I'm delighted to share an enticing excerpt from The Steel Rose, an intriguing historical fantasy novel by Nancy Northcott.
The Steel Rose is currently on blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club. Make sure to check out the other stops on this fabulous tour! You can follow it here:
https://www.coffeepotbookclub.com/post/blog-tour-the-steel-rose-the-boar-king-s-honor-trilogy-book-2-by-nancy-northcott
The Steel Rose
(The Boar King’s Honor Trilogy, Book 2)
Nancy Northcott
Historical Fantasy / Romantic Fantasy
THE BOAR KING’S HONOR TRILOGY
A wizard’s misplaced trust
A king wrongly blamed for murder
A bloodline cursed until they clear the king’s name
Blurb:
BOOK 2: THE STEEL ROSE
Amelia Mainwaring, a magically Gifted seer, is desperate to rescue the souls of her dead father and brother, who are trapped in a shadowy, wraith-filled land between life and death as the latest victims of their family curse. Lifting the curse requires clearing the name of King Richard III, who was wrongly accused of his nephews’ murder because of a mistake made by Amelia’s ancestor.
In London to seek help from a wizard scholar, Julian Winfield, Amelia has disturbing visions that warn of Napoleon Bonaparte’s escape from Elba and renewed war in Europe. A magical artifact fuels growing French support for Bonaparte. Can Amelia and Julian recover the artifact and deprive him of its power in time to avert the coming battles?
Their quest takes them from the crowded ballrooms of the London Season to the bloody field of Waterloo, demanding all of their courage, guile, and magical skill. Can they recover the artifact and stop Bonaparte? Or will all their hopes, along with Amanda’s father and brother, be doomed as a battle-weary Europe is once again engulfed in the flames of war?
The Steel Rose is the second book in the time-traveling, history-spanning fantasy series The Boar King’s Honor, from Nancy Northcott (Outcast Station, The Herald of Day).
Buy Links:
This novel is available to read with #KindleUnlimited subscription.
Universal Link: readerlinks.com/l/1794929
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Steel-Rose-Kings-Honor-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B092V1RYLC
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645540863
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/Steel-Rose-Kings-Honor-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B092V1RYLC
Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1645540863
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Excerpt:
This introduces the antagonist. It takes place the day after Amelia’s visions alert her to Bonaparte’s escape from Elba.
***
Near Hampstead, a carriage rolled through the wrought-iron gates of Wyndon House and across the courtyard to the stone Palladian house’s front door. Silas de Vere, Earl of Wyndon, stepped down from the carriage. The night’s gaming had been productive. He’d won several hundred pounds and come away with potentially useful secrets in hand. Secrets were power. Fortunately for him, few of the ton had the sense to realize that until it was too late.
He mounted the front steps. His efficient porter already had the door open, as expected.
When Silas reached the threshold, awareness brushed across his nape. Magic. Above?
He looked up. High overhead, a green dragon flapped its great wings and sped northward.
Well, well, someone either had learned summoning or possessed impressive illusion skills. This required investigation.
A footman took his greatcoat, and the earl strode through his house. The fire in his bedchamber should have been kept burning while he was out. Using that one would be faster than having another stoked.
His tall, thin valet, Ottersley, helped him out of his evening wear with silent efficiency. Only when Silas sat before the hearth in his nightshirt and a gray satin, crimson-embroidered banyan, or dressing gown, did the man speak. “Would my lord care for anything to eat?” he asked.
“No, that will be all.” Silas was still sated from the beef sandwiches at Hazard House. For a gaming hell, it supplied excellent victuals. Of course, that helped bring the Quality back to the tables. That and the availability of choice wenches.
When the dressing room door closed behind Ottersley, Silas sent his magic into the flames. The dragon appeared, now well north of the city and still flying. Patiently, he traced it into the past, to its origins. A garden in Mayfair and a woman wizard.
His eyes narrowed. The woman looked up as her dragon took flight, and he recognized her. His heart leaped.
The widowed Viscountess Buckton, née Lady Amelia Mainwaring, obviously had powerful magic to recommend her. Could she also have the seer Gift? It often accompanied the summoning Gift, and both ran in her family lines.
He had suspected she might be a useful asset, but she’d shown no sign of any significant magical ability. At least not during his covert spying. If she did possess the seer Gift, she posed a danger to his plans. The wizards loyal to mad George III and his revolting son the Prince Regent, commonly known as Prinny, couldn’t be allowed to recruit her to oppose his scheme.
In exchange for aiding the French wizards and their Scots dupes, he would rule the Isle of Man after the French conquered England. It would be his base to gather England’s Gifted. After a decade or so of French rule, he and his Gifted allies would expel the French. Their fellow Englishmen would be so grateful that the Gifted would no longer have to hide what they were. They could rule, as they always should have.
Unless someone exposed his plan.
If Lady Buckton was a seer, she was a threat. One that must be neutralized.
~~~
About the Author:
Nancy Northcott’s childhood ambition was to grow up and become Wonder Woman. Around fourth grade, she realized it was too late to acquire Amazon genes, but she still loved comic books, science fiction, fantasy, history, and romance. She combines the emotion and high stakes, and sometimes the magic, she loves in the books she writes.
She has written freelance articles and taught at the college level. Her most popular course was on science fiction, fantasy, and society. She has also given presentations on the Wars of the Roses and Richard III to university classes studying Shakespeare’s play about Richard III. Reviewers have described her books as melding fantasy, romance, and suspense. Library Journal gave her debut novel, Renegade, a starred review, calling it “genre fiction at its best.”
In addition to the historical fantasy Boar King’s Honor trilogy, Nancy writes the Light Mage Wars paranormal romances, the Arachnid Files romantic suspense novellas, and the Lethal Webs romantic spy adventures. With Jeanne Adams, she cowrites the Outcast Station science fiction mysteries.
Married since 1987, Nancy and her husband have one son, a bossy dog, and a house full of books.
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