With invaders at her gates, Siobhan O'Rourke, Princess of Donegal Keep, is determined to see that her people not suffer—even if she must sacrifice herself. When the legendary warrior, Gaelan PenDragon demands her surrender and her oath, Siobhan refuses. In a clash of wills and customs, her enemy's vengeance comes gently and passionately—crumbling her barriers and weakening her resolve. But vanquishing her body does not give Gaelan her heart, for the price of loving the enemy could destroy Donegal forever.
Sworn To Conquer
His sword for hire and undefeated in combat, love is a luxury Gaelan has never known. Yet the flame-haired Princess of Donegal inspires dreams he never dared have. Siobhan's proud defiance baits him, her smoldering desire lures him, and before the ghosts of his past can butcher the passion neither can deny, he vows to possess the Celtic beauty—at any cost. But when suspicion, lies, and a web of betrayal tear Siobhan from his arms, Gaelan vows to wage the battle of his lifetime...and capture the woman who has laid siege to his immortal soul.
I'll tell you right off that I don't like reading my own bios, let alone writing them. It's like tooting your own horn. But if you're here, then you want to know something about me. So how about I break some ‘writers have a glamorous life' myths first off.
Myth 1: Writers have always been writers. Not me. I was a licensed cosmotologist for years, and didn't even put pen to paper until I was 30. (with an infant and 3 year old) It took me 3 years to write my first book, and while it taught me a lot, it was dreadful ! Got rejected 6 times flat out. I burned it in the back yard when I sold my 20 th book. I've kept the first pages to remind myself of how far I've come.
Myth 2: writers have a staff to take care of them and their homes while they write. I wish! I don't have a maid, a cook, or anyone who works for me, except maybe Shelley, who maintains this site. Like most women out there, I do all the cooking, cleaning, bills, shopping, etc. Sometimes I can be seen driving the riding lawnmower over our 2 acres. That's not a complaint. I'm a Marine's wife, and my husband was gone a lot, so I had to do it. I'm the only female in a house of men, so I pretty much rule too. And as the daughter, wife, and now the mother of US Marines, believe me, I can give orders when need be.
Myth 3. Writers work when the muse hits them. If I did, I'd never meet a deadline. Writing isn't about the muse coming to you; it's about unleashing bottled creativity and giving it freedom on paper. Every writer I know feels a deep internal need to tell their particular story and hope you're entertained. Writers HAVE to write. Yeah, sure, sometimes the creativity isn't moving like we want, but like everyone who faces some problem, I go to my friends and they come through in a punch. By the way, I work at my job from about 7 am till 4, sometimes later if it's going great and I don't want to stop. Weekends are for playing, projects or gardening. I actually love pulling weeds; it makes my mind drift to good places.
Myth 4: Writers get paid oodles of money. Oodles?? If I did, I'd have a staff and a better-looking office. But I get to go to work in the worlds' sloppiest clothes.
Myth 5: Once a writer sells a book, they can sell anything else. Want to see my rejection file? I could wallpaper a bathroom with it. To keep selling is the really hard part of this job. However, my idea of a great story isn't often blending with the editors. It's frustrating and often, it hurts, since the books writers create have, without a doubt, a piece of them inside. But then, if you can't take it, then this isn't the business for you.
My second book (#1 being the dreadful one I burned) My Timeswept Heart was a finalist in the Romance Writers of America, Golden Heart contest for unpublished works. I didn't win, but it got my work before my Kensington editor. It came out in '93 and I've sold over 30 since. With numerous rejections in between.
Right now, I'm writing books I've wanted to write for three years, Romantic Thrillers. Think Peacemaker or Chain Reaction with a little more romance in them. Lots of action and danger. After writing books in 5 sub genres of romance, (I get bored easily) this new one is the chance for me to use all this military knowledge I've stored up for years. I've fired weapons, rappelled, ridden in an Armored Personnel Carrier, and did some Scuba diving in the East China Sea. It hasn't been boring, and because I write, it never will be.
Now that my Sergeant Major husband is retired, and my sons are grown and towering over their mother, we get to stay in one place.
How average. I love it. When I feel the itch to move every 3 years, I just redecorate.
Well, its time for me to get back to work. Thanks for visiting. Take a look around the site, drop me a note, even read the first chapter of a new novel, if you like. It's out there for you, the reader. I wouldn't be loving my job if you weren't
When I first picked up this book, I was pretty excited. I had heard a lot of good things about it and, so far, I have really loved Amy J. Fetzer’s writing. And, honestly, at first I really, really enjoyed this book. It wasn’t until about 60% or so that it started to lose my interest and just slow down considerably.
This book really felt like it should have ended before it did. At a certain point in the story it seems like everything is wrapped up in a eat bow and we’re ready to move on and start closing everything down. And then…it just goes on. Something that was a sub plot (and I felt should have been finished long before) was suddenly and quickly turned into the main plot. And I’m left sitting there, relaxed because it seemed pretty over, only to get confused as to why it is just continuing.
It felt as though the author wanted or needed to introduce us to a certain character (Fionna) who is the main character of the second book in this series. Or that she remembered that the mystery sub-plot wasn’t finished and needed a whole 40% or so of the book to finish. It just dragged on.
I don’t know. The story had been so well paced until then, going steadily from one point to the next, giving just enough detail that I felt connected to the story. But it just fell apart for me. It got slower and slower to the point that I would skip ahead just to see when things were going to start happening again. The repeating, over and over again, of certain plot elements really made me roll my eyes and wish that something different would happen.
I thought the attraction between Siobhan and Gaelan was ok, if a bit generic. The elements of magic bothered me because they only seemed used to further the plot, and otherwise had no significance. There was no rhyme or reason to the magic and I felt the book would have been better with it all left out. But that’s just me.
Most of the book was predictable. Which I actually liked in this book because it made a lot of the “why” thing were happening easier to understand. I think without knowing some of the twists I would have been ever more disappointed in this book.
Otherwise, I really liked the dialog between some of the characters, and I still am in love with Amy J. Fetzer’s style. Although this is a miss, I’ve enjoyed enough of her work that I will continue reading (maybe not the rest of this series) but a lot more of her work.
All in all, 3 out of 5 stars and a hopeful look to the future.
This is one of my favorite "bodice rippers" of all time. I must have read this book atleast three times and I still get a little flutter in my chest when they end up falling in love. I love how the author added celtic folk lore and stuck to the history of Ireland so vividly. Everytime I read this book I feel like I'm right there in Ireland defending against the invading English. It's wonderful.
This book was good! Certain paragraphs and pages I re-read because they were so heart warming. He loved her so much and wanted to protect her. It's hard to give this review without giving things away. But this is absolutely a book I will keep forever and read again. Highly recommend!!
The book moved a little slowly at first. At close to 500 pages, I felt it could have been shorter, and some of the time the hero and heroine spent in conflict reduced. Once the hero and heroine connected and worked together to foil the plot of the traitors, the book picked up and was very very good. Loved the secondary characters and the hero and heroine.
4 stars Oh I was with how much I enjoyed this. Gave classic 90's historical romance but with a hero who falls first and HARD. The storyline was unique, great secondary characters, but the plot got jumbled up at the end and pacing could've been a little better. Will be jumping into the next one. Trigger Warnings: violence, blood, and kidnapping
Although I enjoyed this book I felt that it dragged a bit at the end. There were also parts of the storyline that didn't quite make sense to me but the characters were well developed, the setting was well described, and overall, I found it an entertaining read.