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How to Survive the Tudor Period–Elizabeth Moss’s ROSE BRIDE New Release Spotlight (Lust in the Tudor Court #3)

TIP FOR SURVIVING THE TUDOR PERIOD:

ALWAYS SAY YES TO THE KING

The monarch in Tudor England rules by divine right, which basically means whatever they do is sanctioned directly by God. In other words, you mess with the king or queen, and you are messing with God. But even being struck down by divine vengeance – such as a disfiguring disease or a lightning bolt – is not as worrisome as saying no to the king. Annoying the monarch can result in many unpleasant years in a Tudor prison, or a hideous death on the scaffold. Not only that, but the king can confiscate your land, property and money, strip you of your titles, and disinherit your children. So when he says, ‘I like your wife,’ better think twice before complaining. And don’t think being a woman will help you. Henry VIII is perfectly open to the idea of divorce and even execution for the ladies in his life. You have been warned!

 

About ROSE BRIDE:

She is a fallen woman, an object of men’s lust…

Margerie Croft yielded up her virginity before her wedding, and then fled from her eager suitor – knowing that she could not marry a man she did not love. Now she is viewed as soiled goods, fit for only for the role of courtier’s plaything.

He sees something in her that others don’t…

Virgil Elton is King Henry VIII’s physician, working on a tonic to restore his sovereign’s flagging libido. But first it must be tested. Who better, then, than the wanton Margerie Croft? But as he gets to know her Virgil discovers someone as intelligent and passionate as she is beautiful – someone who has been gravely misunderstood.
For her part, Margerie finds Virgil irresistible – with or without the help of his special medicine. But she knows she could never make Virgil a respectable wife. And yet, despite herself, Margerie can’t help but wonder…

Will they find the formula for a lasting love?

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EXCERPT:

Virgil stopped, listening. Someone was coming along the shadowy corridor ahead. He could hear light footsteps, almost shuffling. Then a dim figure passed beneath the nearest torch and he saw her face, pale, her eyes open but devoid of expression, her lips parted in a string of barely coherent whispers.

It was Margerie Croft herself, wandering barefoot in her sleep, her unbound hair tumbling in a cloudy red cascade to her waist, clad in nothing but a thin white shift.

Fortuna audaces iuvat, he thought fiercely. Fortune favours the bold. And he would have to be bold if he wished to be favoured by this beautiful, elusive creature.

“He will not touch me again. No, I shall not allow it,” she was whispering to herself. “You must let me go, sir. You cannot keep me here forever.”

So her night wanderings were not at an end, as she had tried to pretend. And here was the proof.

Virgil stepped into her path and caught her by the shoulders. “Margerie,” he said quietly, looking into her face.

But her clear green gaze looked past him, empty and seemingly unaware of her surroundings.

She was asleep.

Virgil stood a moment, thinking, still holding her lightly. He had read of somnambulists in ancient texts, troubled souls who walked in their sleep, and had even prescribed a sleeping draught to keep her nightmares at bay. But he had not truly believed it to be possible until he had seen the phenomenon with his own eyes, thinking she and Kate Langley must have exaggerated her condition.

What was it that stirred her soul so deeply, she must wander the palace at night in this dreamlike state?

“Are you awake, Margerie? Can you hear me?” His whisper echoed in the narrow corridor. “Do you know where you are?”

She did not respond but stood passive and blank-faced, breathing more deeply now, as though fast asleep. His gaze dropped to her mouth, and a powerful surge of desire moved through his body, surprising him.

She was at once vulnerable and strong, her swaying curves generous, her height imposing, suggesting she was the equal of a man. In any other woman such fiery independence of spirit would have left him cool. Yet something about Margerie threw out a challenge to every male she passed – an instinctive lure as old as time, a dare that he found nigh impossible to resist – to tame and subdue her if he was up to the task. And Virgil knew he was.

But he wanted Margerie to be awake when he took her.

“Margerie, I am going to kiss you,” he warned her, but there was no flicker of response in that pale face.

Was she in truth asleep, or just feigning?

There was one way to find out. Grasping her shoulders, Virgil leant forward and set his lips to hers. The violent shock that ran through him as their mouths touched stole his ability to breathe, to think, to retain control over himself. She was still asleep. He should not be doing this, it was not right. Still he could not draw away.

His kiss deepened, and as her lips parted softly under that pressure, Virgil pushed his tongue inside and tasted her. That was his undoing.

She tasted like honey, and God’s blood, he was drowning in her. Drowning …

Then suddenly Margerie was struggling in his arms, jerking away from him, gasping and shaking. Virgil let her go. He was not interested in forcing Margerie into an embrace she did not welcome.

Besides, her eyes held shocked awareness now. She was awake.

 

 

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