Hello everyone! I am Elizabeth Rose, the bestselling, award-winning author of OVER 100 books and counting! Yes, I have been writing for a long time. I started writing romance back in 1996. Actually, I was a commercial artist before being an author. But when I had to stop to change a diaper when my kids were babies and my airbrush dried before I returned to it, I started doing logos and pencil portraits instead. Then, when my oldest was a toddler and scribbled all over a pencil portrait right before I was about to deliver it to the client, I decided I needed to switch lanes yet again. I started writing – using a typewriter since, at the time, I didn’t have a computer yet. After joining several critique groups, one of them focused strictly on romance, I was finally published traditionally in the year 2000. I must say, after a while, to make ends meet, I went back to work doing other things and took about a ten-year hiatus from writing. But then I returned and I am so glad that I did!
Let’s talk about my newest release. A Rose Among Thorns is Book 2 in my Below the Salt Series. This is a medieval series that features the second generation of the Blake Siblings. (You can read about Lord Corbett Blake where this all began in Lord of the Blade, Book 1 of my Legacy of the Blade Series.) For the record, Lord of the Blade was the first romance I ever wrote.
So, why do I call my new series, Below the Salt? Back in medieval times salt was expensive. Only the nobles had a salt cellar on their table. A salt cellar was like a really big salt shaker, but usually an ornate bowl that looked like a ship or a castle with a spoon in it. Nobles ate at a long trestle table that was raised on a dais. Commoners, servants, etc. sat at trestle tables down lower and they weren’t lucky enough to get the salt. (Or not much of it anyway.) Therefore, the non-nobles, were referred to as those who sat below the salt.
A Rose Among Thorns is the story of Lord Corbett Blake’s eldest son, Rook. (Rook has a twin sister, Raven, who was featured in Book 1, Picking up the Gauntlet.) Rook is determined to make his father proud. Plus, he is a noble and is required to marry someone of his own status. As a matter of fact, he is betrothed to a Frenchwoman that he’s never met. Back then, nobles married for alliances, not for love.
Rook inherits a manor house. The garden has been neglected and he needs to ready the place for his new and haughty bride-to-be. The master gardener dies, but his daughter, Primrose (Rose) Ashdown heads the job for him. Needless to say, Rook is about to make the same mistake as his sister by falling in love with someone from below the salt.
I love making medieval commoners the stars of the show, let’s say. I am fascinated with medieval town life, the lives of the tradesmen, merchants, serfs, servants, and even the clergy. Therefore, I often write these types into my stories. Why a gardener you might ask? Anyone who knows me realizes that I have a secret garden of my own. I live in the suburbs of Chicago, but love nature, so this is my escape. I also have a hammock in that secret garden where I write during the summer. Therefore, I wanted to bring a little gardening to this story, and I had a great time doing it. I am sharing a photo of my secret garden with you.
I do hope you’ll pick up a copy of A Rose Among Thorns. The series is also available to read in kindle unlimited. And watch for the next book that is releasing in July called Love Letters for Lady Lark. This is the story of a noble and a scribe.
Love has no bounds, but marriage has rules. A noble must never wed anyone from below the salt.
Books in the Below the Salt Series:
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Until next time,
Elizabeth Rose
Elizabeth Rose is an Amazon All-Star, and bestselling, award-winning author of over 100 books and counting! Her first book was published back in 2000, but she has been writing stories ever since high school.
She is the author of fantasy/paranormal, medieval, small-town contemporary, and western romance. You’ll find sexy, alpha heroes and strong, independent heroines in her books. Sometimes her heroines can even swing a sword.
Living in the suburbs of Chicago with her husband, Elizabeth has two grown sons and one granddog – so far. A lover of nature, she can be found in the summer swinging in her ‘writing hammock’ in her secret garden, creating her next novel.
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