Thanks for visiting my new blog series, Cocky Confessions, where your favorite heroes’ secrets are revealed.  Today I’m interviewing Guy of Helston from Sarah Hegger’s, The Bride Gift.

Does everyone call you Guy? Is Helston your title or do you have a last name?

They call me Sir Guy, I have no knowledge of this last name of which you speak. I am Sir Guy of Helston, because I hail from there. I have also been called the Scourge of Farringdon, but those that speak thus do not go unchallenged.

Describe yourself and your role in The Bride Gift.

I am married to Lady Helena by proxy. Her guardian, the Earl of Lystanwold, had need to protect his niece and I desired the title. My role is to be her husband and protector and lord to the people of her lands.

Who’s your love interest and how did you meet?

Lady Helena of Lystanwold is my true lady. I climbed through my lady’s casement and was presented as her husband.

What intrigues you most about your lover? What do they do that drives you crazy?

Her family call her Nell. Nell is the name for a warm bundle of womanhood by a cozy fire, not a sharp- tongued, fierce vixen. Her fire is irresistible. She is also willful and stubborn and acts before she thinks. It could get her killed.

Tell us something no one would believe about you? Large or small.

I am a man of very few words and I would not like to share why.

Do you rely on your physical prowess or your intelligence to attract a lover?

I am a knight, lady!

What’s something you’ve done that could have landed you in prison?

I married without the king’s approval. It was worth the risk.

Who’s your best buddy? What do you guys do when bromancing?

What is this bromancing? It sounds peculiar. Is this something the men of your time do? My best friend is my twin, Crispin.

How do you stay fit?

My lady, with respect, I am a knight. I have told you so before. If I am not fit, I find myself on the wrong end of a sword.

If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be?

My sire. He was a cruel, harsh man. I needed to protect my twin from him when we were boys. I would have spared my twin his cruelty.

Name your most comfy article of clothing?

I am not a court peacock. I am most content in plain chausses and a tunic. I have worn chainmail for most of my life. It is not comfy and the smell is most offensive.

What worries you the most?

I am most afeared that my Lady Helena falls into the wrong hands and I am powerless to help her.

What’s the one thing you’d never tell your lover?

A man of honor keeps no secrets.

What is The Bride Gift all about?

It’s 1153 in the period dubbed ‘The Anarchy’, King Stephen and Empress Maud are not the only ones embroiled in a fierce battle of the sexes.

Determined to control her own destiny, willful Helena of Lystanwold has chosen just the husband to suit her purposes. But, when her banished guardian uncle attempts to secure her future and climbs through her bedroom window with a new husband by a proxy marriage, she understandably balks. Notorious warrior Guy of Helston is everything Helena swore she would never marry; a man who lives by the sword, like the man who murdered her sister.

This marriage finally brings Guy close to his lifetime dream of gaining lands and a title. He is not about to let his feisty bride stand in his way. A master strategist, Guy sets out to woo and conquer his lady.

Against a backdrop of vengeance, war and betrayal, Guy and Helena must learn to forge a united front or risk losing everything.

 

Available now on Amazon.

 

A small taste:     

Slowly, Helena turned and approached her husband.

His large body barely fit in the wooden tub. He sat with his knees almost to his ears. A slight frown creased his dark brows.

Helena dipped her hand in the soft soap they kept for bathing; more jasmine. She rubbed it between her fingers to create lather. When they next made soap she would need to produce something less feminine for Guy.

From this position, his head was almost on a level with her breasts. A feeling akin to excitement fluttered through her belly.

He watched her face as she leaned forward to soap his head, working it through his cropped hair. The bristly ends tickled her palm.

She reached for a bucket of rinsing water. He closed his eyes as soap and bubbles streamed down the strong planes of his cheeks. Droplets clung to his lashes. They were almost ridiculously long and so incongruous with the rest of him. Probably the only part of him that could be called soft.

He dropped his head forward onto his knees so she could finish rinsing.

Guy presented the broad expanse of his back, and she laid her hands across the sun-darkened skin. He was warm under her fingers and beneath the smooth skin, his muscles bunched slightly as she spread the soap. This might be bearable. When she rubbed her fingers on either side of his spine, he made a soft purr of enjoyment.

Her pulse jumped.

“Soft hands,” he said.

Her fingers traced a long, puckered scar running beneath his shoulder blade and disappearing around his side.

“A lance man with poor aim,” he murmured.

The skin on his back was firm, but marked by the scars of a lifetime spent wielding a sword. “It appears you really do fight,” she commented lightly.

For some reason those accumulated injuries and the pain they had caused angered her as well as rendered her sorry for his suffering. Helena steeled her resolve. It was just these sorts of wounds that made him perfect for her purpose.

She lathered soap across his shoulders and down the thick, corded muscle of each arm. Her belly reacted with another odd little quiver as her fingers slid across his skin like oil poured from a vial.

Guy raised his eyes to her face. A slumberous warmth made them glow nearly silver.

Her breath quickened in her chest as if she had been running; her hands tingled where they touched him.

 

And in case you were wondering about Sarah Hegger, here’s the official version:

Born British and raised in South Africa, Sarah Hegger suffers from an incurable case of wanderlust. Her match? A hot Canadian engineer, whose marriage proposal she accepted six short weeks after they first met. Together they’ve made homes in seven different cities across three different continents (and back again once or twice). If only it made her multilingual, but the best she can manage is idiosyncratic English, fluent Afrikaans, conversant Russian, pigeon Portuguese, even worse Zulu and enough French to get herself into trouble.

Mimicking her globe trotting adventures, Sarah’s career path began as a gainfully employed actress, drifted into public relations, settled a moment in advertising, and eventually took root in the fertile soil of her first love, writing. She also moonlights as a wife and mother.

 

She currently lives in Draper, Utah with her teenage daughters, two Golden Retrievers and aforementioned husband. Part footloose buccaneer, part quixotic observer of life, Sarah’s restless heart is most content when reading or writing books.

She is always delighted to hear from you. Sarah can be reached at any and all of the following places:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

 Thanks to Sarah for being my first victim guest on Cocky Confessions.  I really enjoyed Guy’s keen answers. Don’t think he’d have a problem getting up to speed in this era.  Please show him and Sarah your love.  And if your hero would like to step up for an interview, you may get in touch with me through the blog contact link or though Facebook.