The rumble of horses, the clash of swords, the high-pitched cries of fighting and dying men in the mud-splattered color-whirl of jousting.  What a way to open a book. Katie starts her novel with powerful action and ends it with a gentle sigh that leaves you scrambling through Amazon.com in search of the sequel.

Marcus Annan, famous in the 12th Century for his many conquests on the jousting fields, has scars, secrets and pain (and a young sidekick/indentured servant named Marek, valuable for, among other things, providing a light heart to this dark story of revenge).

Annan’s past is tied inextricably to a vengeful monk and a powerful Bishop, and running from that past only brings him closer to the inevitable conflict with both in the future. But the stakes are raised when the Lady Mairead is thrown into the mix. Before Annan meets her, he’s ready for death and assured of hell, but her tender love and prayers give him hope for absolution and salvation. Keeping her alive and safe in the melee becomes his primary goal–a goal hampered by the manipulations of the monk, the threats from the Bishop, and the evil possessiveness of a Templar.

Katie is an incredible writer with the ability to tell a spell-binding tale. In Behold the Dawn, she sweeps us from Italy to the Holy Land, from jousting matches in Bari to King Richard’s Third Crusade, from tense action to tender moments, and she does it all seamlessly.

Find her book on her website, Wordplay (where she’s running a Christmas special!), or on Amazon.com.