Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin
Publisher: Harlequin
Pub Date: 10/01/2010
ISBN: 9780373296149
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 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....
Please welcome the following guest post from the author of Butterfly Swords, Jeannie Lin:
Muses: Four Women of the Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty has been a very powerful muse for me, inspiring my debut novel, Butterfly Swords, as well as an entire series and various short stories. What drew me most of all to the period was the remarkable women of the period.
In particular, this panel served as a source of inspiration:
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| Artist Bai Fa Tong Lao |
The four characters at the top of the panels represent: writing (wen), beauty (li), outstanding (jie), and heroism (ying). The four women depicted held the highest ranks in the empire, the most powerful being Empress Wu Zetian who ruled as the only female Emperor of China.
These remarkable women captured my imagination and made me want to get inside their heads. What sort of strength and cleverness would it take for a woman to rise to power in a world dominated by men? I felt that this woman might seem very familiar to our modern day sensibilities. She would have the intelligence and drive of today’s doctors, lawyers, CEOs. She would have the grace and sharp wit of Queen Elizabeth. These women were supermodels as well as politicians.
I was inspired to dream up my own Tang Dynasty heroines. In Butterfly Swords, Ai Li is a princess in tumultuous times. Her father is a warlord who has taken the throne in the midst of civil unrest. Raised in a warrior family, she’s been trained to fight with swords, but that’s not the source of her strength. Her true power comes from her belief in family, loyalty, and honor.
As she embarks on a journey through the empire, she meets up with Ryam, a wayward swordsman fleeing from a Dark Age kingdom, and is forced to challenge and redefine the ideals she holds so dear. It’s an exploration through a foreign land, but with universal themes of love, honor, and acceptance that I hope will ring true.
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Jeannie Lin writes historical romantic adventures set in Tang Dynasty China. Her short story, The Taming of Mei Lin from Harlequin Historical Undone is available September 1. Her Golden Heart award-winning novel, Butterfly Swords, was released October 1 from Harlequin Historical and received 4-stars from Romantic Times Reviews—“The action never stops, the love story is strong and the historical backdrop is fascinating.”Join the launch celebration at http://www.butterfly-swords.com/ for giveaways and special features. Visit Jeannie online at: http://www.jeannielin.com/
Also, please visit Meghan's book review of Butterfly Swords at Medieval Bookworm.
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