Champions Kickstarter Campaign Rewards

One of the fun things about setting up a Kickstarter campaign is deciding on other goodies to make available to backers. Let’s talk about those today.

Digital Rewards

Digital rewards are available to all backers, regardless of whether they back tiers with physical or digital products.

The map for the Champions of St. Euphemia is something I’ve wanted to have drawn for quite a while, and I’m excited about it. As mentioned yesterday, the map will be included in each of the new special editions, as a black and white double-page spread in the print books and as an image in the ebooks. It will also be offered as a two-page PDF digital reward to backers. That means you’ll be able to print it out on two 8.5″ x 11″ sheets, then tape those together to have a larger reference map. I’ll be able to show this to you by the end of the month.

The Reader Companion to the Champions of St. Euphemia series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, available only during the Kickstarter campaign for the new special editions

I’ve also compiled a Readers’ Companion for the series, which will be a digital reward for backers. This ebook includes:
• an overview of the series
• a character list of the company
• a synopsis for each book
• a character list for each book
• two family trees for each book (ten in total)
• a brief history of the Knights Templar
• a list of historical figures mentioned in the series with a short bio for each one
• a brief history of the crusades.
It started out as a character list and kept growing!

The ten family trees will also be available as a digital reward, sized for 8.5 x 11″ paper, so that you can print them out as a larger reference if you choose.

There are also five colouring pages, one of each illustration of the couples, which are a digital reward for all backers. Download them, print them out, and colour away!

Physical Rewards

We talked yesterday about the signed bookplates that will be mailed to backers of print books. There’s a different one for each book.

Five Bookplates for the special editions of the Champions of St. Euphemia

There is also a bookmark for backers of the sets of five print books. This is a larger format bookmark, showing all five of the new editions, and it has gold foil accents on both sides.

Just for fun, I’ve added a set of round stickers, each featuring one of the couples framed like a jewelled brooch. Backers will get the sticker for the print book they buy – one or all five.

five stickers of the Champions covers

Early Bird Rewards

I always offer an early bird reward, and this time, it’s a set of five vellum inserts along with the set of five hardcovers. Each vellum insert will feature one of the illustrations of the couple. I haven’t decided yet whether to limit this by time or quantity, but it will be for early birds.

Why Buy at Kickstarter

The simple answer is that you’ll be getting something special, unavailable elsewhere.

These special editions aren’t going into retail distribution, which means you can only buy them directly from me, either at Kickstarter or at Hazel & Honeysuckle Press after the campaign is over. They will also be offered in future historical romance Kickstarter campaigns BUT all of the additional rewards – the bookplates, the stickers, the reader companion, the colouring pages, the downloads of the map and family trees, the vellum inserts – will only be available from this Kickstarter campaign. You have this one chance to add all those goodies to your books.

The Champions of St. Euphemia special editions are coming to Kickstarter in July 2025

We launch July 8. Follow the campaign to be notified at launch!

Champions New Special Editions

This week, we’re going to talk about the new special editions of The Champions of St. Euphemia series of medieval romances, coming to Kickstarter in July. I’ve wanted to give this series a special print treatment for a while, and now’s the time. 🙂

The new editions will be available in hard cover, trade paperback and ebook. The ebooks don’t have all of the features of the print editions but I’ll pack in as many as possible. (Page backgrounds, for example, aren’t supported in ebooks.)

Let’s take a closer look at the new editions today, and what makes them special.

First off, the books have new covers, designed by Dar Albert. Here’s a digital mock-up of the new hard cover edition of The Crusader’s Bride.

new hardcover special edition of The Crusader's Bride, book one of the Champions of St. Euphemia series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, coming to Kickstarter in July 2025

The hardcovers have one image (with type) on the dust jacket and a different image (without type) on the case laminate.

new hardcover special edition of The Crusader's Heart, book two of the Champions of St. Euphemia series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, coming to Kickstarter in July 2025

I wanted the case laminate to look like an old book. Each one has a gem on the spine, too.

new hardcover special edition of The Crusader's Kiss, book three of the Champions of St. Euphemia series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, coming to Kickstarter in July 2025
new hardcover special edition of The Crusader's Vow, book four of the Champions of St. Euphemia series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, coming to Kickstarter in July 2025
new hardcover special edition of The Crusader's Handfast, book five of the Champions of St. Euphemia series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, coming to Kickstarter in July 2025

The trade paperbacks have the same exterior cover with the type. They also have a duplexed cover, which means it’s printed on the inside, as well. These trade paperbacks have the illustrations from the current editions – the images of the couples – on the inside of the cover.

Those illustrations are also included as full page images in the special edition ebooks.

The interior has been updated in the print editions, with beautiful backgrounds and chapter headers, again from Dar. Here’s the double-page spread header background for the special editions of The Crusader’s Bride:

header background for the special edition of The Crusader's Bride
single page background for the special editions of the Champions of St. Euphemia

The other books each have their own background, featuring swords and flowers.

All of the books use this sword background on individual pages, like the date pages.

These are digital mock-ups. I’ll take a video of the sample book when it arrives, so you can see exactly what it will look like. 🙂

I’ve also commissioned a map for the series, which will be a double-page spread in the print books. It will also be included in the ebooks. The map is being designed this month by Sarah Waites of The Illustrated Page. She draws the most amazing maps – you can take a peek at some of her completed projects on her website right here. There will be real locations on it as well as the fictional ones named in the stories. I’ll show you the map when it’s done. I’m prettty excited about this, as I love maps and Sarah makes brilliant ones.

The hardcovers and trade paperbacks will be printed and drop-shipped directly to backers, which saves a round of postage (and postage from Canada at that) which would be an added cost if I signed each book. Instead, I’ll mail signed bookplates separately to backers.

Each book has a dedication page in the front, and the bookplate has been designed to match. The bookplates will be full-colour vinyl stickers. Here’s the one for The Crusader’s Bride, along with the dedication page.

dedication page and bookplate for The Crusader's Bride special edition

Isn’t that pretty? Each book has its own dedication page and a bookplate that coordinates with the new cover.

Tomorrow, we’ll talk about the other rewards offered through the campaign.

The Champions of St. Euphemia special editions are coming to Kickstarter in July 2025

Follow the Champions campaign at Kickstarter to be notified when it launches.

Next in Regency Romance

What’s next in my Regency world?

The Daughter's Disguise, book seven of the Ladies' Essential Guide to the Art of Seduction series of Regency romances by Claire Delacroix

The duke and Esmeralda’s story brings many ongoing story threads to a close but as mentioned yesterday, I have a Big Finish in mind for this series.

Actually, it’s Esmeralda’s idea – she has insisted that Ophelia Pearl, the actress, deserves her own HEA. Ophelia’s romance will be a Christmas story called The Daughter’s Disguise, a holiday romp filled with the mistaken identities, disguises and secrets that have come to characterize this series.

At this point, I don’t have a publication date for the book, though it has a cover and a landing page here on the site: my schedule is quite booked this year (although Esmeralda is dismissive of that) so I’ll write the book before listing it for pre-order.

I also am thinking of running a Kickstarter campaign with special print editions of this series, with new covers. The Daughter’s Disguise would then be available first at Kickstarter and later at the retail portals. I think this series would lend itself well to character illustrations and pretty books.

You can watch the page and blog her for updates, and/or subscribe to my historical romance newsletter, Knights & Rogues, for updates.

Esmeralda has more ideas for the future (she believes sleep is over-rated) but we’ll save them for the moment, at least until I make more progress on her list so far.

Update on The Duke’s Desire

This morning, I moved out the publication date for The Duke’s Desire to May 28. It’s just a short delay, as the book is longer than I’d anticipated and I want to give it another read-through (or two) before loading the files to the portals.

If you have pre-ordered this book already, you will likely get a message from your portal of choice about the change.

The Duke's Desire, book six in The Ladies' Essential Guide to the Art of Seduction Regency romance series by Claire Delacroix

Esmeralda Ballantyne is the most successful courtesan in London, a woman envied by many and a mystery to all. When her past threatens the future of her younger sister, she finds an unexpected champion in the Duke of Haynesdale, a gentleman driven by his honor to intervene on her behalf, despite his disapproval of her trade. Does she dare to trust her newfound protector with her truth, or is the duke—like so many men of her acquaintance—interested in only one kind of compensation from her? As much as she refuses to surrender to any man, Esmeralda fears her impulse will lead her astray…will the price of capitulation be her fiercely defended independence or her heart?

Damien deVries, the Duke of Haynesdale, abandoned his rakehell ways when his father bought his commission, and the injury he sustained is a permanent reminder of his wasteful youth. The youngest of three sons, he never expected to inherit the duchy, and finds himself discontent, burdened by responsibilities and—according to his mother—past due to wed and provide an heir. The difficulty is that the only woman of interest is the forbidden beauty, Miss Ballantyne. There could not be a less inappropriate choice for his duchess, but no other woman tempts him to abandon convention and return to his wicked ways again.

Drawn together by an irresistible desire, duke and courtesan agree to a short affair. But their need for each other proves so insatiable that it cannot be denied. Does Damien dare to surrender his heart to a woman like Esmeralda? Can Esmeralda trust any man fully and give Damien his deepest desire? There is one last secret she holds that will either draw them together or drive them apart forever—when she finally shares it, can they put the betrayals of the past behind and forge a future on their own terms?

Coming in May 2025

Pre-order available at some portals:

Buy directly from the author at Hazel & Honeysuckle Press and have your ebook delivered via BookFunnel

A Surprise Addition to my Writing Queue

The Daughter's Disguise, book seven of the Ladies' Essential Guide to the Art of Seduction series of Regency romances by Claire Delacroix

This past week, I discovered a chapter on my hard drive, as I was digging into The Duke’s Desire. I was thinking that Esmeralda and the duke’s story would be the culmination of the series, then I read this bit from Theodora – who is Ophelia Pearl, the aspiring actress, and has a number of secrets.

Her story, The Daughter’s Disguise, will be #7 in the series, The Ladies’ Essential Guide to the Art of Seduction, and it’s a Christmas story.

I ordered a cover but won’t put this one up for pre-order until the book is done. I’m hoping to publish it in the fall.