Leslie Hachtel-Author of A Defiant Bride

I’m delighted to have Leslie here today. She has a giveaway too. 

Thank you, Collette. It is very exciting to be the guest of such an amazing author.

First, let me offer a giveaway. I would love to know if you think Dariana could have done something else in her situation. Imagine you are being forced to wed and spend the rest of your life with a man you have never met. A man from a foreign land who speaks a different tongue. And, in those days, women had no rights, so the man could treat you any way he wished. If she had defied the King, he could have taken her father’s land and title. So, other than faking your death, what alternative would you have? The most creative response will win an e-book copy of “The Defiant Bride”.

Many times, I have been asked why I chose this period of history as the setting for my book. The answer is this: The early 1500’s, when Henry VIII first took the throne, has always seemed a wonderful time. The young King wanted to bring about a return to Camelot and brought gaiety and celebration back. He was a man full of life and humor. I am quite sure he would have approved of Dariana and William’s actions and I tried to capture the man I think he was.

Also, the King’s Forest has always fascinated me. What a glorious place. It was set aside for the royals to hunt, but it was also an enchanted preserve. Exploring it proved delicious. And, the idea of hiding in a cottage there, only to have true love find you….*sigh*

The knowledge that a woman’s husband was chosen for her, no matter her own thoughts or desires, grated. So, what about the women who wouldn’t merely acquiesce? There had to be women in that time who were willing to find alternatives to a life bound to misery.

So, I started with a magical time, a happy King and two beautiful, strong-willed characters destined to fall in love. After that, the story told itself.

The Defiant Bride

Furious at being used as a political pawn, the Lady Dariana defies King Henry VII by faking her own death to avoid marrying a man she has never met. Praying the king will not retaliate against her father, she seeks refuge in the forest and learns to fend for herself.  When William, a warrior knight, is felled by an arrow, she saves his life and arranges his rescue before fleeing to avoid discovery.

William awakes from his injury to be told he imagined the beautiful woman in the forest. Besotted and determined to make her his own, he hunts her down and tricks her into marrying him, intent on turning her defiance into love. But even as he begins to succeed, their enemies join forces to end the marriage—even if it means that Dariana must die.

When Dariana is abducted, William must track her down to fight for her life and their happiness. And, Dariana, once the most defiant of brides, must channel her own strength of will into survival, both for herself—and for the child she now carries.

EXCERPT

Dariana gazed into the pool of water; the vibrant rays of sun twisted this way and that, dancing on the crystal surface. Her thoughts were mingled, flashes of memory, dreams. A part of her took great pride in her survival in so different an existence, but what had she gained? She had lived through cold nights and painful loneliness, but to what end? She was unmarried, yes, and not exiled to a land where even the language was foreign, but she was thought dead. Now, life was meaningless. She would never return to all she had known, never bear a child and feel its warmth in her arms, never experience the love she so desperately sought.

Perhaps she could do something else, something that would give her life meaning after all. Her thoughts continued to wander and she dipped her hand into the cool water and watched as the ripples further disturbed the shafts of light in their attempts to float on the surface.

All at once, a reflection joined her own. She smiled at the image and chided herself for allowing her imagination to conjure it. She stared at the shifting shape and reached out her hand, wishing so dearly it would be real.

When he spoke, she gasped, trying to make sense of it. Her instinct was to throw herself into the warmth and protection of his arms, but she feared perhaps to be hurling herself into nothing more substantial than the cold water, so she hesitated, waiting for the apparition to dissolve.

“Did you miss me?” William questioned in the soft voice she remembered so well. “For I have thought of nothing but you since the day you came to my aid.”

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The Defiant Bride

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