You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
SBB is looking for a romance novel – and she remembers one key scene:
I am looking for a book. I cannot remember the title, author or cover. I can only remember one thing, the male is a prince, king or emperor (I'm thinking emperor but am not sure). He marries a foreigner and she needs to learn about his ways. I think they wed to form an alliance but am not sure. The most memorable part was that part of the wedding was to braid her hair with flowers and the honeymoon lasts until all of the flowers fall out.
So they do a lot of talking and learning about each other. As they get closer they want to be physical but he warns that it will make the flowers fall out faster and he says he wants to take it slow since this is his first break from ruling the kingdom and he wants to spend time with his new bride. Until the flowers fall out he is on vacation and no one can bother them.
Sorry it's so little to go on but I would really love to find this book if possible and I can't remember anything else. Thank you!!
That's kinda…romantic. Do you remember this book?
I recognize this one! It is one of the linked novellas in “Finding Destiny” by Jean Johnson, this particular novella called Aurul, because that is the kingdom in which the novella takes place. The male protagonist is the Devin, the Seer-King of Aurul, and the god of his Kingdom in has picked out Gabria as his wife and Queen. Gabria is terrified of gods, though, since the god their kingdom used to have was very bad news, and it is hard for her to accept that the god of her new home is likely to pop in for a visit (sort of) every now and then.
I definitely remember the flower-twined braid – Devin and Gabria manage to get rid of those braids amazingly fast (the flowers are magicked into place, and good sex ensures that flowers fall out.)
I think it is “Finding Destiny” by Jean Johnson. That one contains four novellas and came out in 2011. Gabria’s story is in that one.
Sorry I missed the above “Finding Destiny” mention. I only saw “Aurul” and went looking. Sorry about that.
I kind of figured it would be, you know, movement, that would make the flowers fall out. Friction, head-thrashing, hair-pulling…or magic.
I hope you’re right, GHN, so you can be ennobled.
Yep, that’s the third short story “Aurul” from my anthology FINDING DESTINY. (Hi, I’m the author; I’m glad you liked it! *wave*) The wedding flowers in that story were definitely removed by a spell, not by physical touch…but I’ll concede the triggering-point certainly required some physical movement.
As far as I know, it’s still available in trade paperback (that’s the larger format) and in ebook from Berkley Sensations. It was released a while back, however, so you may not be able to find it physically in most bookstores. New bookstores tend to cycle their Romance stock fairly quickly, while used bookstores apparently have a hard time getting copies handed in to resell.
However, you can still order it online, and you should be able to ask a bookstore to order it for you if you prefer visiting bookstores in person, as many of us still do.
…By the way, there will be more stories set in that universe coming out soon; THE TOWER (releases this May) is the first in a new eight-book series set in that same universe as the stories in FINDING DESTINY and the Sons of Destiny octilogy. (Is that even a word?) The second is THE GROVE (December release, just in time for the holidays, yay!)…and there may very well be a cameo appearance by the aforementioned Gabria in the third book, THE GUILD (release date not yet set)…but chronologically speaking, it’ll take place before she ends up wed to the Seer King.
Dunno if that extra bit interests anyone, but there it is.
(Oh, and my novel writing is seriously better than my conversational writing. It’s all due to this magical thing called “editing”…)
Shout out to Jean Johnson. Not so patiently waiting for Hellfire. . . 🙂
Awesome! I love your stories and am so excited for a new series!!!
Thank you so much!