Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Captured by Moonlight,Book 2 of the series, Twilight of the British Raj, by Christine Lindsay




Historical Romance


Prisoners to their own broken dreams…

After a daring rescue goes awry, Laine Harkness and her friend Eshana flee to the tropical south of India…and headlong into their respective pasts.
Laine takes a nursing position at a plantation in the jungle, only to discover that her former fiancĂ© is the owner…but fun-loving Laine refuses to let Adam crush her heart like he had years ago.
Eshana, captured by her traditional uncle and forced once more into the harsh Hindu customs of mourning, doubts freedom will ever be hers again, much less the forbidden love for Dr. Jai Kaur that had begun to flower.
Amid cyclones, epidemics, and clashing faiths, will the love of the True Master give hope to these searching hearts?
 
 
Excerpt:
 
Searing pain jabbed into Adam’s calf.
He cried out. Light from the headlamps reflected two pinpoints of light. A snake scuttled into the bush, and Laine started to rush in his direction.
“Wait, Laine. Don’t come closer.”
“What is it?” she shouted over the gale.
“A snake.” He clenched his fists and bit down on his lip with the throbbing in his leg. “Ruddy thing bit me as I plodded along in my size ten boots. Blast! I should have known better.” He looked back at her. “Stay where you are. There might be more than one.”
He studied the ground in the dim light. Unable to see any sign of movement, he shivered. The blasted reptile had gone. All he’d been able to see in that quick flash was that it was green.
Laine, heedless of his warning, joined him. “Where is the wound?”
“I told you to stay where you were.”
“Is it your leg?”
“My calf.”
She slipped her shoulder under his arm and swung her arm around his back. “Stay calm. Do you hear me? No panic. Lean on me. Put as little weight on that leg as possible. I want to get you onto the truck box.”
He put his weight on her shoulders, and she walked him back to the vehicle.
“Balance yourself against that,” she said. “I’m going to hop up there, and if you push with your arms then I’ll pull. I’ve got to get you lying down.”
“I can make it up.”
“Sorry, me luv, but I’m giving you a hand anyway.” She spoke in a fake Cockney accent, no doubt the one she used to cajole many a soldier into treatment or help them withstand the terror of dying.
She hauled him up, and without a word had him soon lying down, covered with a blanket that the rain quickly soaked.
Her hair dripped and hung down as a curtain to frame her face as she pulled off his boot and ripped the bottom of his trouser leg up to his thigh. She bent to examine the punctures at the side of his left calf and then left him to go to the cab. A moment later she returned with her medical bag. “You know the routine, no panic.”
“I know, and I assure you, Matron, I’m doing my best.”
“No talking. Save your strength. That’s the ticket.”
He watched Laine screw open the wooden cylinder of the snake-bite kit and remove the lancet. He did know the routine only far too well. She had to clean the wound and hope the crystals did the trick. After that, unless he could get to a dispensary they could only pray the snake hadn’t injected a fatal amount of venom.
“What kind of snake was it?” she asked in her no-nonsense nursing tone counterbalanced with the jovial Cockney.
“Not sure...there are two types of green snake in this area. If it was the least venomous, the whip snake, I’ll be sick for a few days but live.”
“And the other?”
“Bamboo pit viper. I think you should know...if it was the viper...the outcome is...less optimistic, I’m afraid.”
She stopped momentarily. So momentarily only someone who knew her as well as he did would notice.
But she resumed her brisk composure and took the lancet in her hand with the container of potassium permanganate on the floor at her side. “Well, you’re my patient now, and I don’t allow morbid talk on my ward. As I’m sure you’re aware, this will hurt. So lie back, soldier. Grit your teeth. And think of England.”
 
 
Author Bio:
Christine Lindsay writes historical novels that range somewhere between a straight historical with a strong love story and historical romance. And she’s proud of her Irish roots. Her great grandfather and grandfather worked as riveters in the Belfast shipyard, and one of the ships they helped build was the Titanic. Another ancestor served in the British Cavalry in India, seeding Christine’s long-time fascination with the British Raj and became the stimulus for her series Twilight of the British Raj, and her debut novel, SHADOWED IN SILK. Her current release CAPTURED BY MOONLIGHTis Book 2 of that series. The Pacific coast of Canada, about 200 miles north of Seattle, is Christine’s home. She and her husband enjoy the empty nest, but look forward to all the noise when the kids and grandkids come home. And like a lot of writers, her cat is her chief editor.
Reviews/Notices/Awards
A worthy sequel to acclaimed debut novel Shadowed in Silk, Christine Lindsay's Captured by Moonlight depicts with rich imagery and historical authenticity the final years of India's British raj, capturing the stark contrasts between palace and slum, British administrators and conquered native, darkness and light, love and hate. Beyond an enjoyable read for any historical fiction fan, this story is a welcome reminder that love, sacrifice, and redemption are qualities still touching hearts and transforming lives in the midst of a troubled world." ~~ Jeanette Windle, award-winning author of Veiled Freedom, Freedom's Stand, Congo Dawn

Captured by Moonlight, the highly anticipated sequel to Shadowed in Silk, does not disappoint! Once again, Christine Lindsay’s descriptive prose pulled me into an amazingly detailed story world, back to Old India, that made me want to stay until the last page was turned. Lindsay's attention to detail, witty prose and moving story blend together to create a treat for the senses, leaving the reader satisfied and completely satiated by the end. Colorful characters and a haunting love story lure you in, but won't let go for a long while afterward.  ~~ Catherine West - award winning author of Yesterday's Tomorrow and Hidden in the Heart.
 
 
Christine, why did you write CAPTURED BY MOONLIGHT? 
 
I wrote this novel because: SHADOWED IN SILK, Book 1 of this series, only told part of this vivid tail. CAPTURED BY MOONLIGHT carries on with 2 of the characters from that debut novel, to show the amazing culture and beauty of exotic India, and a time in history that is as vivid and exciting as the Wild West was to the US.
 
I was always intrigued by the title of the classic novel, LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA. Now while I found that novel a bit of a bore, I wanted my novel set in dangerous times in India to be far more adventurous, and terribly romantic. That’s the thing about a book, you can write is as romantic as you like. And that’s what I’ve done with Captured by Moonlight. My romantic and dangerous tail of British Colonial India will be rounded out in the third and final book to this series, Veiled at Midnight, being released in 2014.
 
 
Purchase Links:
 
Amazon/Kindle. http://tiny.cc/p66yuw
 
Barnes & Noble. http://tiny.cc/u96yuw
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

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