Walnut Springs Press Month: Spotlight on Joyce DiPastena + Giveaway

Giveaway Info

 

As part of the Walnut Springs Press Month, Walnut Springs Press will be giving away 4 fantastic novels by Walnut Springs authors including Joyce's latest release, Dangerous Favor. 

All you have to do to enter this giveaway is leave a comment on this post or any of the event posts. (See the event page for the full event schedule.) The more posts you comment on, the more entries you have into the contest!

 

Now, keep reading to find out more about Walnut Springs' resident medieval expert, Joyce DiPastena.

Spotlight on

Author Joyce DiPastena

Joyce DiPastena fell in love with the Middle Ages when she first read Thomas B. Costain’s The Conquering Family in high school. A graduate of the University of Arizona with a degree specializing in medieval history, Joyce lives in Arizona with her two cats, Clio and Glinka Rimsky-Korsokov.

Joyce is the author of 3 Walnut Springs Press novels including Loyalty's Web (2008), Illuminations of the Heart (2009), and Dangerous Favor (2012). Illuminations of the Heart was a 2009 Whitney Award finalist.

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Walnut Springs Press Books

by Joyce DiPastena

Title: Loyalty's Web
Author: Joyce DiPastena
Release Date: November 2008
Publisher: Leatherwood Press (Walnut Springs Press) (Facebook | Twitter)
Genre: Historical Romance

In twelfth-century France, King Henry II of England has just finished crushing a rebellion by his power-hungry sons and now seeks to tame the lawless barons who supported them in this corner of his “Angevin empire.” To this end, the king has sent the Earl of Gunthar as his royal representative to ensure that Prince Richard and his former cohorts faithfully adhere to the terms of the peace treaty.

Far from being welcomed with open arms, Gunthar no sooner steps foot in the county of Poitou than he is greeted by a series of assassination attempts. All appear to be linked to the former rebellious prince through the agents of the family and friends of young Heléne de Laurant. A clever, intrepid young woman, she realizes that the only way to prove her loved ones’ innocence is by exposing the true assassin. Heléne races against time—and dark secrets of the past—to unmask the killer before the kingdom plunges back into war.

Fierce determination gives way to mutual attraction as Heléne and Gunthar spar over the identity of the traitor. But their blinding magnetism almost causes them to overlook an even deadlier threat from an entirely unexpected direction.

Amazon

 

 

Title: Illuminations of the Heart

Author: Joyce DiPastena
Release Date: July 2009
Publisher: Walnut Springs Press (Facebook | Twitter)
Genre: Historical Romance

"Clothilde." He spoke the name on a breath like a prayer. Then he lowered his head and kissed her.

Her heart is lost in that first embrace, her world is shaken to its foundations. There is just one problem; her name is not Clothilde. It is Siriol de Calendri. Trained in the art of illumination in the far-off city of Venice, Siri is directed by her late brother's will to the county of Poitou in France, where she enters the guardianship of her brother's friend Sir Triston de Brielle. Once in Poitou, Siri hopes to find employment in an illuminator's shop - until Triston unexpectedly snatches her heart away with a kiss.

Triston is a man of quiet honor and courage, but the guild he carries for the death of his late wife, Clothilde, has left him numb and hesitant to love again. Worse yet, Siri bears an uncanny resemblance to his lost love. Or does she? Her merry laughter and twinkling eyes are very different from his late wife's shy smiles and quiet ways. Yet when he gazes into Siri's face, all he sees is Clothilde.

Then Triston's past returns to threaten them both. Will his tragic life with Clothilde be repeated with Siri? Trapped between the rivalry of the king's sons on the one hand and a neighbor out for vengeance on the other, Triston realizes it would be safer to send Siri away. But how can he bear to lose her again?

Siri is determined not to be cast off and not to live in another woman's shadow. She has illuminated many a priceless book with pen and paint. But can her own vibrant spirit illuminate the darkness in Triston's soul and make his heart beat for her alone?

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Title: Dangerous Favor
Author: Joyce DiPastena
Release Date: January 2012
Publisher: Walnut Springs Press (Facebook | Twitter)
Genre: Historical Romance

Her father has been accused of stealing from the king, an allegation that has reduced her family to poverty. She has one chance to find and marry a man who can help her prove her father's innocence. Lord Therri, heir to a rich barony, has the wealth and connections Mathilde needs to delve into the mysteries of her father's past. Furthermore, Therri embodies all her romantic dreams.

Etienne, the younger son of a disgraced family, has neither wealth nor connections, but is smitten with Mathilde at a glance. She finds the knight intriguing, but believes he is only out to seduce her. While she seeks for a way to win Therri's attention, Etienne tricks her into granting him her favor, an embroidered white ribbon, for a tournament, setting in motion a dangerous chain reaction of events. Can Etienne save Mathilde from a nightmare from her past and prove himself the true hero of her dreams?

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