Music for My Soul by Lauren Linwood #booktour #authorpost

Music for my Soul

by Lauren Linwood

As the third wife of an abusive French vineyard owner, Madeleine Bouchard hasn’t produced the expected heir after three years of marriage. Fearing he plans to kill her, she flees during a trip to England. Unable to make her way home, she joins a troupe of traveling mummers and reinvents herself as the only woman troubadour in the land, captivating audiences with both song and story.

Nobleman Garrett Montayne’s fascination with Madeleine causes him to pay the troupe to bypass their next stop in order to journey to his estate. Though he suspects Madeleine of being a thief with dark secrets, love blossoms between them under the magical moon of summer solstice.

But Madeleine’s past is about to catch up with her, as her husband is set to arrive to conduct business with Garrett. Madeleine determines to free herself from her loveless marriage and make a new life with Garrett, no matter what the cost.

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My review: Short and sweet, I really like this book. I thought at first I was in store for the dreaded bodice ripping romance story and was treated to a well written historical romance. There was a TON of story. The characters are easy to fall in love with and you find yourself yelling at them. The spin such circles around each other, that you can not imagine they are dizzy from it. I highly recommend this book. It’s a great story.

Read an excerpt from the book: 

Madeleine knew with certainty that the nobleman would recognize her. They spent too much time in one another’s company for him not to know her upon first sight.

Madeleine groaned aloud. Where Sir Ashby was, she was positive his friend, the brooding Lord Montayne, would soon appear. She did not care to see that one face to face, especially since he had been so angry at her when they parted.

She decided to skirt the crowd and make her way back to the performance area. She would plead a sore throat and have Farley allow her to take York’s place in the play. Just as she thought she’d made her way unseen, she heard shouts headed her way.

“Stop, thief! Stop!”

The cutpurse ran by her swiftly, throwing a cursory glance over his shoulder. She despised those who preyed upon others’ misfortune, and she was ready to see this shabby scoundrel caught. Madeleine stepped out, ready to give chase after the fellow when she was blind-sided, being thrown to the ground, the wind knocked from her.

Who had attacked her? She looked up into the blinding summer sun but could not see who stood above her. Then the shadow moved, covering her face from the harsh light.

“Why if ‘tis not Lady Montayne,” said a familiar voice. “And where the hell is my favorite cloak?”

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Dare With Flair: How My Heroines Lose the Victim Label While Finding Their Happily Ever After

by Lauren Linwood

When I was invited to blog at The Crafty Cauldron, Jen’s requested topic choice threw me for a loop. She asked that I write about how my characters are victims without making them seem weak.

As a former history teacher and modern, independent (thinking and acting) woman, it is difficult for me at times to reflect upon how women have been treated as victims throughout history. Since I write historical romances, whether I like or not, that’s part of the journey I must go on with my heroines. I must move them from being a victim (or “unfortunate person” as my thesaurus calls them) to women who courageously take charge of their own destinies.

Victims can be defined in different ways, at least according to Merriam-Webster. Fortunately, none of my heroines belong to the “living beings sacrificed to a deity or in the performance of a religious rite” category. They haven’t been swindled by a con man or adversely affected by cancer or a car crash.

But they have experienced harsh circumstances. Sometimes these have been beyond their control, yet as they grow and change, these heroines discover the fortitude not only to endure … but to do something about their condition or status.

In my upcoming western historical Outlaw Muse, out in November, Serena Sullivan is a victim of poverty and a dying mother. She and her brother are forced into the Orphan Train welfare program, which transports children from the east coast out west, hoping to give them a fresh start with families who will adopt them. Serena is separated from her beloved younger brother, but she never forgets him. She grows up and becomes a schoolmarm, traveling each year to teach in a new place, always searching for clues in order to reunite with him. Serena could have written her brother off and moved on with her life, but she actively looks for him. Even when she’s railroaded for a murder she didn’t commit and is saved by a handsome stranger moments before she’s hanged, the entire time they are on the run from the law, Serena still holds hope she will find her missing brother. And she does, along with love from the very proper British hero who rescued her from the hangman’s noose.

In A Game of Chance, my western historical due in 2014, Lily Frontiere learns her dying mother has racked up huge gambling debts, putting the family business in jeopardy. Though she’s lived most of her life away at boarding school and traveled throughout Europe, Lily knows it’s up to her to keep things afloat. Lily wanted to go on the stage, but her mother forbid her involvement in such a risqué career. Now Lily finds herself in the acting role of a lifetime, in a raven-haired wig with heavy make-up, assuming the role of her mother-who just happens to be the madam of the most famous whorehouse in San Francisco! Lily knows little of this world, but she’s determined to get the books back in order, keep the clients coming through the doors, and pay off the debts owed, all while trying to nurse her mother back to good health. A shrinking violet would abandon her mother and the girls of the house, but Lily marches in like the suffragette she is and turns things around-all while falling in love with a pretty terrific guy.

In my debut release out now, entitled Music For My Soul, Madeleine Bouchard is the third wife of a religious fanatic. Her abusive husband has already lost two wives to mysterious circumstances when they didn’t produce the required heir, and Madeleine feels her life is now in danger since no babe has made an appearance. Though women of 1346 were tremendously subservient to their husbands, Madeleine gathers her courage (along with her favorite lute) and strikes out on her own. She plans to seek sanctuary in a convent, but when that plan falls through, she reinvents herself as the only woman troubadour in all of England, captivating audiences through story and song. No waiting around for this heroine to allow her crazy, evil husband to knock her off and move on to Wife #4. Madeleine shows tremendous bravery, along with a dash of spunk, and escapes from an impossible situation. And yes, since it’s a romance? She happens to fall in love with a dashing lord .. who also has a few secrets of his own.

So it’s true that while the women I write about may appear to be victims at the start of my story due to loss, suffering, injury, or separation, by the end they have displayed courage and daring action in order to achieve happiness and love.

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About the Author:

As a child, Lauren Linwood gathered her neighborhood friends together and made up stories for them to act out, her first venture into creating memorable characters. Following her passion for history and love of learning, she became a teacher who began writing on the side to maintain her sanity in a sea of teenage hormones.

Lauren’s novels focus on two of her favorite eras, medieval times and the American Old West. History is the backdrop that places her characters in extraordinary circumstances, where their intense desire and yearning for one another grows into the deep, tender, treasured gift of love.

Lauren, a native Texan, lives in a Dallas suburb with her family. An avid reader, moviegoer, and sports fan, she manages stress by alternating yoga with five mile walks. She is thinking about starting a support group for Pinterest and House Hunters addicts.

Keep in contact with Lauren through her various sites:

www.laurenlinwood.com

http://laurenlinwood.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/laurenlinwood

https://twitter.com/LaurenLinwood

laurenlinwood@gmail.com

 Buy the book on Amazon

Lauren will be awarding a $25 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:

http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/04/virtual-book-tour-music-for-my-soul-by.html