The Bride Quest 25th Anniversary Kickstarter Campaign

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:

The Princess, book one of the Bride Quest series of medieval romances, 25th anniversary commemorative edition, new illustration for case laminate and mass market paperback

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 Princess, book one of The Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, both mass market editions

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.

The Princess, book one of The Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, 25th anniversary commemorative hard cover edition

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.

Get them early.

Get them signed or personalized.

Get the swag.

Follow the campaign and get the books at Kickstarter.


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:

Order the 25th anniversary commemorative mass market paperback of The Princess for November 20 publication:

25th Anniversary Commemorative Editions of The Bride Quest

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 Princess, book one of The Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, all print editions

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..

Follow me on Kickstarter right here.

Let’s have a look at the books first.

Here’s the pretty new cover illustration of Luc and Brianna:

The Princess, book one of the Bride Quest series of medieval romances, 25th anniversary commemorative edition, new illustration for case laminate and mass market paperback

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 Princess, book one of The Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, both mass market editions

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 Princess, book one of The Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, both mass market editions

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:

The Princess, book one of the Bride Quest series of medieval romances, 25th anniversary commemorative edition, hard cover 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:

The Princess, book one of the Bride Quest series of medieval romances, 25th anniversary commemorative edition, hard cover case laminate

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 Princess, book one of The Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, 25th anniversary commemorative hard cover edition

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.

The Bride Quest 25th anniversary commemorative editions seal

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:

Order the 25th anniversary commemorative mass market paperback of The Princess for November 20 publication:

The Princess is on sale for 99¢

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!

The Princess, book one of the Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, is discounted to just 99cents!
The Princess, #1 of The Princess, #1 of the Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix

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

The Princess, book one of the Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix
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


“The essence of fairy tale, fable and legend!”

Romantic Times

Buy The Princess ebook:


“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.”

Old Book Barn Gazette

Buy Trade Paperback:

Great Start to the Year

We started the new year off well with that sale on The Wolf & the Witch. Even when I returned it to the regular price yesterday, Maximilian was still on the charts. It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a long tail on a BookBub Featured Deal. He is one stubborn guy. LOL

The Wolf & the Witch at #2 in Ancient World Romance and #7 in Medieval Romance at Amazon.com on January 9, 2023

I’m also thrilled with the results of my first Kickstarter campaign ever. The 15th Anniversary HardCover Omnibus Editions of the Dragonfire Novels funded at 350%, which was great. My plan for 2023 is to work on building my platform at KS, so I’ll be offering other existing series in new editions. Based on this campaign’s performance, I’m not going to bother with stretch goals and my new campaigns will be shorter. They’ll be more like flash sales and limited-time opportunities to buy both digital content from me and signed print books. I’ll only be selling print books directly through Kickstarter. In 2024, I plan to offer more new content through Kickstarter and Patreon early, before it’s available at the portals.

Kickstarter requires one campaign to be completely fulfilled before I can create even a landing page for a new one, so my planned campaigns for this year won’t have long previews. I hope to have four campaigns per year, two for my PNR and two for my historicals. We’ll see how the timing works out on that!

The Bride Quest 25th anniversary hardcover omnibus editions by Claire Delacroix at Kickstarter

My second campaign at Kickstarter will feature hardcover omnibus editions of the Bride Quest trilogies. (Can you believe it’s been 25 years since the publication of The Princess?) There will be two omnibus editions, one for each trilogy, and the covers will look a lot like the digital bundles. There will, of course, also be some exclusive swag and the omnibus editions will only be available through Kickstarter. This first campaign will be your opportunity to have your copies signed and the page edges gilded. (This is one of my new tricks!) That will run in the spring, ideally in April, but maybe in May.

My third campaign will be for a hardcover omnibus edition of The Dragon Diaries with interior illustrations. I’d like to run another Delacroix Kickstarter in the fall, but we’ll see how the timing works out. Fulfillment of print editions can be an issue in November and December.

If you love special editions for your keeper shelf or early access to new stories, you’ll want to follow me at both Kickstarter and Patreon so you don’t miss out. Short campaigns mean you need to act quickly!

Follow me at Kickstarter

Follow me at Patreon

I’m also going to start sharing Kickstarter campaigns with you that I find intriguing, so that you can get an idea of what’s available there. Here’s an upcoming campaign from Christina Phillips for her Scottish medieval romances, The Highland Warrior Chronicles. You can follow the campaign now and be notified when it launches.

The Beauty is on the Charts!

Yesterday, I had a BookBub Featured Deal for The Beauty, book five of my Bride Quest series of medieval romances, promoting its sale price of 99cents. Let’s have a look at the results.

At Amazon, The Beauty earned TWO orange bestseller ribbons, one for #1 in Medieval Romance and one for #1 in Scottish Historical Romance.

The Beauty, book five of the Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, earns its #1 bestseller in Scottish Historical Romance ribbon at Amazon.com on September 20, 2020
The Beauty, book five of the Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, earns its #1 bestseller in Medieval Romance ribbon at Amazon.com on September 20, 2020

The book also rose to #27 overall in the Kindle store!

The Beauty, book five of the Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, at #27 overall in the Kindle store, #1 in Medieval romance and #1 in Scottish historical romance at Amazon.com on September 20, 2020

At KOBO, The Beauty rose to #4 in Historical romance and #5 in Romantic Suspense.

The Beauty, book five in the Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, ad #4in historical romance at KOBO on September 20, 2020

At Apple, The Beauty is #12 overall in the store:

The Beauty, book five of the Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, at #12 overall in the Apple store on October 20, 2020

It’s also #6 in Romance:

The Beauty, book five of the Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, at #6 in Romance in the Apple store on October 20, 2020

At Nook, of course, the sale wasn’t supported because their backend systems are down and the price change didn’t go through. Fingers crossed that they get that fixed soon.

The Beauty, book five of the Bride Quest series of medieval romances by Claire Delacroix, is just 99cents, October 19 - 26, 2020

The Beauty remains on sale this week, so if you don’t have your copy yet, get it now!