The links have percolated out to the portals for the new mass market and hard cover editions of my Bride Quest books commemorating the 25th anniversary of the publication of The Princess. Here they are, all gathered in one place. The landing pages for the individual books have also been updated with the links. These books deliver November 20. Some of the portals don’t have the links for all the books yet, but they will.
Because there are so many links, this post features the new mass market editions. Tomorrow’s post features the new hardcover editions.
I was sewing the fabric book covers for the fulfillment of the Kickstarter campaign this past weekend, and just wanted to show off the pretties to you. This campaign was the launch the new commemorative hardcover and mass market paperback editions of The Bride Quest, which was launched twenty-five years ago. There’s a new illustration for each book, which became the image on the case laminate of the new hardcover edition of that book, as well as the image on the new mass market paperback.
Backers of the signed hardcover tiers in the Kickstarter campaign are getting a fabric book cover for The Princess along with their reward. This has the image from the dust jacket of The Princess, but no type. Here’s a picture of my copy of The Princess inside its fabric dust jacket in the middle of the picture. The printed dust jacket is off to the right. There are more completed fabric jackets to the left, then some of the printed swag from the KS campaign in between.
Those little square stickers are so cute!
There were also digital rewards, including downloadable coloring pages and postcards. In addition, there are two new Bride Quest stories: a short story Christmas at Tullymullagh, and a novella, Easter at Airdfinnan. These stories are included in the new print editions (Christmas at Tullymullagh in The Heiress and Easter at Airdfinnan in The Temptress) and will be available in ebook in December.
The new print editions will be available at retailers in November and are up for pre-order now. I’ll share the links with you later this week.
Once I receive copies of The Temptress in the new hardcover edition, I’ll make a video showing the new editions.
Also, I’ll have a special offer soon on some hardcover copies of The Beauty. I mistakenly had some printed without the reader letter. Otherwise, each book is perfect. I’ll print the reader letter and tuck it into the book on a separate piece of paper, then bundle each book with some of the swag. You’ll be able to get this hardcover signed at a special price. Stay tuned for more details about The Beauty Boo-Boos. 🙂
Right now, The Crusader’s Bride, book one of the Champions of St. Euphemia series of medieval romances is a free series starter. You can also save on the series bundle, which is discounted 25%, from $19.99US to $14.99US, through the end of August at Apple, Nook and KOBO. The GooglePlay link below includes the discount code, too. Continue the series with the digital series bundle today!
The Champions of St. Euphemia Boxed Set includes all five medieval romances in this thrilling series by Claire Delacroix. You’ll join the quest to deliver the treasure from Jerusalem to Paris in The Crusader’s Bride. Gaston makes a marriage of convenience with Ysmaine, knowing he needs a son, but soon realizes how little he knows about his new wife. Does he dare to trust her? Can Ysmaine win the heart of her new husband?
Follow Wulfe in The Crusader’s Heart, after he encounters the courtesan Christina who refuses to be left behind in Venice. Maybe this alluring woman is exactly what the orphaned knight needs to reawaken his heart and convince him to solve the riddles of his past—can he build a future with Christina?
Ride north to England with Bartholomew in The Crusader’s Kiss, in his own quest to reclaim his stolen legacy and avenge his parents: little does he expect to find a woman leading a band of thieves in the forest, much less to pretend she is his wife to undermine the villain.
Continue to Scotland with Fergus in The Crusader’s Vow as he returns home after his military service only to find his betrothed has wed another man. A marriage of convenience with his friend and the disguised Saracen Leila seems a fitting compromise, but Leila will not be satisfied until she and Fergus are more than friends and even lovers: she wants to claim his heart for her own.
The treasure finds its final sanctuary in Radegunde and Duncan’s tale, The Crusader’s Handfast, a May-December romance between Ysmaine’s maid and Fergus’ man-at-arms, a warrior who believes love has left him behind. Radegunde holds the secrets of her lady, but also proves to have the power to steal Duncan’s heart.
The Champions of St. Euphemia Boxed Set includes the complete series of five medieval romances in Claire Delacroix’s sweeping historical series.
I had a BookBub Featured Deal on Saturday for The Crusader’s Bride so let’s have a look at the results.
I was pleasantly surprised by the effectiveness of this promotion. This book has had several featured deals in the past, and the first one is typically the most effective. The most recent one was February 2020; there was one in March 2018 and also in October 2016, so this was #4. The October 2016 featured deal was the first time the book was free and coincided with the publication of The Crusader’s Handfast, book five of the Champions of St. Euphemia and the series finale. That’s always the most powerful combination, IME.
This time, The Crusader’s Bride rose to #10 overall in the US Kindle store, as well as #1 in Medieval Romance and #1 in Ancient World Romance.
Over at Apple, The Crusader’s Bride rose to #18 overall in the Apple store, and #13 in Romance. It’s always fun to see what else is on the main list – I have romances on either side on both lists, but there’s Sun Tzu’s Art of War as a neighbour on the main list. 🙂
Of course, the book is still free, and will be until the end of August. Don’t miss your chance to start this complete series of medieval romances!
The Crusader’s Bride
Gaston battled for duty and honor—until Ysmaine tempted him to fight for her love…
When the Templar knight Gaston unexpectedly inherits his family estate, he knows he needs a wife and heir. A marriage of convenience to a widow in need of assistance is a practical solution and the newly-wed pair leave Jerusalem, entrusted with the delivery of a package for the Templars. Away from the life he has known for years, Gaston quickly realizes that little is following his plan—especially his mysterious wife, whose presence awakens an unexpected fire…
Twice widowed, Ysmaine doubts she will ever wed again, let alone have a marriage of merit—until she is charmed by the gruff knight intent upon defending her. Ysmaine weds again, not only by her own choice but to a warrior whose honor she admires. She is determined to show Gaston that marriage has more to offer them both than an heir, but first she must win the trust of the wary man she has impulsively wed…
Neither realize that Gaston has been entrusted with the treasure of the Templars—much less that someone in their small party is intent upon claiming the prize at any cost. In a company of strangers with secrets, can Gaston dare to trust his new bride? Can Ysmaine convince Gaston to confide what he knows? Can they solve the riddle together before the villain’s plan comes to fruition and all is lost?
Those of you in my Facebook group know that I’m moving away from assetless pre-orders for 2024. This means that my pre-orders will be shorter, because they’ll only be loaded once each book is done. The reasons for this are that the portals have been lengthening the time required to process a book file, and also that they sometimes muck up and deliver the wrong file. If they only get the final one, that can’t happen. The other issue with long pre-orders is that life happens, as it has for me lately, and differnet portals have different rules about moving the delivery date on a pre-order.
Last week, I sorted out the rest of 2023.
The Scot & the Sorceress will now be published on August 29. This means that the existing pre-order at Amazon had to be cancelled (because it couldn’t be moved). If you had pre-ordered the book there, that pre-order has been cancelled. Right now, there’s no pre-order at Amazon. I’ll create a new one in August, once the book is done. As usual, there is no pre-order at GooglePlay. The book will be available there on the publication date. If yo upre-ordered at Nook or KOBO, you’ve probably received a message about the book’s new publication date.
Also, the pre-order link for Murdoch’s book at Apple has changed. I had set it up to deliver from Draft2Digital, but the first two books in the series are published directly to Apple and all books in the series have to reach the Apple store the same way for Apple to add them to a series page. I figured we’d just bite the bullet and change it over now.
One Knight’s Desire will now be published on October 24. For the same reason as with S&S, the existing pre-order at Amazon has been cancelled. and there will be a new one created closer to the publication date. If you had pre-ordered the book at Apple, Nook or KOBO, you’ve probably received a message about the changed date.
Claire Delacroix 