NBtM Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: For This Knight Only by Barbara Bettis

Welcome to my stop on the NBtM virtual book tour for For This Knight Only by Barbara Bettis. This book tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt for you as well as a guest post. There's also a tour wide giveaway to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for more content. Enjoy!

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Title: For This Knight Only
Author: Barbara Bettis
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Publication Date: March 18th 2019
Print Length: 235 pages
Genre: Historical Romance

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He’ll do anything for land, even marry her; she’ll do anything for her people, except marry him. If only either had a choice. It’s a marriage only love can save.

Sir Roark will do anything to gain land, even beguile an unwilling lady into marriage. He knows she’s much better off with a man to take control of her besieged castle, to say nothing of her desirable person. But it isn’t long before he discovers that, although her eyes sparkle like sunlight on sea waves, her stubbornness alone could have defeated Saladin.

Lady Alyss is determined to hold her family’s castle, protect her people, and preserve her freedom— until her brother’s dying wish binds her to a stranger. Still, she’ll allow no rugged, over-confident, appealing knight to usurp her authority, even if she must wed him. Especially since he thinks a lady’s duties begin and end with directing servants. Alyss has a few surprises for her new all-too-tempting lord.

But when a common enemy threatens everything, Roark and Alyss face a startling revelation. Without love, neither land nor freedom matters.

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EXCERPT:

She refused to cooperate. How did a man handle a woman so independent? If only he’d been more observant when his father spoke to his mother. If only he hadn’t been so young. Before the tragedy.

Alyss stood her ground and lifted her chin. “You didn’t summon me, you said you awaited me. Perhaps your knightly training did not include language. ‘I await you,’ is a statement. ‘Come to the hall,’ is a summons.”

Again, the lady had found a weakness in his armor. He had no language training at all, no reading, no writing but for his name. Most knights did not, but his inability rankled him.

“If my speech doesn’t move you, then I won’t bother with it.” He leaned down, grabbed her around the knees, and upended her onto his shoulder. A thought raced through his mind: This wasn’t, perhaps, the ideal way to scoop her into his arms.

The unexpectedness of the action brought a squeal from Alyss, and the sound of running feet from hall below.

“Put me down.” She smacked him on the back and squirmed, kicking out at any part of his body she could connect with. He clenched her legs with his right arm before she managed to unman him with a lucky blow.

“Hold still.” A smack to her bottom punctuated his words. “And that was a command.” God’s elbow. Another act guaranteed to increase her ire. Would he ever learn?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Award-winning author Barbara Bettis has always loved history and English. As a college freshman, she considered becoming an archeologist until she realized there likely would be bugs and snakes involved. And math. Through careers as a newspaper reporter and editor, then a college journalism and English professor, she’s retained her fascination with history. Give her a research book and a pot of tea, and she’s happy for hours. But what really makes her smile is working on a new story. Now retired, she lives in Missouri where she edits for others and spins her own tales of heroines to die for—and heroes to live for.

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GUEST POST:

- What is the craziest thing you've done for love?

The topic suggestion What is the craziest thing you’ve done for love? sent me off on long memory jaunts and when I stopped laughing I thought—umm, maybe not. Then I realized the topic doesn’t stipulate what kind of love. So I’d like to share just one of the craziest things I did for love—of my job.

Before going into teaching, I had a wonderful career as a daily newspaper journalist. A nearby town in our circulation area hosted an annual hot air balloon gathering. That get-together in late summer also acted as a regional championship, which mean it drew dozens of balloonists from all over the country.

Fact: I have a serious fear of heights. Even today, when I’m old enough to have outgrown all irrational fears, I don’t advance beyond the second step on a ladder without one hand anchored to a solid object.

Okay, back to the balloon rally. On the second morning of the three-day event, I showed up, prepared to do interviews with pilots and ride along with a ground chase crew for an up-close story. I was editing a special edition of the paper devoted to the championship and had a day filled with photo opportunities, etc. I had dressed professionally in a denim skirt, a roomy top, and my favorite leather wedges.

And then the pilot I was interviewing invited me to ride along in the balloon as it participated in the morning event—a Hare and Hound race. The Hare balloon sets off first, lands in a spot, and puts down a large X as bullseye. The balloonist Hound to come closest to the X is the winner.

Perfect chance for a photo and up-close story, he insisted. Hang in a tiny basket way-far-above the earth? I. Could. Not. Do. It. But then I realized that was part of my job, to report on stories so that readers could feel they were a part of the action in the community.

Eventually, I found myself literally suspended in mid-air, in the midst of a dense early-morning fog (which had not been predicted). The balloon pilot couldn’t see where he was going. I couldn’t see to take pictures. Which was a good thing, because I was holding on Very Tightly with both hands. I didn’t have a third hand to operate the camera.

Suffice it to say, after flying blind for a bit, worrying about the sound of a small plane’s engine somewhere in the fog (the airport had been advised not to let aircraft up because of the dangers it threatened to balloons) and being caught up in an unexpected wind gusts, we landed.

That is, we crash landed. As we prepared to descend for landing not far from the Hare’s X, that unexpected wind grabbed the balloon and tossed it against a hillside. The first time the basket bounced, the camera I had around my neck swung around to my back while I held on with both hands to the basket lines. The second time we bounced, the camera strap tightened on my neck and I seriously wondered … We bounced a few more times before we dragged several feet to a halt, the basket on its side.

I crawled out and stood, to find myself barefoot on the ground, my favorite shoes dangling from the ankle straps. The balloonist had a few scratches. I was dizzy but otherwise unhurt, except for some red marks on my neck from the camera strap and sore arms and shoulders from holding tight. The camera had not one scratch and in spite of all the banging against the ground as we bounced, it still worked! It was a wonder!

So yes, the craziest thing I ever did for love—hot air ballooning. Please don’t ask if I’d do it all over again.

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GIVEAWAY:

Barbara Bettis will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter after the tour. To increase your chance of winning, leave a comment at a different stop on the tour each day. Good luck!

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