Strong, Virile, and Dangerous #MFRWHooks #MFRWAuthor

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This week’s hook is from my historical romance, Rogue’s Hostage.

Rogue's Hostage coverBlurb:

She wants her freedom. Her captor wants her. Can love survive a deadly war?

His hostage…

In 1758 the Pennsylvania frontier is wild, primitive and dangerous, where safety often lies at the end of a gun. Mara Dupré’s life crumbles when a French and Indian war party attacks her cabin, kills her husband, and takes her captive. Marching through the wilderness strengthens her resolve to flee, but she doesn’t count on her captor teaching her the meaning of courage and the tempting call of desire.

Her destiny…

French lieutenant Jacques Corbeau’s desire for his captive threatens what little honor he has left. But when Mara desperately offers herself to him in exchange for her freedom, he finds the strength to refuse and reclaims his lost self-respect. As the shadows of his past catch up to him, Jacques realizes that Mara, despite the odds, is the one true key to reclaiming his soul and banishing his past misdeeds forever.

Excerpt:

“Madame, are you listening to me?”

The Frenchman’s voice, sharp and insistent, demanded her attention. “There is not much time. My companions are not patient men. We must leave soon, but first I want you to bind my shoulder. Where do you keep bandages?”

Her mouth and throat were dry when she swallowed, but she choked out an answer. “The trunk. Under the bed.”

He squatted beside the bed, pulled out the trunk and rummaged through it. She watched his every move, unable to take her eyes off him, alarmed by the physical threat he represented.

He was a tall man who dominated the cabin as Emile never had, and his state of undress revealed nearly every inch of his lean and powerful form. Not only was he bare to the waist, but his breechclout and leggings failed to completely cover his thighs and buttocks. He had a wide-shouldered, rangy body and long, sinewy legs. He looked strong, virile, and dangerous.

Rogue's Hostage sales graphic

For the next seven days, US and UK readers can grab a copy for 99 cents during my Kindle Countdown Deal! Or read for free at Kindle Unlimited.

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Hope you’re enjoying your summer. This is a blog hop. Click on the linky list below for more great MFRW Book Hooks!

Linda

Historical Inspiration #MFRWAuthor 2018 52-week Blog Challenge

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This week’s prompt in the #MFRWAuthor 2018 52-week Blog Challenge is: A book that has influenced my life.

Little Women coverAs usual, I can’t pick just one, but two children’s books came immediately to mind: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott and The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth Speare.

When I was in grade school, Little Women was my favorite book. I can’t remember how many times I read it, always identifying with Jo, of course. And I cried every time Beth died. My mom used to get annoyed at me and ask, “Why do you keep reading it when it makes you cry?” My answer was always a sobbing, “Because it’s so good!”

I think Jo March was the reason I, too, wanted to be a writer.

Witch of Blackbird Pond coverThe other book that I remember with great fondness from my middle school days is The Witch of Blackbird Pond, the 1959 Newbery Medal winner. If you don’t know the storyline, it’s about Kit Tyler, a teenage girl who leaves the relative freedom of her life in Barbados to stay with Puritan relatives in Connecticut in 1687. She meets a dashing young man name Nat and a Quaker woman living in isolation, whom the colonists suspect of being a witch. The Goodreads description, calls it a “portrayal of a heroine whom readers will admire for her unwavering sense of truth as well as her infinite capacity to love.”

There’s a bit of romance in the book between Kit and Nat, and I credit this book with my preference for historical romance, as well as opening my eyes to the evils of religious persecution.

While Little Women was a contemporary novel when it was written, it always seemed historical to me, set in the Civil War as it was. And The Witch of Blackbird Pond was written as a historical, my all-time favorite genre.

What book(s) influenced your life?

Linda

Click on the linky list below for more influential books.