Christine Lindsay – Character Interview & Romantic Excerpt – Part 1 of 1

Shannon here: Christine Lindsay share insight into her characters’ romance from her 20th Century Historical Romance, Sofi’s Bridge. Comment or answer the question at the end of the post to enter the drawing for an e-book copy. Deadline: June 4th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Christine:

• What’s the most romantic thing your heroine ever did for your hero?

Even though Neil with all his secrets, and even after he pressured Sofi into letting him accompany her and her sister and housekeeper on their escape from Seattle, Sofi could not let Neil be cold that first night in the mountains. She went out to the barn when he wasn’t there, and laid out extra quilts for him.

Cascade Mountains

• Where is the most romantic place your hero and heroine have ever been?

An alpine meadow in Washington State’s Cascade Mountains. Here is a brief snippet from the book:
At the summit they reined the Clydesdales under a shady tree. The wind carrying a clean pine fragrance blew unimpeded as though they’d reached the top of the world. 
Neil walked with Sofi along a pathway strewn on either side with blue and purple lupine, pink phlox, yellow arnica, and red Indian paintbrush. In the distance, pale blue and turquoise ice from glaciers filled crevices between serrated granite heights. Quiet awe filled his face. He swept his gaze three hundred and sixty degrees and studied the glaciers, that though they were miles away seemed close enough to touch. Above the tree line, gray peaks scraped the sky, some still capped with snow.
Sofi could only hope that up here for a while he could let go of whatever pain he was hiding from the world, and from her.
They strolled side by side along the pathway, their hands brushing together once or twice. A warm wind whipped at their clothing and hair. Here and there, stunted pines flanked the path. At one spot, the trees hedged in, narrowing the path, forcing her and Neil closer. Their hands touched. She wasn’t sure which one of them clasped the other’s first. His cool palm lay against hers. His fingers entwined with hers.

• How soon after meeting the heroine did the hero know she was the one?

Neil had been impressed with Sofi’s intelligence as he worked as her family’s gardener for a month after he first arrived in Seattle. But in the close confines of the mountain cabin with only her sister and their housekeeper for additional company, Neil began to quickly fall in love with Sofi.
If Neil were a free man, he would court Sofi openly, but with the English police on his heels, he could never tell her the truth. How could he tell her that he was not a gardener, but a doctor, and worse still that he was wanted for murder?

• Who is most romantic, your hero or your heroine?

My hero Neil is the more romantic. Sofi, while she is sweet and kind, is extremely level-headed. Neil is far more sentimental, like many Irishmen are. Nothing would make him happier than to sweep Sofi into his arms and dance with her under the moonlight. At night thoughts of Sofi keep him awake and he is tortured being so near her and unable to touch her in the way he desires.

• What is the most caring thing your hero has ever done for your heroine?

The first night in the mountains after they reach the cabin, Neil heats a stone in the fireplace, wraps it in a quilt and secretly places it in Sofi’s bedding to keep her warm. He does the same for her sister and their housekeeper. Neil then goes out to sleep in the dilapidated barn.

• What is the most caring thing your heroine has ever done for your hero?

Sofi’s care for Neil comes through in an unconscious manner, but yet Neil feels it. While Sofi does not verbalize any soft feelings for him, he senses her trust in him. This means everything to Neil since he is unable to tell her the truth about himself or why he had to leave Ireland. It’s Sofi’s intelligent summing up of his character that makes Neil feel like a man again, after he lost everything in his home country. Sofi’s quiet acceptance of him as a man of worth brings healing to Neil’s ragged emotions.

• Who said, “I love you” first, your hero or your heroine?

Sofi tried to say “I love you” in a non-verbal way one evening when they kissed, but Neil’s apologies of that event convinced her to never try to say she loved him again. After that it was Neil who tried to say “I love you”, but there was no hope for them as a couple, especially when he was trying to say that from a jail cell.

About Christine: Christine Lindsay is the author of multi-award-winning Christian fiction. Tales of her Irish ancestors who served in the British Cavalry in Colonial India inspired her multi-award-winning series Twilight of the British Raj, Book 1 Shadowed in Silk, Book 2 Captured by Moonlight, and explosive finale Veiled at Midnight.
Christine’s Irish wit and her use of setting as a character is evident in her contemporary romance Londonderry Dreaming and her newest release Sofi’s Bridge.
Aside from being a busy writer and speaker, Christine and her husband live on the west coast of Canada. Coming August 2016 is the release of Christine’s non-fiction book Finding Sarah—Finding Me: A Birthmother’s Story.

Learn more and connect:

Christine’s Website                Christine’s Twitter             Christine’s Pinterest             Christine’s Facebook 
Christine’s Goodreads         Subscribe to: Christine’s Quarterly Newsletter        Christine’s Amazon Page
About the book – Sofi’s Bridge:
Seattle Debutant Sofi Andersson will do everything in her power to protect her sister who is suffering from shock over their father’s death. Charles, the family busy-body, threatens to lock Trina in a sanatorium—a whitewashed term for an insane asylum—so Sofi will rescue her little sister, even if it means running away to the Cascade Mountains with only the new gardener Neil Macpherson to protect them.
But in a cabin high in the Cascades, Sofi begins to recognize that the handsome immigrant from Ireland harbors secrets of his own. Can she trust this man whose gentle manner brings such peace to her traumatized sister and such tumult to her own emotions? And can Neil, the gardener continue to hide from Sofi that he is really Dr. Neil Galloway, a man wanted for murder by the British police? Only an act of faith and love will bridge the distance that separates lies from truth and safety.

Read the first chapter of Sofi’s Bridge

Can’t wait for the drawing, purchase now:

AMAZON.com (Paper and Ebook)    Pelican Book Group (Paper and Ebook)

Question for Readers: What is your favorite period (before you time or during) in history?

Come back May 26th for Carole Brown!