MARIAN
by Gayle Feyrer
GENRE: Historical Romance
BLURB:
Warrior. Spy. Marian Montrose dons silk or chain mail with equal aplomb. Sent by Queen Eleanor on a mission to Nottingham, Marian is waylaid in Sherwood Forest by the infamous Robin Hood. Her companions are stripped of their riches, but from her, Robin steals only one brazen kiss.
Seething with anger at the thief’s presumption and the haunting memory of his searing embrace, Marian arrives at the castle to find the sophisticated and seductive Sir Guy of Guisbourne a welcome distraction. Guisbourne would be the perfect ally against the Sheriff and Prince John but he believes he’s already picked the winning side. Deft at games of intrigue, Marian discovers Guisbourne’s involved in plans to steal the ransom meant to free King Richard the Lionheart.
Conquering her misgivings, Marian returns to Sherwood and recruits Robin with the promise of a pardon for him and his men. Now they are allies in the fight to return the king, but Robin wants far more from Marian. First she resists his almost magical allure, then succumbs, then resists again, distrusting the elemental power he has over her. Guisbourne may be lethally dangerous, but Robin threatens to consume both her body and her soul.
Danger surrounds them. Betrayal separates them. But desire—and fate—will not be denied.
Excerpt:
Little John's shrug feigned indifference, but the dark eyes studied him. “Christ, Rob, usually you do no more than kiss their fingers while you slip off their rings.”
Robin shrugged in turn, an elaborated echo. “She was very beautiful.”
“No more than some.”
He stared in such blatant disbelief that John grinned and said, “I like my women warm and willing. And I've seen some beauties you've robbed that would have been pleased to have you swive them silly right there in the road. There’s one or two I even thought came looking for it. This one fair hated your guts. I looked in the eyes of every man on that caravan, and it was the woman I'd not want to turn my back on.”
“Yes,” He leaned back and closed his eyes again. “She was glorious.”
Robin knew her seething contempt had kindled him almost as much as the sheer power of her beauty. For a moment she had been all he had lost, all that had been taken from him. He'd wanted to take it back again, needed to break through the scorn that glittered in her eyes and touch her, to claim her spirit through the sweetness of her flesh. Memory gave him the sensation of her body pressed hard against him, and he felt again the silken texture of her lips soften and part beneath his own. It was only the barest hint of response, but she had been moved by his kiss, he would swear to it.
Yes, and hated me the more after....
Interview with Gayle Feyrer
How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
I’ve written four historical romances, which I’m republishing. Heart of Deception – Elizabethan, and Marian – Medieval are now available. Heart of Night, a sequel to Heart of Deception will be out in 2024 as will the Italian Renaissance novel The Prince of Cups. I’m currently writing a Paris trilogy of historical fiction. Floats the Dark Shadow (mystery) and Bitter Draughts (thriller) are published and the last, A Harmony of Hells (suspense) will be out in 2024. Also one MFA thesis that no one understood, including me. Floats the Dark Shadow is my favorite because I got to revel in the world of poets, artists, and followers of the occult in Belle Époque Paris.
If you’re planning a sequel, can you share a tiny bit of your plans for it?
There won’t be a sequel to Marian. I might do a third historical romance set in Elizabethan England. I’ve also thought of doing another book in Renaissance Italy. Currently I’m still working on the third book of my Paris Trilogy. I have a couple of ideas for other books set in that time frame and featuring those characters. It would be fun to do one that focused on the women characters solving a mystery.
Do you want each book to stand on its own or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
I’m definitely building a world with the Paris books. When I started writing the historical romances, I planned to continue to write the Italian Renaissance, but it wasn’t a popular era with the readers. Medieval England was popular, and while I loved writing Marian, I didn’t really love the time. I switched to Elizabethan England for the next two books.
How did you come up with the title for your book? What does the title mean?
Marian was always the title I wanted for this book, putting my warrior heroine front and center. My editor at the time (not the one who wanted the book) didn’t like it. I suggested A Vigilant Heart, which I thought combined the warrior aspect with romance, but someone in marketing asked if it was a mystery. Why? I haven’t a clue? And they worried no one would know what vigilant meant. Marketing insisted the title focus on Robin, even though Marian’s conflicts were the center of the book. The editor insisted that I title it Thief of My Heart, which I loathed. I only escaped because another book was coming out with that title. I finally had to settle on The Thief’s Mistress. So, when I decided to republish, the first thing I did was go back to my original title.
How long did it take you to write this book?
About 2 years. I am very slow—my mysteries took even longer. It’s why I decided to publish the books myself and professional publishing kept shortening the time they wanted between books, as well as expecting the lesser known authors to do most of their own marketing etc.
What did you learn when writing the book?
Learned a lot about how dynamic Eleanor of Aquitaine was. She went on crusade with her then husband, Louis VII, the King of France. She had a band of “Amazon” women who accompanied her. I decided that Marian’s grandmother was one of them. I also had a lot of fun researching the songs of the troubadours so that I could write Alan a Dale’s songs. I did a silly one and a couple of very romantic ones.
What surprised you the most?
How ghastly the third crusade was—the one which Robin goes on with Richard the Lionheart. The tribulations sounded like a horror movie with snakes and scorpions and starvation.
Have you ever killed off a character your readers loved?
I haven’t killed characters that had appeared before in a book. In Floats the Dark Shadow I did kill two sympathetic people painfully in front of the reader. I almost killed another character in Bitter Draughts, a sympathetic villain, but Beta readers had a fit, and told me to keep him in case he might appear in another book. I killed characters that were likeable in all the romances. The biggest difficulty I had was when I had to torture a character I liked. It was one of the only times I’d cast a friend as the character, and I couldn’t do it. I had to pick an actor to play the part instead. I usually cast, so I’m making a movie as well as writing a book.
What do you do to get inside your character’s heads.
I do extensive backstory on my characters, more than ever appears in the novels. I also do their horoscopes – for the romances they were more descriptive horoscopes. For the Paris books I picked actual birthdates that most clearly reflected who I thought they were.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Gayle Feyrer began drawing as soon as she could hold a crayon and writing when she was twelve. She holds a Bachelor's in Pictorial Arts from UCLA, and MFA from the University of Oregon in Creative Writing. In her varied career, she has been a tie dye artist, go-go dancer, baker, creator of ceramic beasties, illustrator, fiction teacher, and finally, novelist. A Libra with Scorpio Rising, Gayle’s romantic nature takes on a darker edge. She hopes these shadows bring depth to her romances.
A world traveler, Gayle has visited Paris, England and Italy numerous times. She lived for two years in Jakarta, Indonesia, with many trips around Asia. She currently resides across the bridge from San Francisco, with her husband and their two rescue cats, Charlotte and Emily, the Flying Bronte sisters, half Siamese and half tabby.
Connect with Gayle Feyrer
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook ~ Instagram
5 comments:
I love a good historical romance. This one sounds great.
Thank you for hosting "Marian" today!
Good morning and thanks for hosting.
This sounds like a good book.
looks like a fun one
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