[Chateau of Love 01] • Chateau of Desire

**Monica Bentley makes history sexy.**

*France, 1355*

The Count of Brionde continues his endless game of cat and mouse with the French king, Jean le Bon. In the forests surrounding the chateau, however, lurks the armed band of legendary condotierre leader Bertrand du Guesclin.

Inside the chateau, the Guard practice daily, preparing for the inevitable attack. The youngest member, Louis - ward to the master of the Guard – dreams of becoming a true warrior.

He also dreams of the kitchen scamp Phoebe, who grows more beautiful with each passing day.

Young love's first blush finds these two resourceful orphans relying on each other when no one else trusts their lowly position.

When the fateful battle finally arrives, choosing whom to trust means life or death.

Inspired by historical events, *Chateau of Desire* helps us escape to an earlier time in this unforgettable coming of age tale of love, trust and resilience.

**For mature readers only.**

AUTHOR INTERVIEW:

*What drives you as a writer of history?*

The history I love best is the story of people – their passions, their flaws, their mistakes, their redemption. That’s what makes me endlessly fascinated with we as a people, no matter what time nor place. We always seem to have the same dreams and nightmares, and I love to write about them.

*What draws you to medieval France?*

The pageantry, ambition, the endless intrigue between a small group of self-selected nobles and the royalty. The constant battle over real estate. Henry V got lucky in having Shakespeare become his press agent. To my reading of history, Henry V is more the recipient of good fortune than an excellent military general. One who chanced his way into spectacular victory at Agincourt. No, when it comes to warrior kings, Edward III looms large in my mind for his twin victories at Cressy and Poitiers. His great bete noir is the condotierre commander du Guesclin, one of the first practitioners of asymmetrical warfare. Take all that together and you have a wonderful stage on which to mount a story to which a reader will return to again and again over the years.

*Your heroines find their strength through their femininity. Why is that?*

I believe the root of a woman's power lies in her sexuality, whether noble queen, powerful witch, or lost girl. Doomed to exist and compete in a time when society’s norms – its laws, customs and traditions – were all designed to keep them in the background. Those women who come forward such as Emma of Normandy or Eleanor of Aquitaine or Elizabeth I do so by using their sexuality to render men weak in the knees. I celebrate that phenomenon with my storytelling.

*What sources of inspiration did you use to write the *Chateau of Love* series?*

In writing the *Chateau of Love *series, I leaned heavily on medieval chroniclers Venerable Bede, Chaucer and Froissart, philosophers Aquinas, Bonaventura, and Teresa d’Avila, as well as numerous other classical and medieval historical and military authorities. Fencers will immediately recognize my thrill of the fight.

**Please note that each of the *Chateau of Love* trilogy are completely standalone stories with no cliffhangers.*

Readers say:

“It's part coming-of-age, part second-chance, part destined-to-be-soulmates...”

“a slice of life as it was long, long ago in France.”

“There was sex, drama, and death all mixed together in a captivating storyline.”