Five years after the end of The Heiress, the brothers Fitzgavin gather at Castle Tullymullagh with their wives and families to celebrate the Yule, and a gentle ghost seizes the opportunity to add to the good fortune of all.
This new epilogue to the Bride Quest I is available in ebook on its own, and is included in the new 25th anniversary mass market paperback and hard cover editions of The Heiress. Although it actually occurs after events in The Countess, you don’t have to read Eglantine and Duncan’s story before this one.
This story is available as an advance ebook to all backers in the Bride Quest Kickstarter campaign – they’ll get it in July – and will be published on its own in ebook on December 12, 2023.
Today’s the day! My Kickstarter campaign has launched, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the publication of The Princess with new mass market and hard cover editions of all six Bride Quest medieval romances.
There’s a new cover illustration for each book. That illustration is the image on the mass market edition. It’s also the case laminate on the hard cover, which has a dust jacket similar to the existing trade paperback. These new print editions will be available at retailers in November – the pre-order links for the two new editions of The Princess are at the bottom of this post – but you can get yours early and signed or personalized during this Kickstarter campaign. There’s also swag that will be available only during the Kickstarter campaign.
The two new editions be available in my next Kickstarter campaign, running from today through June 10. After that, you’ll have to wait until November to add to your keeper shelf.
Here’s the pretty new cover illustration of Luc and Brianna:
Here are all four current editions of The Princess: from left, the ebook, the 25th anniversary commemorative mass market edition with new cover art, the current trade paperback edition, and the 25th anniversary commemorative hard cover edition at right.
The new hardcover editions are really pretty. They have a dust jacket similar to the current trade paperback – but with the new seal for the anniversary editions. But instead of a plain case, these books are case-laminated, which means there will be an illustration on the actual book cover. The idea is to evoke those stepback covers we knew and loved. You get BOTH covers with the hardcover.
Here’s a photograph of the actual book, because I ordered a copy to check it out myself. In this picture, I’ve removed the front of the dust jacket and you can see the case laminate. The illustration continues around the back without type – there’s just the bar code on the back.
The commemorative print editions will include a new letter from me and the hardcover editions include the Bride Quest family trees. They’d be too small to read in the mass market edition, but you can download them free right here and print them out.
The trade paperback and the ebook editions will remain as they are.
There will be similar new editions of the other five books, and they’ll be revealed during the Kickstarter campaign. The new cover for The Damsel will be revealed there tomorrow and I’ll show it here on Wednesday.
There also will be a new bonus epilogue to catch up with the family called Christmas at Tullymullagh, which will be included in the new print editions of The Heiress. It will also be available in ebook in November from the retailers – the pre-order will go up once I have a cover.
Since we have all of these cover reveals, there’s a schedule for the Kickstarter campaign. I’ll also share the covers here on the blog.
You can also pre-order the new editions for November delivery from your favorite retailers. The links are live now for The Princess. The other books are formatted and loaded, and will set up for pre-order after their cover reveals at Kickstarter.
Order the 25th anniversary commemorative hard cover edition of The Princess for November 20 publication:
I have an update for you on my upcoming Kickstarter campaign, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the publication of The Princess with new mass market and hard cover editions of all six Bride Quest medieval romances.
There’s a new cover illustration for each book. That illustration is the image on the mass market edition. It’s also the case laminate on the hard cover, which has a dust jacket similar to the existing trade paperback. These new print editions will be available at retailers in November – the pre-order links for the two new editions of The Princess are at the bottom of this post – but you can get yours early and signed or personalized during this Kickstarter campaign. There’s also swag that will be available only during the Kickstarter campaign.
There are two details in this update. The first is the link to follow the campaign, since the landing page at Kickstarter is now live. The second is that I’ve moved the date. Things always seem to take longer than I expect, so instead of running early in May as originally planned, the Kickstarter campaign will launch May 30. This means that all twelve books will be repackaged and I’ll have copies of them all before the campaign even starts. That way, I can focus on the campaign instead of madly coordinating things in the background at the same time.
We will launch on Tuesday May 30 and the campaign will run through Saturday June 10. The two new editions be available in my next Kickstarter campaign, through June 10. After that, you’ll have to wait until November to add to your keeper shelf.
Just to remind you, here’s the new cover illustration of Luc and Brianna:
This is the cover on the new mass market edition – here it is, alongside the original mass market edition, for scale. They’re pretty much the same size:
The new mass market editions are also printed on creme paper instead of groundwood – the groundwood used in the original mass market edition changes color with age and isn’t quite as thick. I like the creme much better.
The new hardcover editions are really pretty. They have a dust jacket similar to the current trade paperback – but with the new seal for the anniversary editions. But instead of a plain case, these books are case-laminated, which means there will be an illustration on the actual book cover. The idea is to evoke those stepback covers we knew and loved. You get BOTH covers with the hardcover.
Here’s a photograph of the actual book, because I ordered a copy to check it out myself. In this picture, I’ve removed the front of the dust jacket and you can see the case laminate. The illustration continues around the back without type – there’s just the bar code on the back.
There will be similar new editions of the other five books, and they’ll be revealed during the Kickstarter campaign. The new cover for The Damsel will be revealed there tomorrow and I’ll show it here on Wednesday.
There also will be a new bonus epilogue to catch up with the family called Christmas at Tullymullagh, which will be included in the new print editions of The Heiress. It’s been added as a digital tier to every reward in the campaign, so all backers will get the ebook of this story.
You can also pre-order the new editions for November delivery from your favorite retailers. The links are live now for The Princess. The other books are formatted and loaded, and will set up for pre-order after their cover reveals at Kickstarter.
Order the 25th anniversary commemorative hard cover edition of The Princess for November 20 publication:
Hard to believe, but it’s been 25 years since the publication of The Princess and the launch of the Bride Quest. I thought that was something to celebrate!
I’m creating new commemorative editions of all six books in the Bride Quest series – even though only The Princess pubished in 1998. It was released in August actually. There will be a new hardcover edition of each book and a new mass market paperback edition of each book. These new print editions will be available at retailers in November.
Here are all four print editions: from left, the original mass market edition, the 25th anniversary commemorative mass market edition with new cover art, the currently available trade paperback edition, and the 25th anniversary commemorative hard cover edition at right.
The two new editions be available in my next Kickstarter campaign, running from May 16 to 27. You’ll be able to order the books there and get them either signed or personalized, as well as some goodies available only at Kickstarter as part of the festivities. The new editions will be available at retailers in November – the pre-order links for the two new editions of The Princess are below..
Here’s the pretty new cover illustration of Luc and Brianna:
This is the cover image for the new mass market edition. The size is slightly different from the original mass market. I ordered a copy already and here’s a pic of it alongside the original. It was a bit of a dingy day.
The new editions are also printed on creme paper instead of groundwood – the groundwood used in the original mass market edition changes color with age and isn’t quite as thick. I like the creme much better.
And here are the backs:
The new hardcover editions are really pretty. They have a dust jacket similar to the current trade paperback – but with the new seal for the anniversary editions. But instead of a plain case, these books are case-laminated, which means there will be an illustration on the actual book cover. The idea is to evoke those stepback covers we knew and loved. You get BOTH covers with the hardcover
Here’s a digital mock-up of the hardcover with the dust jacket:
What you can’t see here is that the outside back cover is different from the trade paperback. This edition has review quotes on the back instead of the cover copy. The cover copy is on the inside front flap.
Here’s a mock-up of the book once the dust jacket is removed:
And here’s a photograph of the actual book, because I ordered a copy to check it out myself. In this picture, I’ve removed the front of the dust jacket and you can see the case laminate. The illustration continues around the back without type – there’s just the bar code on the back.
The commemorative print editions will include a new letter from me and the hardcover edition will include the Bride Quest family trees. They’d be too small to read in the mass market edition, but you can download them free right here and print them out.
The trade paperback and the ebook editions will remain as they are.
Here’s a better look at that new seal, which I think is just beautiful.
There will be similar new editions of the other five books, but you’ll have to wait until the Kickstarter campaign to see them. 🙂
There also will be a new bonus epilogue to catch up with the family called Christmas at Tullymullagh, which will be included in the new print editions of The Heiress. I haven’t quite decided how to deliver that in ebook, but there’s a lot of time before November to get it straightened out. 🙂
You can also pre-order the new editions for November delivery from your favorite retailers.
Order the 25th anniversary commemorative hard cover edition of The Princess for November 20 publication:
For the month of March in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, The Princess – book one of my Bride Quest series of medieval romances and a book set in Ireland – is discounted to just 99 cents!
Princess Brianna of Tullymullagh is determined to marry only for love—until her father’s holding is conquered and the king decrees that she must wed one of the victor’s sons. Thinking she can outwit this condition, Brianna issues a challenge: the son who brings her a gift that makes her laugh will win her hand.
Thus begins the Bride Quest of the three brothers Fitzgavin.
Burke and Rowan, knights both, ride out on Brianna’s quest, each intent upon triumph. Only Luc refuses to participate, for he knows that a princess had no place in the life of a battle-weary warrior like himself. Brianna is not inclined to accept his refusal—she tempts him and awakens his slumbering senses with her alluring beauty and her sweet kisses. Luc has sworn to lay down his sword forever—until he is the sole one who can defend the fair maiden who has claimed his shielded heart.
“Claire Delacroix is the queen of medieval romance! Reading The Princess is like sipping vintage wine—delectable!”
Rendezvous
USA Today Bestselling Title
“Exquisite! A marvelously beautiful tale of love!”
Bell, Book & Candle
Original Mass Market Edition
Winner 1998 Best Historical Romance Colorado Romance Writers’ Award of Excellence
Finalist 1998 Best Historical Romance Holt Medallion
Finalist 1998 Best Medieval Historical Romance Romantic Times
“Delacroix captured me with the first sentence…and left me wanting more! Her musical style of writing transformed this story into a bard’s tale of knights, quests, mystery and love.”
All About Romance
“[Claire Delacroix] has a magical, lyrical style of writing that captures the reader from the first page. Add mysterious secret treasure, as well as several murders, to this wonderfully passionate romance and you have an exciting medieval that’s not to be missed.”