Lady Alyse de Courcy has fallen in love with Lord Braeton, a nobleman in King Edward III’s court and a man to whom she has barely spoken. Fate, however, has decreed her betrothal to his best friend, Sir Geoffrey Longford — a handsome and imposing knight, yet hardly the man she wants to wed.
When Sir Geoffrey is bound in betrothal by his father, he could not have expected the beautiful stranger to win his heart the moment they meet. Nevertheless, the fascinating Lady Alyse has done exactly that, and his feelings for her only grow as he learns more of her gentle yet spirited nature. But Alyse’s infatuation with his friend casts doubt on whether she can ever return his regard and their wedding day is fast approaching…
Will he have time enough to win her love?
Will this love story have a happily ever after? To help us in our question for happiness, Jenna Jaxon, author of Betrothal, has kindly dropped into ItsWriteNow.com to prepare us for the upcoming wedding and more. Jenna, before we get too far into this love triangle, can you take us back to the beginning of this book. How did it all start?
This book began from a piece on The History Channel about the bubonic plague and the real-life character of Princess Joanna of England.
I don’t know much about Joanna, so I’d love to hear more about how Alyse, and the characters around her developed from this piece.
Two of the main characters, Sir Geoffrey and Lady Alyse simply appeared as the courtiers to Princess Joanna. Thomas, Lord Braeton, volunteered to take a message between Geoffrey and Alyse and became a foil for Geoffrey–and the third major character in the story.
I like the idea of your characters sharing physical messages to communicate. Unfortunately, it’s a bit tricky to do the same for readers! If you could give Thomas a message to your readers to share what your book is all about, what would it say?
That despite all the misgivings, misunderstandings, and differences between a man and a woman, love can triumph.
Indeed it can. What did you personally learn from entwining yourself with the triumphant nature of love?
I learned that if you want passion in your books, you have to write from your heart. I did that every step along the way and truly love the outcome.
Writing from your heart allows you to develop amazing connections, but sometimes the heart can get in so deep that it becomes exhausting. Did you find yourself energised, or more exhausted by the writing process?
Both. When I’m actually in the act of writing I’m energized. When I’m trying to get to the pinnacle where writing can begin is exhausting.
So, what’s going on in your mind as you’re working towards that pinnacle? What are you thinking about?
Usually, I envision the characters and hear their voices in my head as I’m writing their dialogue. Sometimes I also have a particular song that I have running through my head that becomes the book’s “song.’
I won’t ask which song is associated with Betrothal because it might give away the ending, but I’d love to see if any readers could work out which song you were listening to from reading the book. It sounds like a challenge worth setting your readers! And if your readers can’t figure out the song, I’m sure they’ll learn more about your journey as an author from reading your words. How has the tone of your writing changed as you’ve kept writing?
I believe it has become stronger, with a distinctive signature to it. I also feel I have relaxed into that voice as it has become more and more uniquely mine.
Has this distinctive signature turned your mind towards the creation of an author brand?
I have consciously been creating my own brand for several years now. This year, my 10th year of writing, I’ve taken it to the next level by re-covering the Time Enough to Love series, of which Betrothal is the first book. So the cover you see is brand new, and much more in keeping with my brand as it has evolved over the past 10 years.
Congratulations for dedicating ten years to writing! Here’s to another ten! And what project are you working on to kick off your next decade of fun?
Currently, I am writing Much Ado About A Widow, the 4th book in my print series, The Widows’ Club. After that I plan to write book 6 in my Handful of Hearts novella series.
Solid plan, and one that I’d love to see the results of soon. Jenna, I’d best let you get back to bringing those next ten years to life, but thank you so much for chatting about this wonderful historical romance with me today.
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Excited to read the book we discussed today? Find it here on Amazon: ‘Betrothal ( ASIN: B00CF6UZFW )‘.
Want to find out more about Jenna Jaxon? Connect here!