An Illicit Temptation. Jeannie Lin
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Tang Dynasty China, 824 A.D.
Dao was raised as a servant, but when her half-sister flees an arranged marriage to a chieftain, Dao is sent in her place as Princess An-Ming. Such a future is better than she could have hoped for, yet she dreads a passionless union with a stranger.
Taken as a virtual hostage to the Imperial court, Kwan-Li is torn between his people and his duty to the emperor. He is bound by honor to escort the princess safely across the wild and untamed steppe, but the greatest danger they face on the long journey may be the forbidden temptation of each other…
An Illicit Temptation
Jeannie Lin
MILLS & BOON
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Dear Reader,
The Princess’ Forbidden Love continues from where My Fair Concubine ended and shows a journey into Khitan in Inner Mongolia, a land that at the time was considered by the Tang Dynasty to be savage and primitive. It was easy to see parallels to the American West and interactions with Native American tribes. For this reason, I think of Dao’s journey as a “Tang Dynasty Western” akin to the stories of frontier romance in historical westerns.
The research for this short story nearly equaled the amount I collected for My Fair Concubine. This time was at the cusp of change for Khitan culture. The Khitans largely had an oral tradition until during the later part of the Tang Dynasty when they united under an emperor and formed their own autonomous empire under the Liao Dynasty. Unlike many other peoples who were consumed by the Chinese, the Khitan were dedicated to preserving their culture even as they adopted many Han customs.
I tried to recreate Khitan culture from a blend of information from later Khitan writings, brief references in Tang records, and used Mongolian culture to fill in the gaps. I hope the steppe emerges as a wild and untamed land with its own sense of power and beauty. A perfect place to discover love!
More historical background and information on my stories can be found online at http://www.jeannielin.com.
Acknowledgments
Sometimes a story just flows from your mind onto the page. This is not that story.
I must dedicate this story to my husband, who was busy setting up a nursery and buying a mini-van while I was hospitalized and attempting to type up this new story. I owe a huge debt of gratitude for Shawntelle Madison and Amanda Berry for offering emotional and writing support during a very trying time. I wouldn’t have been able to finish if you weren’t with me every step of the way. Thank you to Bria Quinlan and Stephanie Draven for lending your tough love and critical skills to the final product. Special thanks goes out to Alvania Scarborough and Sandy Raven for their input on horses and horsemanship. I’ve only ridden a horse once and he didn’t particularly like me.
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