Spotlight on An Armor of Petals

I’m happy to welcome back author Gemma St. Claire. Today, Gemma shares her new release, An Armor of Petals, Book Two of Daughters of the Duchess.

Blurb

Fans of Keira Montclair will love this sweet medieval romance.

She wears a shroud of guilt she didn’t earn. Raised in a tavern, Beverielle is an illegitimate daughter of Duke Philip III. But the Duchess Isabella seeks to right Philip’s sins. When she brings the lass home to the castle to raise as a lady, Bevvie’s hope sparks. Sadly, her life’s choices are not hers to make. The duke weds her to an Italian merchant: a reluctant bride, then soon after, a widow.

Beverielle’s Scottish roots rise to the surface when she meets the brawny Highlander. Her hopes for love renew—until she discovers she may be carrying the Italian’s child. Knight Ròidh Keegan has been called back to Scotland when the flame-haired girl arrives at Germolles Castle.

Can the knight, soon to be laird of his own castle, consider a pregnant widow for his bride? His heart says aye, though a long journey and many obstacles lie in their path.

Excerpt

Lifting her heavy black skirt, Bevvie crouched to peer through the tangle of treacherous, thorned branches beneath the white rose bush. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the dimness, but then she saw them.

At first she thought it was a nest of mice, and shrinking back, she nearly landed on her bottom on the path. But then a mouse did appear—swinging dead from the jaws of a striped, gray cat who picked her way along the stone wall lining the garden. The creature dropped its quarry just outside her nest, then hopped in to nuzzle her babies.

Kittens! It had been over a year since Beverielle had seen a cat, since none seemed to reside at either Coudenburg or Germolles. They had been treasured wards of the Beguines in the convent at Antwerp, where the felines kept the complex free from the vermin perpetually creeping up from the docks at port. Bevvie remembered one she favored, a brown tabby and white male she’d named Adam. Sometimes, when the prioress wasn’t watching, she’d snuck the furry bundle up the steps to her sleeping quarters, which she shared with several of the other postulates. Fortunately, none of them paid the cat much mind.

Cats, however, were not widely favored by common folk, especially here in the southern regions. For some reason, the creatures had gotten a bad reputation as being advocates of the devil. She’d heard some of the servants gossiping about the healer who’d come to Coudenburg to treat the ostler’s wife, Eva of Utrecht. Eva had nearly died from a nasty blow to her head. But between the ministrations of the healer and the barber-surgeon from Brussels, she had survived. Some said ‘twas a miracle. Others said such an unlikely outcome ‘twas the work of the devil.

The healer, she’d been told, housed a number of cats in her small hovel at the edge of the village.

Beverielle thought it ridiculous to blame an innocent animal—and one who served a real, useful purpose—for anything. Especially for a miraculous recovery!

“Have ye dropped something?”

The booming voice behind her caused Bevvie to lose her balance, and she landed hard on her bottom in the middle of the path. She peered up to see a giant of a man standing over her. With the brilliant sun directly behind him, she squinted, but no details about him revealed themselves save for the fact that he was huge.

Flustered, embarrassed, and sweating to death under her heavy woolen mourning clothes, Bevvie struggled to her knees before she saw the man’s big paw stretched out in front of her face. Timidly, she placed her hand in his.

‘Twas rough and hard, and unusually warm. Not unnaturally so, as if he were fevered. But warm in an invitingly pleasant sort of way.

The kind of warmth that sent tingles up her arm, little shock waves. By the time she made it to her feet she gazed up into the golden eyes of a man she recognized. ‘Twas Sir Ròidh Keegan.

Buy Link: https://amzn.to/44yhYkG

Author Bio and Links

Gemma St. Claire grew up in upstate New York many moons ago. She achieved her Bachelor of Arts from the New York Institute of Technology, followed by her Master of Fine Arts from Lesley University. She married her very own, HEA husband and raised three beautiful humans before bouncing about the country. She has landed in Florida and is finally able to devote her life to her writing.

Gemma is passionate about history, particularly the Middle Ages. She’s been to Belgium once and is set to travel back there in August of 2025, where she hopes to discover even more stories to spin and share with her readers.

She loves to hear from her readers, so drop her a note! You can find her here: