Current Works and Events

Coming from Dorchester in November 2010

THE BEAUTY
In the glittering, sumptuous court of Eleanor of Aquitaine, betrayal lurks around every corner. The queen is at odds with her king, and to obey one could mean treason against the other. Even Alienore, considered the most virtuous lady at court, holds secrets: whether masquerading as a knight on the tourney field to defend those without a champion or desperately trying to save her lands—-and her maidenhead—-from the Duke of Ormonde.

THE BLACK KNIGHT
He is called the Raven—-his face scarred by a Saracen blade, his voice raspy with the effects of Greek fire. His parentage is unknown, his prowess legendary. And he’ll sell his sword to the highest bidder. As his piercing eyes track her every move, Alienore wonders who he’s working for now: finding a spy for King Henry? sent by the duke to fetch her home? Or is each heated touch, each whispered promise of pleasure part of a much more personal mission?

The year is 1174. Civil war rages around the court of rebellious Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine and her fiercely estranged husband, the King of England. Set in France and England during the Crusades, THE DEVIL’S VIRTUE is a dark and sensual medieval romance spiced with intrigue. To restore peace to a sundered realm and gain salvation for two troubled souls, the queen’s convent-reared lady chancellor and the disgraced Muslim knight called the Devil of Damascus must find forgiveness and redemption through love.

Jervaise de Vaux is an embittered Crusader, scarred body and soul by a lifetime of war, who has abandoned his faith in the Christian God. Devastated by the death of his beloved wife, Jervaise seems to embrace dishonor as the Devil of Damascus, a Muslim soldier of fortune who sells his sword to the highest bidder. He is stunned when his friendship with the king elevates him to a noble title. Claiming his impoverished estates, Jervaise must seize his last chance for salvation, and wed a wealthy heiress to save his suffering people.

Alienore of Lyonstone is the queen’s privy chancellor, the only woman to stand among the queen’s council of ministers. Valiant and principled, this ardent Christian is called the queen’s most virtuous lady. In secret, Alienore masquerades as a knight on the tourney field, defending shamed damsels no proper knight will champion. In her heart, she is fighting a deeply personal scandal that threatens Alienore’s noble parentage, and her very sense of self. When she is ordered to wed the infidel Devil of Damascus with his unsavory reputation, Alienore dares to refuse. But before she can be truly free, she must prove her worth to her own greatest skeptic -—herself.

THE DEVIL’S VIRTUE has won several RWA-sponsored contests and is a current finalist in the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart contest, which is RWA’s largest and best-known contest for unpublished writers. An “exclusive peek” at the first chapter is posted for interested readers at www.XeniaNavarre.com Check back with the blog regularly for updates on THE DEVIL’S VIRTUE.