love

Precious, precious love

As a writer with a huge soft spot for romance, the word love tends to summon forth images of kisses and soft whispers in the dark, gentle fingers trailing down a naked back, a giggle that ends with a gasp as someone nibbles a sensitive earlobe. Love, of course, is much more than that. Now, …

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To glorious (and sometimes gruesome) LOVE

Today is St Valentine’s Day. In some parts of the world, this day is celebrated with hearts and red roses. In others, it passes by relatively unmarked. So who was this St Valentine? A man suffering from unrequited love who somehow made it onto the thin and narrow path that led to sainthood? Nope. St …

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Jan Frans van Dael, Roses in a glass vase

Sometimes love is not enough…

…which, one would think, is not the best of topics on Valentine’s Day, but hey, love is love even when it isn’t quite enough, isn’t it? Today’s post is rather personal. I think (hope) it speaks for itself. ****************** She was fourteen the first time she saw him. He was a year older, a cocky …

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The good reasons behind strict courtship rules

Today, I turn my blog over to Maria Grace. She has been writing fiction since she was ten years old, but those early efforts happily reside in a file drawer and are unlikely to see the light of day again, for which many are grateful. After penning five file-drawer novels in high school, she took a …

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Never a pawn, ever a queen

Okay, I can’t resist her any longer. She’s played bit-parts in some recent posts, but today’s protagonist is of the firm conviction she deserves her moment in the limelight – by birth, if nothing else, seeing as the lady in question is rather fond of her bloodlines. So, having been browbeaten into submission, I give …

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The earl, his repudiated wife and the lady of his heart

In previous posts I have touched upon the fact that most medieval marriages were arranged, often with little consideration for the feelings of those involved. This was true for both the groom and the bride, but in general we feel sorrier for the coerced bride than her husband, probably because men had the possibility of …

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Pulling the wool over Papa's eyes

I have a good friend who has a most prosaic approach to life. On one occasion, we were discussing marriage, and my friend causally said that he was convinced a successful marriage had more to do with how you approached it than who you were married to. “Eh?” I said, somewhat taken aback. “I’m just …

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Of love and loss

Some months back, I posted about the unhappy Juana of Castile and her erratic behaviour when her husband died. Grief, it seemed, pushed her over the edge, and life would never again be the same. In Juana’s case, very much the truth, what with her spending over four decades locked up. There are, of course, …

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To my favourite damsel in distress

To my sister: I cannot remember a day when you weren’t in my life. As I am the eldest, obviously there were such days, but it seems as if all my life I’ve had you beside me, a constant no matter what fate has thrown my way. I do have vague memories of what you …

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Lose some, win some – or the vagaries of time travel

I haven’t bragged about it here, but the first book in The Graham Saga, A Rip in the Veil, was recently selected Book of the Month by The Review. I am more than honoured – and proud enough to require someone to prick me before I float off… Anyway, as part of this honour, I …

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