The Book: Butterfly Swords by Jeannie LinThe Particulars: Harlequin Historical, October 2010, Not Yet Published
The Blurb:
Is It In Wendy's TBR?: Not yet. But it shall be...During China’s infamous Tang Dynasty, a time awash with luxury, yet littered with deadly intrigues and fallen royalty, betrayed Princess Ai Li flees before her wedding.
Miles from home, with only her delicate butterfly swords for a defense, she enlists the reluctant protection of a blue-eyed warrior…
Battle-scarred, embittered Ryam has always held his own life at cheap value. Ai Li’s innocent trust in him and honorable, stubborn nature make him desperate to protect her – which means not seducing the first woman he has ever truly wanted….
Any Reviews?: This book doesn't come out until October, so no. But! It did win the RWA Golden Heart for best historical romance manuscript at last year's RWA conference in Washington D.C. What I remember about Lin's acceptance speech? When she announced the story had sold to Harlequin/Mills & Boon. I almost stood up in the aisle and started dancing a jig. No lie.
And while cover quotes generally don't move me, Lin received two nice ones for this book:
“Swords, warrior princesses, and a barbarian to love! Butterfly Swords was a delight!”Anything Else?: I'm really very excited about this book. The setting alone sold me on it, but the author winning the Golden Heart also helps grease the wheels. Over the years I've read a handful of Golden Heart winners, as the books got picked up by publishers, and they tend to be good, solid reads. So I'm expecting good things here with Lin's debut.
– Jade Lee, USA Today bestseller
“In Butterfly Swords, Jeannie Lin tells a classic tale of courage, adventure, and impossible love—and she sets it in a fascinating new world: Tang China , where a warrior princess must fight for her family and her country with only a barbarian swordsman to help her. Jeannie Lin is a fresh new voice in historical romance, and Butterfly Swords rocks!”
– Mary Jo Putney, New York Times bestseller, author of Never Less Than a Lady
15 comments:
Oh MY. That COVER.
SOLD!
I hope it does well - I remember meeting Jade Lee at RWA last year and how her book "The Concubine" with Harlequin did badly because it was a Chinese historical.
Come the time, I'll be getting this one too. I'm all about supporting the different, the unusual.
I'm sold.
Hopefully it will be up at Netgalley.
I agree this sounds really interesting, but I'm a bit wary, or sorry, about the blue-eyed hero. I get that it creates conflict, and I think it will be interesting to see him from the "other" side, as a barbarian, BUT I also wondered whether he exists because too many readers wouldn't accept a Chinese hero. The exotic Asian woman and European man is an old, old story. Not to say Lin will write it in a cliched way, but it seems a bit sad . . . . Still, I'm excited for this different setting.
I've been looking forward to this book since I first saw it mentioned on Twitter a few months ago.
I'm hoping it will be available for early purchase at the Harlequin site as I'd like to read it on my holiday!
I've already pre-ordered this one. I'm trying to figure out how many people I want to give it to, as well.
AnimeJune: Re: The Concubine - which I found sad news because I enjoyed that book. Didn't love it and want to have babies with it, but thought it was a good, solid read.
Elizabeth: The author has a nice "About The Book" section on her web site that discusses her hero a bit more:
http://www.jeannielin.com/index.php/butterfly-swords/
Kristie, Katie, Sarah, Victoria: Well, it will definitely be for sale early over at Harlequin. They tend to let you order a month ahead of time. So I'm guessing I'll be able to download it on September 1. Yippeee!
@Elizabeth - Your comment reminded me of the anthology Dragon Lovers (by Jo Beverley, Mary Jo Putney, Karen Harbaugh, and Barbara Samuel). Karen Harbaugh's story takes place in Japan in 1650 - the heroine is a Dutch physician and the hero is a samurai with a secret. The story stuck with me because of the setting ("historical romance" tends to mean either a European or an American setting) and because the heroine was paired with a hero who was not European.
Thanks for the link, Wendy. The excerpt is great. And drat you, Library Girl, now I want BOTH of these.
Initially I felt much like Elizabeth ("oh no, not another non-Asian hero in an Asian-set book!") but reading about Lin's explanation as well the excerpt from the book (which is gripping) made me feel a lot better about this "blue-eyed" barbarian hero.
I do hope though that Lin eventually gets to feature a hero I can imagine looking more like Tony Leung (*sigh*), who's featured in a cool birthday post from June 27th on her blog.
A Library Girl, I read that fantasy anthology a year or two ago and remember finding the Harbaugh story, 'Anna and the King of Dragons', intriguing. Can't say I was too keen on the book as a whole though (although the Putney story was pretty good if I remember right).
I've been wanting to read this book ever since I heard about the sale at Golden Heart. And I love that cover!
Hooray for all the excitement about Jeannie Lin's debut! Her website is a great place to go to settle fears over whether or not she's up to the task of writing about ancient China. Not only is she a thorough, passionate researcher, but she's also a darned good writer.
I cannot wait for this book!!! That cover is stunning. Will definitely be getting it when it comes out.
I'm very excited to read Butterfly Swords! It plays right into my fascination with the Far East. Love ya, Jeannie!
I just adore that striking cover! The premise sounds amazing too.
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