Medieval Mistletoe - One Magical Christmas Season

by Laurel O'Donnell

  —Amazon Review on The Lady and the Falconer

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  “A surprisingly emotional quick-read. Whew! What an attention grabbing, heart-wrenching, sigh-worthy ride of a read! It grips you from the first pages and doesn’t release its hold until it finishes, maybe not even then.”

  —Amazon Review for The Bride and the Brute

  “Loved it. I could not put it down until I finished it.”

  —iBooks Review for The Bride and the Brute

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  “Immortal Death is a unique and passionate tale of destined love with a suspenseful plot that captures your attention from page one and continues to intrigue until the very end.”

  —J.E. Hopkins, author of We Shall Rise on Immortal Death

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  “There’s nothing like a wonderfully written romance that includes everything from excitement and intrigue to despair and triumph. Such a novel discourages readers from putting the book down, lest we miss new adventures waiting around the next corner. Laurel O’Donnell has managed to do just that and so much more in the Midnight Shadow.”

  —The Romance Reader on Midnight Shadow

  This is a great book! This book was so filled with action and romance and tension that I could not put it down. Bria was wonderful as a tormented heroine who is pushed into becoming her childhood hero. And I simply fell in love with Terran, the hero. Oh, this book was wonderful!”

  —Barnes and Noble Review for Midnight Shadow

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  “Captivating from the very first page, readers will have a hard time putting Champion of the Heart down. The characters emotional turmoil coupled with the sensuality and delightful cast of characters adds a special, unique depth… and elevated this to another level.”

  —RT Book Reviews on Champion of the Heart

  Medieval Romance Novels

  My Noble Knight

  Layne Fletcher desires to joust in a real tournament, using the skills she has been taught by her brothers. Griffin Wolfe, an honorable knight discovers her facade and demands restitution. Will he be able to teach her how to behave like a lady and hide his attraction to her while keeping his focus on the jousting tournament?

  Angel’s Assassin

  Damien is an assassin, a man with no home and a tortured past. Sold into slavery as a young boy, he is trained to kill with cold calculation, without remorse. Lady Aurora of Acquitaine is the epitome of purity and goodness, beloved by all her people. When Damien enters Aurora’s life, tempting her with promises of dark passion and forbidden lust, he threatens to tear her peaceful world apart.

  Champion of the Heart

  Captivating from the very first page, readers will have a hard time putting Champion of the Heart down. The characters emotional turmoil coupled with the sensuality and delightful cast of characters adds a special, unique depth… and elevated this to another level.”

  - RT Book Reviews

  Champion of the Heart is an exciting medieval romance filled with dark secrets and haunted castles, villainous betrayal and heartbreaking tragedy, honor and family loyalty—and a love that conquers all.

  The Lady and The Falconer

  “Medieval readers will find The Lady and the Falconer a highly satisfying, well crafted story that fills their craving for a tale of medieval intrigue and passion.”

  - Romantic Times Magazine

  A mysterious Falconer. A ravishing green-eyed Lady. A castle under siege. A killer hiding among them. Traitors are revealed. Family loyalties are betrayed. Can hated enemies find common ground in each other’s arms? The Lady and the Falconer is an exciting medieval romance filled with action, intrigue, suspense and a desire that defies every sinister obstacle put in its path.

  A Knight of Honor

  Winner of the Holt Medallion for Best Medieval Novel

  Taylor Sullivan is a raven-haired hellion fleeing the flames that destroyed her family. She arms herself with a quick sword and a sharp tongue, hiring herself out as a mercenary, willing to do whatever it takes to survive. Slane Donovan is a knight of honor, sworn to uphold his oath and his word. He seeks the woman who wears the Sullivan ring, determined to bring her back to Castle Donovan.

  FREE The Bride and The Brute Novella

  Jayce Cullen has been fighting her fear of thunder and lightning ever since she was a child, but nothing could have prepared her for the fury of her new husband. Feeling deceived and betrayed into a loveless marriage, Lord Reese Harrington wants nothing to do with his new wife. Trapped in a marriage with no escape, the beautiful young bride must battle the demons of her husband’s past and hope that she can weather the storm his brutish behavior unleashes.

  Cherished Protector of Her Heart (Lost in a Kiss Box Set)

  Aurora, the honored lady of Acquitaine prepares for her upcoming marriage. Damien, her betrothed battles the unwanted visitors that have come for more than just celebration. Will his past catch up to him and ruin all he has fought so hard to protect? Features characters from Angel’s Assassin!

  Paranormal Romance Novels

  Immortal Death

  Jade Smith’s supernaturally fast ability to heal has made her a freak. After years of fearful reactions from others, she stays hidden in the shadows of life. The one thing that keeps her sane is her writing — and her wonderful hero Demetrius, an imaginary character she created in her online stories. But when Demetrius suddenly appears in her apartment demanding answers, her life changes forever…

  — Winner of the Indiana Golden Opportunity Contest

  Urban Fantasy

  Lost Souls: Resurrection - Episode 1

  Christian Thompson is killed but refuses to pass into the afterlife because of his need to shelter his daughter from her cruel mother. He soon discovers there are others like him, other spirits trapped between the world of the living and the dead. He joins the Lost Souls in their struggle against a dark evil that threatens them all.

  Lost Souls: Imperfection - Episode 2

  Sam and her brother Ben, along with their new friend Christian, have just defied the leader of the Lost Souls. Outcast from their former group, the three of them battle the dark forces of the Changed on their own. With the help of their old friend, Eugene, they investigate the mysterious disappearance of one of their Lost Soul brethren. As the investigation deepens, they come to the chilling realization that their nemesis, Scala, has escaped his centuries-old prison with revenge on his twisted mind. A demonic possession leads to grave consequences and the Lost Souls must make a difficult choice between life and death for an innocent victim.

  Lost Souls: Deception - Episode 3

  Sam, Ben and Christian continue to battle the dark forces of the Changed, the inhuman monsters who feed on the energy of their Lost Soul brethren. After receiving surprising news about the whereabouts of Sam and Ben’s sister Cora, they arrive at a friend’s to investigate. As their search deepens, Ben becomes consumed with trying to save Cora, taking a very dangerous path that puts himself and everyone around him in jeopardy. Treachery and deception threaten their group as they discover nothing is as it seems…

  Lost Souls: Altercation - Episode 4

  Sam and Christian have mysteriously disappeared. An unlikely group of allies is formed as Damien, Ben and Eugene search for their missing friends. With the calming presence of Sam gone from his life, the urge to make the Jump into a human grows dangerously strong inside of Damien. To add to their anguish, a powerful new menace threatens destruction for both Souls and humans alike.

  Can they find Sam in time to stop Damien from making the Jump? Can they stop this new foe from gaining strength and building a deadly following? Read Lost Souls – Altercation to find out!

  For More information on any of these books or other novels by Laurel O’Donnell, please visit her webpage

  COPYRIGHT

  Mistletoe Magic, Copyright(©) Laurel O’Donnell 2014

  www.laurel-odonnell.com Published by ODONNELL BOOKS

  All rights reserved. No part of thi
s romance ebook/novella may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems – except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews – without permission in writing from its author, Laurel O’Donnell.

  The characters and events portrayed in this historical romance novel are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Apart from well-known historical figures, any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Cover Art by Gilded Heart Design

  By

  Denise Domning

  To Barbara Dimperio. Thank you for being my friend.

  A Knight’s Life

  “In this profession one has to endure heat, hunger and hard work, to sleep little and often to keep watch”…“and you will be powerless to change the situation. Bolts and arrows come at you and you do not know how best to protect yourself. You see people killing each other, fleeing, dying and being taken prisoner and you see the bodies of your dead friends lying before you…if you stay, you will win eternal honor. Is he not a great martyr, who puts himself to such work.”

  Geoffroi de Charney, (c. 1300 – 19 September 1356), Chevalier (Knight) and author of Book of Chivalry

  August, 1203

  Chateau Galliard, Normandy

  Horses screamed in terror. Steel clashed. Men cursed and shouted.

  Lord Jocelyn of Freyne turned his head to the side. The warm muck smoothed and shifted beneath the pressure of his cheek. A man leapt over him. Another followed. They were slingers, both of them. The leather straps they used to launch their stones flew out behind them as they raced away from the battle. Jos wished them well, though cowards they were. Then again, was it cowardice to flee when staying meant only death?

  How could a plan that seemed so brilliant yestereven have proved so flawed when implemented at dawn’s light? King John had hoped to drive off the French army before King Phillip could complete his preparations to besiege Chateau Galliard, John’s departed brother’s impregnable and ‘saucy’ castle. To do it, John had split his army, made up mostly of mercenaries, along with knights from England, Normandy and the few Angevins who hadn’t yet betrayed him. One half, the half to which Jos and his troop had been committed, was ordered to attack the French forces by land. The other half was to row up the Seine by boat, destroy the besiegers’ pontoon bridge, then join their brothers in battle against the French and their king.

  The attack by land started at the appointed moment, but the boats had never arrived. Not even William Marshal, England’s greatest warrior, could forestall defeat, not when he had but half of King John’s strength to throw against the full weight of France’s army. With no hope of relief or rescue, they were being cut down like stalks of wheat by a scythe.

  In his mind’s eye Jos once more saw his men fall, each and every one of them. Tom, Adlar and Will—men of Ashby and friends from the time of his fostering there—had died in the first few minutes. The rest of Ashby’s force, as well as the three knights and eighty men he’d brought from Freyne and Lavendon, fell swiftly after, slaughtered, their life’s blood spent on the foul ground of a land strange to them, their bones never to return home.

  His bones never to return. With each beat of his heart Jos left a little more of his own life’s blood on the torn and broken earth around him.

  Consciousness began to wane. As it did, the sounds of battle dimmed. In the unnatural quiet he watched a destrier run past, dragging its rider, the dead knight’s foot yet caught in the stirrup. Another knight, one wearing a surcoat bearing a design Jos didn’t recognize, leapt out to snatch the horse’s reins. The battle-trained beast lifted, his forelegs thrashing, his hooves shod in sharpened iron. The Frenchman paid with his life for trying to claim so rich a prize—the same prize Jos’s horse and armor would be for the knight who claimed them after his death.

  He sighed. His eyes closed. Darkness, peaceful and safe, circled around him, only to be pierced by a shard of sadness.

  Of all the wrongs he’d done in his life, Jos was startled to discover his greatest regret was having delayed his marriage to Avice of Lavendon. Last year, his lack of feeling for Lord Henry’s daughter had seemed just cause to delay their union for one more year. Fie on him. He had broken his promise to Avice, even if that promise had been made seven years ago when he’d been but ten-and-four and she, only nine. Now instead of becoming a wealthy widow who could look forward to a fine second marriage, his death left Avice too old to make a first marriage worthy of her rank.

  As that thought faded, the time for regrets ended, and he drifted into a quiet, empty place.

  December, 1203

  Freyne Castle, England

  A door creaked. Jos woke with a start, his right hand instinctively moving to draw his sword. Pain jolted through him. He froze, teeth gritted. With his next breath he remembered that he was once again in England where he belonged.

  This time moving with far greater respect for his still-tender scar, Jos shifted to the edge of the bed and pulled back the curtains. The wooden rings that held the draperies aloft scraped across the pole. As the fabric parted, cold air curled past it, driving back the warmth that had collected during the night just past and raising gooseflesh on Jos’s skin. He slept without a shirt these days. Even the finest linen irritated the sensitive new skin over his wound.

  The only illumination in the room was the night candle guttering on its iron stand near the foot of the bed. Despite its weak and uncertain light, Jos recognized the figure in the doorway. He grinned in pure pleasure. There was only one man who could fill an opening like that—Sir Gilliam FitzHenry, his beloved foster father, the man who had transformed a whining, headstrong child into a knight prepared to accept the responsibilities of his patrimony.

  “Come in, come in,” Jos commanded his foster father, still grinning like an idiot.

  He carefully levered himself up to sitting on the mattress. “But it can barely be dawn! How did you arrive from Ashby so swiftly? Nay, how did you know to come at all? I only breached Freyne’s gate yestermorn.”

  Dressed in a thick tunic and mud-stained boots and chausses, Sir Gilliam strode into the chamber, the hem of his cloak stirring the fresh rushes on the floor, disturbing the darkened dying wisps of the night just past. The knight found the sole chair in the room, one that appeared too delicate to accommodate a man of his bulk.

  “I gauged you’d be here by no later than next week,” he said as he brought it closer to the bed, “knowing you intended to leave Normandy around Martinmas. I started out two days ago and made Lavendon yestereven. I planned to spend my days reviewing the construction if you hadn’t yet arrived. I’m eager to see how your outer wall progresses,” Sir Gilliam finished as he dropped to sit in the seat, stretching his long legs to one side.

  Only then did Jos actually see his foster father’s face. He laughed in surprise. “Lord save me, look at you! I cannot believe you once more attempted a beard,” he taunted in mock dismay.

  Gilliam was taller, broader and stronger than any other man Jos knew, and almost as accomplished a warrior as the Marshal, but no matter the big knight’s prowess on a field of battle, this was one war he always lost. Unlike his former squire. Jos ran his fingers along the line of his own dark beard. It was no longer as neatly kept as he liked, trimmed to the edge of his jaw and around his mouth. His servant Rob had died with the rest of those who’d gone to France with him. Until Jos was ready to find a new man or regained the full use of his right arm, he would depend on others to do their best to keep his facial hair from growing wild.

  “How did you convince Lady Nicola to agree to this experiment of yours? My sweet foster mother has more than once mentioned how she hates it when you set aside your razor.”

  Creases marked the corners of the older man’s blue eyes at the description of his sword-wielding wife as sweet. Gilliam ran his hand over the lower half of his face, fingering the reddish-blond beard that curled
almost as wildly as the golden stuff atop his head. Although he was twice Jos’s age, his facial hair remained spotty and thin, even though it was now touched with silver.

  “Colette couldn’t complain this time. I grew it as part of my holy oath to see you ransomed and released,” Gilliam replied, still grinning. “I vowed not to shave until you were once more safe in England. When I left Ashby, my beloved was sending up prayers of thanks for your return and sharpening my razor at the same time. As she worked, she was telling our new son he was lucky she’d let me live so long with this stuff on my face. She’ll put that honed edge to my cheeks the moment I return and report that I’ve witnessed you safe in your own bed.”

  “Safe, perhaps, but not in my own bed,” Jos retorted on a brittle breath. “This piece belongs to my lady mother. She brought it with her when she came to Freyne to prepare the hall for my homecoming. Nor is it just a bed. It’s another prison when I’m deathly tired of being confined.”

  After spending almost a month and a half in a rat-infested French donjon waiting to be ransomed, Jos had then been carted to his next prison, Bec Abbey in Normandy. There, the monks had held him close behind their cloister walls as they stitched him together again and strove to bring him back to health.