This HaBO request comes from Julia and she’s trying to find a medieval romance:
I read this medieval romance about 12 years ago, back when I was a tween and my local public library still had their romance novels in one spot: the very back of the Adult Fiction section. I do not remember character names or the author, sadly. Here’s what I remember:
– Book was probably set in the 1300s.
– Heroine finds out her older sister has died and their father pulls her out of a convent to marry the hero in her sister’s place. I think the sister’s name was Sibylla, or some form of the name, but it may have been the heroine’s name instead.
– There’s a big spiel about spouses sleeping naked together. Heroine is nervous about this but hero assures her he’s not going to do anything until she’s more comfortable. Though I’m convinced he taught her the proper way to spoon.
– I remember a large battle at the end, where the hero’s helmet flies off during a duel with someone, probably the villain. I also think the heroine was either pregnant at this point or is giving birth while this is going on.
– The author had a “Historical Notes” section at the end. I think she used part of it to explain politics, how the hero’s helmet fell off during his duel, and say that “yes, medieval spouses slept naked”.
– I know there was an inside cover, and I think dark fuchsia was…incredibly prominent. It may have been a giant bed with dark fuchsia sheets. The fuchsia may have been on the cover as well.
Fuchsia alert!
Not sure if this is the book (sister’s name is Kate, no historical note, the bride is preoccupied with the days on which they have sex and not nudity), but the plot sounds similar to Lynsay Sands An English Bride in Scotland.
I was also thinking of An English Bride in Scotland (which thanks for remembering the name, I couldn’t), but was only published a few years ago. Was also thinking Betina Krahn but her convent series, they’re intended to be wives, so probably not. Could it be Sands’ “Always”? Or maybe a Claire Delacroix?
I believe this may be it: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/878188.To_the_Castle#
Good job Veronica!
I suck at these HaBOs. Someone could give a detailed description of me and I would be like, “Hmmm, sound familiar…I may know this person… but I am not sure…let me think on it a minute.”
It is only getting worse as I get older. I spend half my time wondering why I walked into a room, then the other half figuring out what I did with what I remembered I came in looking for.
That IS a lot of fuchsia! O_O
I’ve read this. I even remember the fuchsia. It was a long time ago… At first, I thought Kathleen Woodiwiss but I couldn’t find one that matched. Then I thought Jennifer Blake but I can’t find one that matched.
Now that I know a lot more about the fiber arts, I am questioning the historicity of the fuchsia sheets. Royal purple, aka Tyrian purple, comes from a sea snail now known as Bolinus brandaris. The dye was literally worth its weight in gold. It was a fuchsia/magenta color. The only people who could afford it was royalty.
Is the hero a king a or prince?
The day that cover artists worry about historical accuracy when deciding whether to pose their models on fuchsia sheets is a long way away indeed…
I see this is another example of romances where the “clinch cover” is on the stepback (the technical term for that extra picture inside the cover) and covered over with something innocuous like the castle here. I’ve encountered a fair few of those but not recently. It makes the books “safe” for reading on the bus, but I wonder how good of a marketing decision it is. Is it worthwhile paying your artist for a picture that’s not right out front grabbing eyes in the store?
Was To the Castle the correct answer? If not this really seems like a Julie Garwood to me…
Maybe Julie Garwood’s Honor’s Splendour? If not, maybe Betina Krahn’s series with heroines from the Convent of the Brides of Virtue?