Book Giveaway - Featured Historical Fiction E-Author: Lisa J. Yarde

I'm pleased to announce that during May I am featuring an exciting line-up of authors of historical fiction e-books. Although many of these books are available as paperbacks, all are out in various e-book forms. It's a great mix of time periods and sub-genres. Let me start by introducing this week's Featured Author here on My Dog Ate My Manuscript: Lisa J. Yarde.

Lisa has generously offered to provide a copy of Sultana (your choice of e-book or paperback) to one random commenter. If you'd like to be entered to win, just leave a comment and a way for me to contact you, in case you win! Entries close midnight Eastern time, May 5th.

I asked Lisa to share with us why she writes and why she chose the time period, setting and characters that she did.

"During my college years, I was fascinated to learn that there had been an Islamic presence in Europe. For seven hundred years, a diverse people known as Moors had ruled what would become one of the most influential Catholic nations. The thirteenth century in Spain was a brutal and turbulent era, as most of the medieval period, but it was also the flowering of an age of artistic, intellectual and architectural brilliance in Spain. Fatima and Faraj played pivotal roles in the history of that period, as did their descendants for another two centuries. I am truly fortunate that the primary setting of their story, the Alhambra Palace in the southern Spanish city of Granada still exists and is open of visitors. I hope readers will share my fascination with the Alhambra, the Moorish period, and Fatima and Faraj’s lives."

I'm 3/4 of the way through reading Sultana and am awed by the wealth of detail included about Moorish life: the architecture, the clothing, the food, the customs. Like me, I'm sure other readers will be drawn in by not only the uniquely exotic setting, but also by the vivid battle scenes, political intrigue, and poignant love story between Fatima and Faraj. Here is some more information about the story, its trailer and links on where to sample and purchase it -

About Sultana:

"Sultana is a story of revenge and intrigue, the bonds of family and the redemptive power of love. The story takes place during a turbulent period in thirteenth century Moorish Spain, when the union of a child bride and her groom, precipitates a civil war. Fatima is the young granddaughter of the reigning Sultan of Granada and Faraj is his nephew. Although the couple is part of the same renowned family, each has separate, sometimes contrary interests. Fatima is utterly devoted to her family while Faraj, who is ten years older than her, has one cause in mind – to regain a heritage lost at the brutal death of his father. The union between Faraj and Fatima has endangered both their lives. It has turned the Sultan’s one-time allies into powerful enemies. In addition, the Christian kings of Castile and North African Muslim rulers have their own designs on Granada. Fatima and Faraj have to overcome their initial mistrust and misunderstandings of each other. If they do not unite in the struggle against their common enemies, Granada will fall."

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Click here to view the book trailer for Sultana.

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Sultana is available in the following formats and locations:

Amazon.com (Kindle and paperback)
Amazon.co.uk (Kindle and paperback)
Barnes and Noble (Nook and paperback)
Smashwords (various e-book formats)

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Lisa Yarde is the author of On Falcon's Wings and Sultana. She is passionate about history and writing. Her love of the past inspires her to write historical fiction. Her favorite period is medieval, an interest that started when she wrote about knights and castles as a young teen. She currently lives in New York. You can find more information about Lisa and her writing on the website www.lisayarde.com.

Thanks, Lisa! Next week's feature will be on Sarah Woodbury, author of Arthurian historical fantasy and Welsh medieval time travel stories. Coming up later in the month - Anna Elliott and Shayne Parkinson.

Happy reading,
Gemi