Warrior. Spy. Marian Montrose dons silk or chain mail with equal aplomb.
Welcome to the September 7th stop on the blog tour for Marian by Gayle Feyrer with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, more guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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Author Guest Post
Top Ten TV Women Sleuths
I chose only favorites who were the primary character or an equal member of a team, rather than charming sidekicks like lovable Sam in Foyle’s War or the interesting women detectives in Wire in the Blood and The Mentalist, who were beholden to the brilliance of their brilliant, eccentric partner.
Phryne Fisher—I’m in love with Phryne, with her unquenchable spirit and her impeccable flirty taste. I’m in love with her clothes, her house, her parade of adoring lovers, her career as a sleuth, and her slow burn relationship with Detective Jack Robinson. With the exception of Miss Marple, who often indulges in wit while investigating, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries is the only comedy favorite in these series. I much prefer dark and intense, but this ensemble cast can take the simplest, most obvious situation and make it a delight with their comic timing. While they trade humorous bits with each other, the scenes are always played straight, the comedy emerging from the interplay of said flawless timing, character, and situation. There is the possible exception of Phryne’s fan dance. Jack’s jaw did drop a bit much.
Trailer | Cast Interview | Costuming
The Bletchley 4, Susan, Lucy, Millie, Jean—The first season of The Bletchley Circle is one of my all time favorite shows. I also enjoy season 2, but the later spinoff is terrible. While Susan is the initiator who gathers the women in the first season (played with breath-taking perfection by Anna Maxwell Martin), they do work together as a group, providing different sleuthing skills and different character strengths, so I’m presenting the team as one favorite. Their obvious talents are played off against their varying attempts to lead what is considered to be a woman’s proper subordinate role after they had made important contributions during the war. The writing is superb.
Nikita—The concept of La Femme Nikita is stellar. Peta Wilson and Roy Dupuis in the leads are polar opposites both as characters and in their acting styles, but together create a classic, charismatic attraction of opposites. The writing, well, sometimes great, sometimes juvenile. But Nikita, again, splendiferous! Peta Wilson is knockout gorgeous, both subtle and powerfully emotional as an actress, and an actual athlete capable of executing the action believably. In some alternate universe, I get to cast her as Marian.
Miss Marple—There are three Marples in the BBC productions. My favorite by far is Jane Hickson, who dry wit (with a hint of dither) exquisitely skewers the police officers who try to ignore her. I do like the production values of the Geraldine McEwan Miss Marple series. She actually looks a bit more like my mental Marple, but I can’t really see her thinking, which is something I love about Hickson’s wily portrayal.
Lily Rush—I love the combination of Lily’s almost fragile beauty, her inner struggles, and her in-the-killer’s-face toughness. And she has two special needs cats. How can you not love her even though she tries her best to make that difficult? The Cold Case mysteries are complex and still relevant, the dual timelines fascinating, the cinematography is often quite poetic.
Alice Morgan—Okay. Sort of an exception, but not really. She is the villain, quite a chilling villain before her adoration for Luther makes her adorable (in a deliciously creepy way). An adorable psychopathic helpmate. But Alice is not just a weird sidekick, she does function as an equal in the series. Luther asks her for help and her help is invaluable.
Fan song video of Luther and Alice
A Criminal Minds Dynamic duo:
Penelope Garcia—Penelope is one of my Top Ten Criminal Minds episodes, and I love her as a character throughout the series. I love her brilliant wackiness. Love her fun triumphs fashion sense. Love her silly decorations. Love her hours of kitten videos to help wash out all the psycho gore. I wish Morgan had had the guts to fall in love with her.
Emily Prentiss—Emily was/is quite a complex character in Criminal Minds. She was the only one they could have brought in to subdue fan anger when Hotch was kicked off the show (for kicking). Loved her self-possession and hidden vulnerability.
Fan Trailer for Criminal Minds | Fannish Vid for Emily
Dana Scully—Dana’s skepticism was needed to counter Mulder’s hunt for the paranormal answer in X-Files. It was overplayed in the series. I mean, how many times does Mulder have to be right about the weirdness? But still Dana Skully was always a compelling character thanks to Gillian Anderson’s presence.
Jane Tennison—Jane was so cutting edge when she appeared in Prime Suspect. Ambitious, bitter, sharp, often unlikeable but admirable and always riveting. She’s a character that changed the game for those that came after, and lifted the fantastic Helen Mirren to stellar status.
About the Book
Marian
by Gayle Feyrer
Published 1 September 2023
Tygerbright Press
Genre: Historical Romance
Page Count: 472
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
Warrior. Spy. Marian Montrose dons silk or chain mail with equal aplomb. Sent by Queen Eleanor on a mission to Nottingham, Marian is waylaid in Sherwood Forest by the infamous Robin Hood. Her companions are stripped of their riches, but from her, Robin steals only one brazen kiss.
Seething with anger at the thief’s presumption and the haunting memory of his searing embrace, Marian arrives at the castle to find the sophisticated and seductive Sir Guy of Guisbourne a welcome distraction. Guisbourne would be the perfect ally against the Sheriff and Prince John but he believes he’s already picked the winning side. Deft at games of intrigue, Marian discovers Guisbourne’s involved in plans to steal the ransom meant to free King Richard the Lionheart.
Conquering her misgivings, Marian returns to Sherwood and recruits Robin with the promise of a pardon for him and his men. Now they are allies in the fight to return the king, but Robin wants far more from Marian. First she resists his almost magical allure, then succumbs, then resists again, distrusting the elemental power he has over her. Guisbourne may be lethally dangerous, but Robin threatens to consume both her body and her soul.
Danger surrounds them. Betrayal separates them. But desire—and fate—will not be denied.
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Excerpt
Almost before she saw him move, Robin Hood had grasped her arms and pulled her against him, locking her within his embrace. His eyes met hers in flaring challenge. Then he kissed her, full on the mouth, a slow, hard, relishing kiss. Stunned, Marian felt every sense inundated. She inhaled the scent of him, the pungent spice of male inextricably woven with vibrant forest scents. She felt the ruthless grip of his hands and thighs, the hard tension of his chest against her breasts, and the moist, seductive movement of his lips against her own. Most shocking of all, though her gaze encompassed only the blurred lineaments of his face, she envisioned his nakedness and her own pressed close, as if the leather, silk, and linen that covered them had vanished at his touch.
A rush of heat swept through her, terrifying in its sweetness, as though all her blood blossomed into flame, red upon red unfolding, blurring her senses. A soft gasp escaped her, but that faint parting of her lips against his was all the betrayal of her own flesh Marian would endure. Freezing that melting warmth, she willed herself to utter stillness. He might have held a statue carved of ice.
Her coldness must have penetrated his heat, for instantly he released her and stepped back. For a second he watched her intently, his eyes revealing their misted green, his expression strangely pained and hungry all in one. Then he smiled again, flashing with willful insolence, and turning strolled back toward the head of the caravan.
About the Author
Gayle Feyrer began drawing as soon as she could hold a crayon and writing when she was twelve. She holds a Bachelor’s in Pictorial Arts from UCLA, and MFA from the University of Oregon in Creative Writing. In her varied career, she has been a tie dye artist, go-go dancer, baker, creator of ceramic beasties, illustrator, fiction teacher, and finally, novelist. A Libra with Scorpio Rising, Gayle’s romantic nature takes on a darker edge. She hopes these shadows bring depth to her romances.
A world traveler, Gayle has visited Paris, England and Italy numerous times. She lived for two years in Jakarta, Indonesia, with many trips around Asia. She currently resides across the bridge from San Francisco, with her husband and their two rescue cats, Charlotte and Emily, the Flying Bronte sisters, half Siamese and half tabby.
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Giveaway Alert!
The author will award a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn host.
a Rafflecopter giveaway| Sept 4 | Andi’s Book Reviews | Sept 4 | Kenyan Poet |
| Sept 5 | Long and Short Reviews | Sept 5 | The Avid Reader |
| Sept 6 | Literary Gold | Sept 7 | Westveil Publishing |
| Sept 8 | Sandra’s Book Club | Sept 11 | Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews |
| Sept 12 | Fabulous and Brunette | Sept 13 | Maggie Blackbird |
| Sept 14 | Hope. Dreams. Life… Love | Sept 14 | The Key of Love |
| Sept 15 | travel the ages |
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We appeciate you hosting today’s author and this wonderful list of TV characters.
Thanks so much for hosting today!
This story sounds good.
I enjoyed reading the excerpt.