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Thursday, August 15, 2019

New Release - The Snow Bride (The Knight and the Witch Book 1) by Lindsay Townsend

England, winter, 1131

Elfrida, spirited, caring and beautiful, is also alone. She is the witch of the woods and no man dares to ask for her hand in marriage until a beast comes stalking brides and steals away her sister. Desperate, the lovely Elfrida offers herself as a sacrifice, as bridal bait, and she is seized by a man with fearful scars. Is he the beast?

In the depths of a frozen midwinter, in the heart of the woodland, Sir Magnus, battle-hardened knight of the Crusades, searches ceaselessly for three missing brides, pitting his wits and weapons against a nameless stalker of the snowy forest. Disfigured and hideously scarred, Magnus has finished with love, he thinks, until he rescues a fourth 'bride', the beautiful, red-haired Elfrida, whose innocent touch ignites in him a fierce passion that satisfies his deepest yearnings and darkest desires.

EXCERPT


England, winter, 1131

Magnus forced his aching legs to move and dismounted stiffly from his horse. The still, freezing cold made his teeth ache, and as he tethered his mount, he wondered yet again what he was doing here. It was less than a month to Christmas, and he could have been with Peter and Alice at Castle Pleasant, preparing for feasting and singing and watching his godchildren.
And then a deep, abiding ache, bedding down in the great hall alone. He would never force a woman to lie with him—he had seen too much of that in the crusades.
He limped forward through the pristine snow. Peter had his Alice now, a clever, black-haired wench who feared nothing and no one, including him. Had his friend and fellow crusader not known her first, he might have had a chance with Alice. She saw through the outer armor and shell of a man to what lay beneath.
But she loves her crusader knight, Peter of the Mount, and I have no chance or right there.
As the palfrey snorted and jangled its harness behind him, he knelt in a white heap of pitted frost and reached out with his good arm to brush snow off the small, cracked statue of a saint. This was an old, wayside shrine on a track to nowhere of note, and the wooden figure huddled in its stone niche was old, its paint peeling. This battered saint would understand him, one ugly brute to another.


     

8 comments:

  1. So excited to see this! Thanks so much, Cheryl and Livia and all at PRP!

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    1. Oh, Lindsay, how I always love your characters and your stories! Always so unique and REAL. I love that not everyone is "perfect" in your tales, yet their love comes through for one another. This was just EXCELLENT. Congratulations!

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  2. Many congratulations on your new release, Lindsey. Wonderful choice of excerpt. Very compelling.

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  3. Congratulations, Lindsay. I loved this story. What a fantastic cover, too.
    I wish you every success with THE SNOW BRIDE!

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  4. Lindsay, WOW! Great excerpt and of course I'm going to immediately order it. I've always thoroughly enjoyed all your stories and have felt like I'm right their with the characters. And this hero sounds as if he desparately needs your maiden. Livia has again done another great cover. Congratulations and wishing you much success with The Snow Bride.

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  5. Many thanks, Beverly,Sarah, C.A. and Cheryl! I do enjoy writing characters who change and grow, although at times they can be very stubborn!

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  6. Beautiful excerpt and beautiful cover. I wish you much success with this story, Lindsay. I love medievals. And, I, too, love characters who aren't "perfect" but who have honor and beneath their tough exterior beats a tender heart.

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  7. Such a vivid excerpt. Congratulations on your latest release!

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