Spotlight & Giveaway: A Midsummer Knight’s Kiss by Elisabeth Hobbes

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Elisabeth Hobbes to HJ!

Hi Elisabeth and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, A Midsummer Knight’s Kiss!

 
Thanks for having me back
 

To start off, can you please tell us a little bit about this book?:

A Midsummer Knight’s Kiss is a friends to lovers reunion romance set in Medieval York. It follows on from The Danby Brothers miniseries and tells the story of Robbie Danby, the adopted son of Roger, hero in Redeeming the Rogue Knight, and Rowenna, daughter of Hal from The Blacksmith’s Wife. Readers don’t have to have read the first two books as all of them work as standalone romances, however there are a few in-jokes that anyone who has read all three might spot.
Rowenna and Robbie have grown up alongside each other in Yorkshire but when Robbie is fourteen he leaves to begin his training as a knight. The two reunite in York seven years later and both discover their childhood friendship is much more complicated now.
 

Please share your favorite lines or quote(s) from this book:

I love the opening lines of this book.

‘The first indication that Rowenna Danby was in trouble was the honking of the geese.’

Geese are terrifying and this incident is based closely on one from my childhood.

What inspired this book?

I always get so frustrated when a hero (or heroine) in a film has a crush on someone totally unsuitable while ignoring their friend who is perfect for them. The one downside of A Knight’s Tale was that Heath Ledger’s character didn’t get sick of high maintenance Jocelyn and fall in love with Kate the blacksmith who was much more fun. I wanted the quirky friend to get a look in here.

I wanted to discover what Hal, Joanna, Roger and Lucy had been up to and catching up with them in middle age was interesting. It was fun to stick a bit of parental hypocrisy in there.

How did you ‘get to know’ your main characters? Did they ever surprise you?

Because the book starts when they are young teenagers I felt like I had to get to know them twice. During the feast, Rowenna does something to the woman Robbie in infatuated with that I wasn’t expecting. It is well deserved as Mary was being awful about Robbie but it came from nowhere.

What was your favorite scene to write?

Robbie is trying to pluck up the courage to speak to Mary, the woman he is infatuated with, and asks Rowenna to pretend to be her. It’s the first time he starts to realise she’s no longer the thirteen year old tomboy he used to know.

‘I shall be your elegant lady.’
She walked between the neat rows of lavender and betony, hips swaying distractingly, and positioned herself on the edge of a stone bench with an elegant movement. She did an exaggerated mime of strumming a lute. Robbie sniggered.
‘Good morrow, Master Danby,’ she said. She spread her skirts out; cocking her head to one side with an expression of coquettish challenge that he was certain would never appear on Mary’s placid face.
Robbie took a deep breath, doing his best not to be distracted by the delicious frisson that shot through him. He dropped to her side, going on to one knee. ‘M-Mary, I adore you.’
‘That’s very forward.’ Rowenna laughed. ‘Perhaps converse a little first. What do you usually talk to her about?’
‘I don’t. That is, we’ve only spoken once or twice.’
And those times had been completely unsuccessful, he thought ruefully.
Rowenna raised her eyebrow and laughed gently. ‘Robbie, I do love you, but you’re a fool. Very well, continue.’
He wrinkled his brow. ‘How would you begin to tell a man you liked him? This man you would coo at?’
‘I wouldn’t! That is, it would be frowned upon for a woman to be forward enough to begin such a conversation. All I can do is make my eyes large and hope I am noticed.’
She made them as wide as possible and gazed at him from beneath her lashes in illustration.

What was the most difficult scene to write?

Readers of Redeeming the Rogue Knight already know Robbie has a different father but deciding when Robbie found out was tricky. I wrote so many drafts where Robbie knew from childhood, or didn’t learn it until he was an adult. In the end Roger tells him on the night Robbie learns he will be leaving home to begin his training towards knighthood which created a sense of rejection for him.

Roger poured himself another cup of wine and drained it in one.
‘Robbie, I am not your father.’
The world folded in. Robbie lifted his cup to his lips, but it was as if someone else was drinking the wine because he tasted nothing. He thought about protesting that his father was jesting, or there was a mistake, but the look in Roger’s eyes told him it was futile.
‘We always wondered if you would remember the time before I met your mother, but you never did.’ Roger twisted his cup between his hands and bowed his head.
‘And now you have told me, you are s-s-sending me away?’
‘You are not an exile,’ Roger said. ‘You want to go.’
Robbie stared around. He could remember nothing before this stone house full of laughter and affection, but now the walls trapped him.
Robbie’s throat seized with an unspeakable pain. It was not in his nature to shout or rant, and experience told him that he stuttered worse when he did.
‘Why are you telling m-me now?’ he asked in a low voice.
‘You have a right to know.’
‘It’s something I should have always known!’

Would you say this book showcases your writing style or is it a departure for you?

I sometimes write some very dark scenes – the Middle Ages were war torn and dangerous after all. I think A Midsummer Knight’s Kiss is one of my most lighthearted stories. Although it takes place during the real life riots that were part of The Peasants’ Revolt, there are no scenes with blood or guts, and nothing too dreadful happens to anyone.

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

This book concludes the family conflicts and injustices caused by inheritance and titles from The Blacksmith’s Wife and continued in Redeeming the Rogue Knight. I hope readers feel that they are resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.

I also hope readers agree that the right girl got the hero in the end.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

My next release is out in February. Uncovering the Merchant’s Secret tells the tale of a shipwreck survivor with no memory of who he is or what he was doing on a ship. He is rescued by a reclusive widow who has secrets of her own. She’s based on a real life Breton pirate and was great fun to write.

I’m currently writing a Victorian Marriage of Convenience story set in the Cheshire mill town where I live so that’s a real departure in time period.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: I’m giving away a signed print copy of A Midsummer Knight’s Kiss to one reader anywhere in the world.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: The Danby miniseries deals with family. If you could have any famous person (past or present) as a member of your family, who would you choose?

 
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Excerpt from A Midsummer Knight’s Kiss:

She spun around in a whirl of skirts and threw herself on to the bench beside him. Tendrils of hair had come loose from her gold-wire caul and were plastered to her cheeks and forehead. She blew upwards to loosen them, taking deep breaths that lifted her breasts high in a manner Robbie found distracting. It was as if unseen hands had taken her body and sculpted it into something entirely new since he had parted from her the day before. Something fascinating and attractive and very, very desirable. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks were flushed, deepening her beauty. Robbie said nothing.
‘That was fun, but I have such a thirst now. Fetch me another cup of wine please, Robbie,’ she asked breathlessly, leaning close to him. He caught the scent of wine on her breath. Another? He wondered how many she’d drunk already.
‘I think you’ve had enough,’ he said sharply. ‘You’ll be tipsy.’
‘No, I won’t!’ She hiccoughed and put her hand hastily over her mouth with a giggle. ‘Perhaps you’re right, but even if I am, why is that your business? You aren’t my guardian.’
‘Apparently tonight no one is,’ Robbie muttered.
Rowenna pouted. ‘Why are you being so sullen?’
She put her hand on his forearm, but he shrugged her off. He folded his arms and glared at her.
‘Because when I should have been enjoying finally getting to dance with Mary I was instead concentrating on making sure you weren’t ruining your reputation by behaving in such a flighty manner for half of York to see!’
‘Flighty?’ Her jaw dropped and her eyes blazed. ‘I was only dancing, just the same as everyone else in the room. Why do you have to be so staid?’
He regarded her sternly.
‘You can do as you please, of course, but I’m not going to stand by and watch you ruin your reputation and bring shame on our family.’
She glared at him. ‘How can you be so unfair? You have no right to be so judgemental! You know I rarely get the chance to meet people and how I’ll struggle to find a husband.’
She looked mutinous and he sensed they were on the verge of a quarrel. Nevertheless, he set his jaw.
‘That’s all the more reason to be discreet, I would have thought. I thought you were learning to behave as a lady.’
‘I am! I haven’t disgraced myself and I wasn’t indiscreet.’ She swept an arm around. ‘There is not a woman here who hasn’t danced with at least five men.’
‘You need to curb your passion,’ Robbie warned, catching her hand as it narrowly missed his head. ‘Your eyes and manner give too much away. It isn’t seemly. Or safe.’
‘Mother talked about safety, too, as if I were about to offer myself to half the city!’ Rowenna rolled her eyes, pique filling them. Robbie wished he had a mirror to show her how clearly her thoughts could be read. ‘Is that what you think I’ll do, too?’
He assumed she was still a virgin like him and therefore had no idea of the urges that assailed men. Were women immune to such hot, desperate hungers or did Rowenna crave the experience of lovemaking, too? The image of Rowenna offering herself to him thumped Robbie in the groin like the impact of a lance. Would Rowenna make love with as much abandonment and passion as she showed when dancing? Unbidden comparisons between Rowenna and Mary reared up inside him, turning his flesh hot and prickly as once again the balance tipped in favour of Rowenna. He pushed such coarse thoughts from his mind and took a deep breath.
‘Of course not! But not all men would wait to be offered. You need to show more caution,’ he muttered. ‘I might not be there to protect you next time.’
‘Protect me from what? Rowenna pointed a finger at him and raised an eyebrow, giving him a wanton smile. ‘Don’t blame me because you didn’t like what you saw and don’t dare to do the same. If you had half the boldness to go ask your Lady Mary to dance as you did in dragging me away, you’d have spent less time sitting alone in the corner. Cecil told me you intended to ask her. Though on that subject—’
Robbie scowled and cut her off mid-sentence. Rowenna apparently hadn’t even noticed that he had plucked up the courage to ask Mary. ‘I was watching Cecil and he seemed to tell you a lot of things. He never appeared to stop whispering in your ear.’
She gave an indignant gasp, starting to her feet, then sat back. She arched her brow and pouted. ‘Well, perhaps whispering with Cecil is more fun that sitting while you glare at me in silence. At least he’s exciting.’
‘Excitement is overrated. You need someone you can depend on.’
‘Dependable is dull,’ Rowenna snapped.
‘Is it?’ Robbie winced. She’d called him that before now. The urge to be impulsive began to bud inside him.
Rowenna stood and turned to him. ‘Marriage is my only chance of escape from Ravenscrag and it is going to be hard enough to find a husband. I won’t sit in a corner watching while the world dances around me!’
‘Goodnight, Rowenna,’ Robbie said curtly, standing. ‘I’ll get you your wine, then you can go back to your dancing. I think I shall leave. I’ve lost the taste for company, it appears.’
He bowed stiffly and walked away.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

A stolen moment…
…to reunite them!

Since her mischief-making childhood with Robbie Danby, Rowenna has curbed her impetuous nature and become a lady. When she meets Robbie again in York he’s close to claiming his knighthood, and their newly awakened affection inspires in Rowenna a decidedly adult impulsiveness! Yet Robbie’s heart appears to belong to another…unless a Midsummer kiss can change everything…?

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Meet the Author:

Elisabeth’s writing career began when she finished in third place in Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write contest in 2013. She was offered a two-book contract and hasn’t looked back. Since then she has published eight Medieval romances with Harlequin Mills & Boon and doesn’t have any plans to stop!
Elisabeth works as a Primary teacher but she’d rather be writing full time because unlike five year olds, her characters generally do what she tells them. When she isn’t writing, she spends most of her spare time reading and is a pro at cooking one-handed while holding a book. She loves historical fiction and has a fondness for dark haired, bearded heroes.
Elisabeth enjoys skiing, singing, and exploring tourist attractions with her family. Her children are resigned to spending their weekends visiting the past. She loves hot and sour soup and espresso martinis – but not at the same time!
She lives in Cheshire because the car broke down there in 1999 and she never left.
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