing servants. Alyss has a few surprises for her new
all-too-tempting lord.
But when a common enemy threatens everything, Roark and Alyss
face a startling revelation. Without love, neither land nor freedom matters.
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EXCERPT THREE:
She
refused to cooperate. How did a man handle a woman so independent? If only he’d
been more observant when his father spoke to his mother. If only he hadn’t been
so young. Before the tragedy.
Alyss
stood her ground and lifted her chin. “You didn’t summon me, you said you
awaited me. Perhaps your knightly training did not include language. ‘I await
you,’ is a statement. ‘Come to the hall,’ is a summons.”
Again,
the lady had found a weakness in his armor. He had no language training at all,
no reading, no writing but for his name. Most knights did not, but his
inability rankled him.
“If
my speech doesn’t move you, then I won’t bother with it.” He leaned down,
grabbed her around the knees, and upended her onto his shoulder. A thought
raced through his mind: This wasn’t, perhaps, the ideal way to scoop her into
his arms.
The
unexpectedness of the action brought a squeal from Alyss, and the sound of
running feet from hall below.
“Put
me down.” She smacked him on the back
and squirmed, kicking out at any part of his body she could connect with. He clenched her legs with his right arm before
she managed to unman him with a lucky blow.
“Hold
still.” A smack to her bottom punctuated his words. “And that was a command.”
God’s elbow. Another act guaranteed to increase her ire. Would he ever learn?
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GUEST POST:
Topic: Paper or screen?
Which medium is more effective in conveying your message?
Thank you so much for having me here with For This Knight Only.
I do love Roark and Alyss’s story.
When
you asked me “paper or screen?” my mind flew back to the ‘early days’, back
when I was in school. As a child, I became used to doing all my paperwork by
hand, then typing it up.
Even
in my college undergrad years, I wrote out everything on notebook paper—my
essays, research papers, stories for creative writing class—all. Then, after it
was edited and proofed, and only then, did it move to a keyboard. The idea of
doing a first draft at a keyboard was antithetical. How, I wondered, could
anyone be creative unless curled in a chair, notebook on knee, crafting a
character or scene or logical connection?
Then
college met reality. My first job at a daily newspaper—writing a report of a
council meeting I attended the night before. I sat down, pulled out my
notebook, and began to write.
My editor loomed over my desk and said, “What are you doing?”
“Writing
the council story,” I said.
He
looked disgusted as he grabbed the notebook off the desk and said, “You don’t
have time for that.” He pointed his editing pencil at my keyboard. “Write on
that.”
I
didn’t dare tell him I organized my thought better on paper. One didn’t argue
with the editor. I just feared my foray into newspapers was doomed on the first
day. (This was a small newspaper and I’d never had a newspaper job before. I
was an English major who’d edited the college literary magazine, etc.)
That
day was truly traumatic. I finally managed to get that council story
written—the only story I produced before deadline. We won’t mention the
comments the editor made on the story when he sent it back to me for rewrites.
When I left that day, I was convinced I’d get a phone call from the publisher
and be looking for another job come morning.
Well,
that didn’t happen. When I left the newspaper some years later to go into
teaching, the editor, the publisher, and I laughed about my first day. It
didn’t take quite all those years to learn to ‘write’ as opposed to ‘type’ at
the keyboard. I learned to operate the ‘delete’ key and discovered how easy is
was to make corrections!!! Now I don’t think I could compose a coherent plot
anywhere but before my computer screen.
But it was a very difficult transition.
The
decision on reading books in paper or on e-reader brought a similar difficult
transition. All my academic work focused on information from print books. I was
proud of my large collection of academic and fiction books, both hardback and
paperback. I liked the feel of paper in my hands, the ability to turn the
pages—to flip pages back when I wanted to verify something.
E-readers
had none of that convenience. Just as I had to overcome my insistence that I
could create only on notebook paper, I had to overcome my conviction that
e-readers couldn’t provide the continuity of understanding so convenient in a
print book.
Yes,
I have learned differently. I still buy paperbacks of some of my favorite
authors, but those purchases have become much less frequent. My poor e-reader
is packed and I’m looking to upgrade.
As
for my readers, I just want them to read (and love) my books, in whatever
format they choose. Whichever it may be,
I’ll be able to sympathize with their decisions.
What
unexplored frontier is this teeeensy-bit stubborn author going to conquer next?
Audiobooks!
I’ll let you know how that goes. 😊
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AUTHOR BIO:
Award-winning
author Barbara Bettis has
always loved history and English. As a college freshman, she considered
becoming an archeologist until she realized there likely would be bugs and
snakes involved. And math. Through careers as a newspaper reporter and editor,
then a college journalism and English professor, she’s retained her fascination
with history. Give her a research book and a pot of tea, and she’s happy for
hours. But what really makes her smile is working on a new story. Now retired,
she lives in Missouri where she edits for others and spins her own tales of
heroines to die for—and heroes to live for.
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CONNECT WITH BARBARA:
Website:
Blog:
Facebook:
Twitter:
BookBub Author Page:
BookBub Book Page:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
Kobo eBook:
Google Play eBook:
The Book Depository Paperback:
BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Barbara will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC
to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this
blog. This does not cost you anything,
it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
Barbara ~ Good morning! Welcome back! It is so great to have you here again! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteAlly, I love being here. Your blog is so inviting and friendly. thanks for making my tours such a pleasure.
Deletegreat excerpt, thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marisela. Glad you stopped by.
DeleteLove the beautiful, eye-catching cover.. 😍😍😍
ReplyDeleteIsn't he (ahem, it, the cover...) great looking :) Debbie Taylor created that one. Appreciate your stopping by.
DeleteSounds like a great read, thanks for sharing and for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteGlad you stopped by, James. Good luck on the giveaway.
DeleteThanks so much for hosting me today! I love the color schemes on your blog! And I'll just say--your interview questions really made me think! Happy Monday.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rita! Good to see you here. Have a good week.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck with your book! Looks like a terrific read.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the excerpt. Best of luck with sales and promotion!
ReplyDeleteSending bestseller vibes your way. Good luck with this promotion
ReplyDeleteGreat post - thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the excerpt! I'm looking forward to reading more.
ReplyDeleteOh what a delightful excerpt! Now I need to clog my reader with this book, too! I've been falling on audio more and more with busy schedule and tired eyes. But nothing beats a good ol' paperback, too!
ReplyDeleteI would say excerpt three.
ReplyDelete