Today I’m joining the blog tour for The Knight’s Bride Prize. I’m sharing an extract from the book with thanks to Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me on the tour and to the author for providing the extract.

Blurb:

A dramatic Medieval convenient marriage story

Will he risk his mission… for her hand in marriage?

Part of The Knights’ Missions. On a secret quest to expose a traitor, Sir Hugh enlists in a tournament to win the hand of his target’s daughter, Lady Bronwen. But the clever, driven maiden jeopardises his plans when their unexpected attraction threatens to distract him from his duty! She’s desperate to escape her father, and Hugh can protect her by claiming his prize and marrying her. Yet honour demands the noble knight keeps their desire at bay, for completing his mission means betraying his new bride’s trust…

Extract:

Introduction to the extract: In The Knight’s Bride Prize Bronwen is a young lady desperate to escape her home and her oppressive father. She does not want to love her new husband; she wants no one to have a hold over her again. A tournament is held for with the winner offered her hand in marriage. Sir Hugh is one of the contestants but he is not who he seems, for he is there to investigate her father for treason, a fact he must keep hidden from Bronwen. In the below extract, Hugh is remembering the first moment he saw Lady Bronwen and discovering just how strong his reaction to her presence is; a disaster as far as he is concerned.

‘A horn sounded, announcing the arrival of the lord and his family. Everyone in the hall stood and raised their glasses. A flash of blue caught his attention, and there she was, Lady Bronwen. When she’d stepped out of the woods yesterday, so far away from her home, he’d first thought her a creature of legend, such was the gleam of her golden hair in the sunlight. His heart had stopped for a moment, his lungs forgetting how to breathe, and then reality had rushed back in. Like most women, she had been unable to speak when confronted with Tristan’s looks. Of course she had; all women did. Hugh didn’t resent Tristan for the woman’s reaction. Tristan hadn’t asked to look the way he did, nor did he take advantage of it, but in that moment Hugh had wanted just a small portion of whatever it was his friend had that made him so irresistible. Anything to catch this magical creature’s attention, but such hopes were futile, and so Hugh had done what he always did and pushed all his feelings to one side and brought his normal, practical side to the front. The moment had been over quickly, and the memory of her would have faded from his mind eventually, but then he’d ridden into the courtyard only a short while later, glanced across the well-maintained area and met the same woman’s gaze. His chest had constricted, and once again he’d been caught in her allure as surely as if she’d cast a spell on him. She quickly turned away from him, moving back to the group of women and immediately joining in their conversation, proving, once again, he did not have the same hold over her as she had over him. If she hadn’t moved, he had no idea how long he would have stayed staring at her.

He already knew he could not trust his judgement when it came to women and even if he had been free to pursue a courtship with Lady Bronwen, if she hadn’t been struck dumb by Tristan’s presence and if his experience with Lady Ann hadn’t put him off trusting a pretty face, he was not in the market for a wife. He had plans for his future, plans which did not support a bride, plans which involved him, Tristan and Leo becoming the most renowned band of knights who had ever lived. Fine, so those plans were more Leo’s than his, but they were good ones and they provided a direction, and if sometimes he doubted that was what he truly wanted to do with his life, he reminded himself of all the times Leo and Tristan had made him feel like they were his family when his real one had no time for him. He owed them.

***

The Knight’s Bride Prize is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: