BETH TRISSEL SHARES A LOVE LETTER

Beth Trissel and friends

Although set in England, the tumult taking place in France during the explosion of the French Revolution is the backdrop for my new historical romance, INTO THE LION’S HEART. This story launched the new series The Wild Rose Press is debuting called Love Letters, the premise being that a letter is responsible for bringing the hero and heroine together. At 96 pages, INTO THE LION’S HEART is an easy but satisfying read. However, I did as much research for it as I would a full novel.





Several wave of nobility called émigrés fled France, beginning  in  1789, while they still could. Some took refuge in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland where they plotted against the Revolutionary government and sought foreign aid to help them restore the old regime.

18th Century
French Nobleman

Many émigrés also sought refuge in England, including the King Louis XV111’s brother the Comte d’Artois, the future King Charles X. Most of the nobility who remained in France were guillotined during the Revolution, along with members of the clergy and a large number of commoners. The guillotine was greedy for ever more victims. No one knows for certain, but it’s estimated that as many as 40,000 people were guillotined by the end of the reign of terror.





Captain Dalton Evans

  INTO THE LION’S HEART opens with the hero, Captain Dalton Evans (fought in the American Revolution) journeying to Dover to meet the ship carrying a distant cousin, Mademoiselle Sophia Devereux, who’s fleeing the French Revolution.

Prologue~


October, 1789, the English Countryside in Kent


What a bloody bore. Lurching over the rutted road, the autumn countryside obscured by sheets of rain, Captain Dalton Evans shifted wearily in the cumbersome coach. With little else to occupy him, he pulled the letter from his breast coat pocket. Aunt Agnes conveyed the contents earlier but Dalton hadn’t troubled to read the urgent summons penned by the illustrious Vicomte Henri Devereux—illustrious according to his aunt, anyway.

My Dear Madame,


I pray this finds you in good health and beg you excuse the abruptness of my missive. With the utmost faith in your generous nature, highly spoken of by my beloved late wife, I implore your assistance. France is in turmoil, its future precarious. For myself I make no complaint and will bear my lot, but beg you to assure the safety of my dearest Sophia. Please care for my darling girl as you would your own child. As soon as arrangements may be made, Mademoiselle Devereux will cross the Channel on The White Rose and should arrive at Dover harbor on the 20th—

A fierce jolt jerked his focus to the muddy track serving as a road. That madman driving this coach would have them over in a ditch next thing.


Reassured his position was safe for the moment, Dalton glanced back at the letter. The brief plea lacked the formal, flowery language he would’ve expected from a French nobleman. Clearly the vicomte was backed against a wall, his plight pitiable. But Dalton’s role as newly appointed champion of Sophia Devereux vexed him to the extreme.~

 INTO THE LION’S HEART is available at The Wild Rose Press, Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble, and other online booksellers.


For more on my work please visit my website: http://www.bethtrissel.com/

My blog is the happening place: http://bethtrissel.wordpress.com/



Beth, thanks for sharing with us today. You know I'm one of your devoted fans, and I can hardly wait to read this novella!