Shari Anton - By Queen's Grace

Cover Page

Excerpt He hadn’t meant to start her tears flowing, truly had no idea for which reason she cried-she had several. Faced with her tears, he could do nothing but take her in his arms until the sobs subsided. Longing, deep and intense, washed through him like an ocean wave, threatening to pull him under. He could not succumb. Judith was far too upset, too vulnerable. Even knowing it, he wanted to kiss her tears away, take her to another place where no pain existed, only ecstasy. Duty battled with desire. His wish to comfort argued with his selfish need. “I truly hate your chain mail,” she said. “You keep yourself encased in cold metal. ” “Right now you should be thankful for it. “Tis all that keeps you safe from me.” “What if I do not wish to be safe from you…?”

Dear Reader Dear Reader, What a perfect time to celebrate history-the eve of a new century. This month we’re featuring four terrific romances with awe-inspiring heroes and heroines from days gone by that you’ll want to take with you into the next century! Corwin of Lenvil, a protective Saxon knight, is one of those characters. He’s the handsome hero in Shari Anton’s exciting new medieval novel, By Queen’s Grace, which is the sequel to By King’s Decree. Corwin infiltrates a rebel camp in order to rescue a kidnapped royal maiden who long ago broke his heart. There’s passion and danger at every turn as the lovely Judith begins to trust in-and fall in love with-Corwin. In The Lady and the Outlaw by DeLoras Scott, the unforgettable, English-bred Antoinette Huntington has a romantic run-in with a rugged outlaw on a train headed to Arizσna Territory. In Suzanne Barclay’s new medieval tale, The Champion, knight Simon of Blackstone will leave you breathless when he returns from the Crusades to right past wrongs. In doing so, he rekindles a love that was lost but not forgotten… Wolf Heart is the fascinating, timeless hero from Shawnee Bride by Elizabeth Lane. He’s a white Shawnee warrior who rescues a young woman from certain death, yet must make her his captive. Can the deep love that grows between them transcend the cultural barriers? Enjoy! And come back again next month for four more choices of the best in historical romance. Happy holidays, Tracy Farrell Senior Editor

Title Page By Queens’s Grace Shari Anton www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dedication To the members of Wisconsin Romance Writers of America. Your encouragement and continued support are greatly appreciated. With special thanks to Carrie Bebris, Susie Just and Leslie Parker, whose opinions and comments I value.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Copyright

truly had no idea for which reason she cried-she had several. Faced with her tears, he could do nothing but take her in his arms until the sobs subsided.

Longing, deep and intense, washed through him like an ocean wave, threatening to pull him under. He could not succumb. Judith was far too upset, too vulnerable. Even knowing it, he wanted to kiss her tears away, take her to another place where no pain existed, only ecstasy. Duty battled with desire. His wish to comfort argued with his selfish need.

“I truly hate your chain mail,” she said. “You keep yourself encased in cold metal.

” “Right now you should be thankful for it. “Tis all that keeps you safe from me.”

“What if I do not wish to be safe from you…?”

Dear Reader,

What a perfect time to celebrate history-the eve of a new century. This month we’re featuring four terrific romances with awe-inspiring heroes and heroines from days gone by that you’ll want to take with you into the next century!

Corwin of Lenvil, a protective Saxon knight, is one of those characters. He’s the handsome hero in Shari Anton’s exciting new medieval novel, By Queen’s Grace, which is the sequel to By King’s Decree. Corwin infiltrates a rebel camp in order to rescue a kidnapped royal maiden who long ago broke his heart. There’s passion and danger at every turn as the lovely Judith begins to trust in-and fall in love with-Corwin.

In The Lady and the Outlaw by DeLoras Scott, the unforgettable, English-bred Antoinette Huntington has a romantic run-in with a rugged outlaw on a train headed to Arizσna Territory. In Suzanne Barclay’s new medieval tale, The Champion, knight Simon of Blackstone will leave you breathless when he returns from the Crusades to right past wrongs. In doing so, he rekindles a love that was lost but not forgotten…

Wolf Heart is the fascinating, timeless hero from Shawnee Bride by Elizabeth Lane. He’s a white Shawnee warrior who rescues a young woman from certain death, yet must make her his captive. Can the deep love that grows between them transcend the cultural barriers?

Enjoy! And come back again next month for four more choices of the best in historical romance.

Happy holidays,

Tracy Farrell

Senior Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To the members of Wisconsin Romance Writers of America.

Your encouragement and continued support are greatly appreciated.

With special thanks to Carrie Bebris, Susie Just and Leslie Parker, whose opinions and comments I value.

England, 1109

The heron never knew what hit it.

Poised against the bright blue sky, a peregrine falcon stooped and attacked with swift and fatal accuracy, saving its screech at a successful kill until its prey hung limply from sharp talons. From the meadow below, Corwin of Lenvil watched the young huntress’s skill with awe, though not with surprise. Ardith had trained the falcon, and no one in England rivaled his twin sister’s talent with hunting birds.

The game bearers rushed off to fetch the heron, pursuing the dogs that marked where the bird had fallen. The falconer whirled the lure to call the peregrine. Corwin shifted in his saddle to fetch a piece of meat, the falcon’s reward, from his leather pouch.

“I am nearly out of bait, Gerard. Do you think it safe for us to return to the castle yet?” he teased his brotherby-marriage and hunting partner.

Gerard, Norman baron of the vast fief of Wilmont, tossed back his mane of long blond hair and laughed. The falcon perched on Gerard’s thick leather glove flapped her wings in protest of the sharp sound, straining the belled jesses that secured the bird to her master’s arm. The highly trained palfrey on which Gerard sat, however, moved not a muscle.

“Safe? Nay,” Gerard said. “I shudder to think of what Ardith has planned in retribution for not being allowed to hunt with us. Would that I could stay away until nightfall.”

A tempting thought. Corwin couldn’t think of anywhere he’d rather be than out hunting with Gerard, especially when they hunted with falcons-a bird a man of Corwin’s rank had no right to fly. Few Saxons in Norman-ruled England enjoyed the privileges he did, and at times like this Corwin thanked the fates that his overlord had possessed the good sense to fall in love with and marry his twin sister.

Corwin held the tidbit of meat in his gloved fingers, raised his hand high in the air and whistled thrice, inviting the falcon back to her former perch. “I shall do you a great favor, my lord,” he offered. “If I praise this bird to the very heavens, ‘twill sweeten Ardith’s mood so greatly she may forgive you your folly.”