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BEYOND DUTY… A proud yet haunted warrior, Sir Richard de Cantor left his past behind when he joined the secret brotherhood of Templar Knights. Now he is returning home to face a challenge greater than any he has ever known: a forbidden promise of ecstasy that dwells in the gentle heart of a fallen noblewoman. BEYOND DESIRE… Lady Margaret Newcomb has paid dearly for her sins of long ago, her good name stripped away as she was forced into seclusion. Yet such torment is nothing compared to what she suffers when Richard de Cantor enters her world of penance. Here is a man, brave and strong, yet tender, whose breathtaking masculinity tempts her to sin once more. To want him is dangerous and taboo. But to deny her passion is to deny life itself and the one chance for a love beyond limits, beyond rapture… BEYOND TEMPTATION
 BEYOND TEMPTATION
Avon Books
Series: The Templar Knights (Book One)
ISBN: 0060593687
June 2005
Available Now!
BEYOND TEMPTATION: The Templar Knights has been nominated as a Finalist for the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award for "Best Medieval of 2005"!
 
“The Templar Knights” series grew out of my long-time-but-never-really-pursued fascination with the Order of the Poor Brothers-in-Arms of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (a.k.a. the Knights Templar). The idea of a secret society of dedicated, elite warriors (love those sword-wielding heroes!), who were bound by vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity and who were also reputed to be guardians of the Holy Grail is inspirational in and of itself. Add to the mix the fact that the Order as a whole was suddenly and unexpectedly placed under arrest, persecuted, many of its members executed, and then dissolved by command of the pope in 1314, and you have the stuff of which legends are made. The actual story behind the hero of BEYOND TEMPTATION is a convoluted one, but it can be simplified by saying that I experienced a flash of inspiration one day, akin to a mini-movie playing in my head. That unfolding scene eventually became the seed of what is now the Prologue to the book (and the series as a whole). To go a bit further, it seemed to fit that young Richard de Cantor from my 2003 release THE CRIMSON LADY would have grown up to be a top-notch warrior who happened to carry around with him a great many emotional burdens. A fiercesome warrior in need of great penance...one of the perfect combinations, it seems, that might have inspired a man of the 14th century to become a Templar Knight. The timing of it all was good, too, as Richard was 15 or so when THE CRIMSON LADY took place (in 1292), which would make him just about 30 years old as of the date of the mass arrests of Templars in France (in 1307), when BEYOND TEMPTATION begins. And so he stepped up as "Sir Richard" and took on the role of hero for this book. The heroine and the rest of the story combines a bit of what I like to call IVANHOE meets JANE EYRE…but with several twists and turns all my own. Avon's editorial group accepted my suggestion that the series be called "The Templar Knights" and agreed that this first book should be named BEYOND TEMPTATION, which was another of my ideas, so I was thrilled. You’ll have to look for future installments of “The Story Behind The Story” on upcoming books, to see if they like my title concepts for books two and three as well!
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