Castles

Protecting the Princess

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Despite my tomboy tendencies as a child, I’ve always been a hopeless romantic. Always. It’s true!

I loved fairy tale stories with happily ever afters. And like most little girls, I dreamed of being a princess. 

Not much has changed. I still adore fairy tales and happily ever afters. And once in a while, I might even dream about an elaborate ball gown. 

That’s what made it so, so wonderful to write Protecting the Princess, my latest sweet small-town romance that releases next week. 

The story is about an outdoorsy guy who finds an injured woman alone in the mountains. He rescues her, falls in love, then finds out she’s a princess. 

Part of the story takes place at the castle where the princess grew up. I had to create a fake country, then envision what it would look like. What type of industry it might have. Did it have four seasons? What was the population? 

Honestly, I had a blast making up the country of Briden, a tiny European country that exports salt in a variety of forms. The capital city is Zaldovia. The population of the entire country is around 80,000. 

I spent hours drooling over photographs of castles, taking virtual tours and adding several to my bucket list. I narrowed it down to three castles I liked best, all located in France, to use as the inspiration for castle in the story.

 

The one I ended up choosing was Chateau Chamborigaud.  Located in the south of France, this graceful, fairy tale chateau that would look great in a Disney movie has three gorgeous towers with turrets. Chateau Chamborigaud is in the midst of a five-acre park in the Cevennes mountains and a river flows along its boundaries. Built in 1575, it is now open as a “castle for rent” with ten bedrooms and seven bathrooms. 

As I envisioned the castle where Poppy (the princess) grew up, I drew a lot of inspiration from this outstanding French castle.  In my mind’s eye, it was so easy to picture her there – then to picture her there with Parker (our hero). 

Did I mention there’s a ball in the story? There is! So I got to look at dozens of ball gowns to choose just the one for Poppy. And I may have studied some handsome tuxedo images (or maybe it was the men wearing the tux’s), too. 

At any rate, this book was such a joy to write. I hope it will be pure pleasure for readers to enjoy!

He wants to protect her.

   She needs him to love her . . .

 Parker Princeton is a man’s man. The kind who leads expeditions into the wilderness, can start a campfire with nothing but determination, and has survived on a steady diet of beef jerky and Dr Pepper. When he discovers a female in the woods, alone and injured, his first instinct is to protect her, the second to claim her as his own.  Although she can barely remember her name, he’s falling head over heels in love with the beautiful, mysterious woman.

Growing up as a pampered princess from a small European kingdom, all Poppy Granville wants is to experience a normal life. After finishing a year of studies in New York, Poppy decides to explore America before she returns home to face the responsibilities of her title. She ditches her cell phone, buys an old rust bucket car, and sets out on an adventure. After an injury leaves her stranded in the middle of nowhere, a rugged outdoorsman seems to be her only hope of surviving, even if she has to pretend to have amnesia to keep her identity a secret.

Will telling him the truth set her free, or lose him forever?

Laughter, love, and a fairy tale ending await in this funny, sweet romance packed with small-town charm.

Pre-order now at the special price of $2.99. Amazon | Barnes & Noble |  Apple | Kobo

You can see more of what inspired me as I wrote the story on my Pinterest board.

If you could be a princess,
where would you live, and what would your castle look like? What would you wear to a ball?
Post your answer for a chance to win a digital copy of Protecting the Princess!

A Canadian Castle

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I adore castles. They are the stuff of fairy tales. (Even when the real stories behind them are not terribly romantic.) So earlier this summer, when I was taking my daughter to Washington state for a summer internship, we decided to take a couple extra days and explore Victoria, British Columbia. And the first thing I looked for . . . castles!

Craigdarroch Castle was built between 1887-1890 for Robert Dunsmuir who made his fortune from Vancouver Island coal. The castle has one of North America’s finest collections of Victorian residential stained glass windows.

I took far too many pictures to share them all, so I tried to grab a sampling. They have done a fabulous job of restoring the castle rooms with period antiques and mannequins dressed in Victorian clothing, so my history-loving soul was lapping it up. 

It was impossible to get a picture of the entire exterior from the small parking lot surrounding it, so I opted for a corner view that showed off the turret tower.

Here we are looking up the stairwell from the entry way. The paneling was gorgeous!

This one of my favorite Victorian artifacts in the house. This was in the library on the main floor. A book stand with a candle. How easily I pictured myself back in those times working a piece of embroidery while reading a novel. Loved it!

Here is part of the long drawing room. I loved the columns and the gilt work on them. Half was set up as a music room while the other half was more of a place to sit and have tea. (My daughter is obviously thrilled to be in yet another of Mom’s photos. Ha!)

This is one of the Dunsmuir daughters’ bedrooms. I loved the details in the washstand and the moveable stand that would allow her to take tea in bed or work on some correspondence. You can also see some of the stained glass that adorned windows in nearly every room of the family’s portion of the residence. Every set of leaded glass windows sported a unique design.

Here is one of the landings in the stairwell with lovely stained glass.

We finally made it all the way up into the tower and found this intricate mosaic floor. The view was spectacular as well. I can only imagine how much better it would have been when it was surrounded by rolling hills and countryside instead of city buildings.

In contrast to the daughter’s bedroom, this room was reserved for the mistress’s top servant. Notice the sewing machine and silver to polish. She would never sit idle.

This next photo is a bit clever writing that tickled my funny bone. In 1919, the federal government leased the castle and used it as a military hospital for WWI veterans. In 1921, the castle was used as a school – Victoria College. In 1968, it was taken over by the Victoria Conservatory of Music who remained there until 1979. At that point, The Castle Society was allowed to begin work in transforming Craigdarroch into a museum. However, during the 1970’s, while the conservatory was in full swing, the castle played host to many concerts. This tongue-in-cheek article describes one such evening of entertainment. As a writer, I fully enjoyed the clever repartee. 

I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Have you ever visited a caste? If so, which one?

Bargain Book Bonus

It’s rare to have a new release go on sale so soon after making its debut, but Zach and Abigail’s story is doing just that. If you haven’t read More Than Words Can Say yet, now’s your chance to get the e-book version for only $1.99! And if you have read it, this would make a wonderful summer gift to email to a friend or family member.

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