Title: By Promise Made
Author: Susan Leigh Furlong
Genre: Historical Romance
Book Blurb:
She wants to take off his head. He wants to win her heart.
Hugh Cullane, accused of murder and sentenced to hang, is forced to deliver a message of betrothal to four-year-old Queen Mary of Scotland. He faces death yet again when, in rejecting the proposal, the queen's guardian orders his severed head sent back to England in a jar.
Trained to protect her queen at all costs, Katherine Payne can show no mercy to the handsome messenger, despite the way his stolen kiss unsettles her single-minded sense of duty. Trapped between the English and Scottish armies, she must escape with Mary. Hugh joins her as they are chased by men determined to murder the young queen in their own quest for power.
Excerpt:
After escaping the disastrous Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, Kit, Hugh and young Mary flee north…
In the distance, bobbing heads of the horses of an English patrol headed in their direction.
“Down the cliff is the only way. Ye take Mary,” she said, tugging the straps of Mary’s carrying sack off her shoulders. “The wall of the cliff has a small cave in it about halfway down. We can hide inside. I’ll go down first and lead the way. Ye follow with the babe. I’ll guide ye. Here.” She hefted Mary and the carrying sack onto Hugh’s back. “The straps will rub on yer shoulder and start the bleeding again, but there is no other way.”
“Doesna matter. Are ye set, little one?” he asked Mary.
She kissed him on the cheek. “Aye, the man will take good care of me, Kit”
… “I think I see the cave.” She pointed. “I’ll start that way and call for ye to follow.” Swinging her legs over the side, she quickly started the climb down.
Hugh watched her from the top, trying to memorize where she put her feet and hands. “Mary, ye watch Kit verra carefully so ye can help me put my feet in the right places. Ye can even grab hold of the stones with yer hands to help me. Can ye do it?”
“Aye. Kit and I climbed this cliff more than once. Captain Rand put a rope around her waist, but we didna need it. Kit and I climbed up and down all by ourselves.”
“Are ye ready?”
“I am!”
Hugh adjusted quickly to Mary’s extra weight, and he found it relatively easy to follow Kit’s route down over the jagged rocks.
About halfway down the face, Kit called to him. “I see it. The cave. About thirty feet to yer left. I’ll get there and lead ye to it.”
“Aye,” he said.
That’s when loose rocks started sliding down the cliff, not the pebble or two that fell off when his hand hold wasn’t secure, but bushels of debris falling fast and hard. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Kit fighting to find a foothold. She had a grip on a rock with both hands, but her legs swung uselessly. She grunted and strained, but she didn’t cry out.
“I am coming to ye!” called Hugh.
“Nay!” she called back. “Get to the cave where Mary will be safe. I’ll find a way.”
Her right hand slipped off the stones, followed by her left, and she fell fast and hard. Time slowed down as she flew through the air, bouncing repeatedly against the face of the cliff. Two, three times she slammed into the wall. Her tunic caught on a stone and ripped nearly off. On the fifth time, another jagged edge caught her boot and tore it from her foot and twisted her body until she fell headfirst toward the ground. She landed on her back at the edge of the road below with a sickening thud.
Mary screamed.
Buy Link:
UNIVERSAL LINK https://books2read.com/u/mlW1rq
What’s your favorite part about being a romance author?
The best part about being a romance author is that I get to spend time every day with people who, despite any problems or miserable situations I throw at them, they become stronger just knowing that they have a place in someone else’s heart. I get to relive that awesome feeling of first love and again go on the journey to that endearing lasting love. I escape into a world of my choosing, and that is so good for my own mental health. My wish is that books with HEA also give readers that same warm feeling of hope for their world.
Here’s my tip to add romance to your love life:
My tip for adding romance is to look at your partner with the same loving expression on your face that you did when you first realized you were in love. Even if you have to fake it, concentrate on the memory and relive it. If your partner sees that loving face, all the better, but do it for yourself and a lot of the rest will fall in place. I have a photo of my husband and I dancing while looking at each other with that look. It’s one of my favorites.
Giveaway:
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Open internationally
Runs February 1 – 28, 2021.
Drawing will be held on March 1, 2021.
Author Biography:
Susan Leigh Furlong was born at the University of Michigan before moving across the country six times before the age of fourteen. At college she met her love and moved to his hometown, where she taught first and fourth grades. While performing in community theater, she realized she wanted to play ALL the parts, and she now writes and/or directs church plays for adults and children and performs with a music and drama ministry, LightReaders.
She also wrote two historical non-fiction books about her now hometown published by Arcadia Publishing. Susan first discovered romance novels when she won a copy of Velvet Song by Jude Deveraux at the local bookstore, and she is forever smitten.
Social Media Links:
Website https://www.susanlfurlong.com/
Twitter https://twitter.com/FurlongLeigh