Great cover, and nice concept, with this almost-villain King.

Change of Heart by Olivia Shepard released in April in the Historical genre.

James was born a king who ruled with an iron fist. Stronger and taller than most men, he frightened all. He was good at combat and skilled in the art of war, but when it came down to the more delicate things, like women, he was rough and overpowering with them. He had been hurt before, which caused him to live by anger.
Even though there were many boundaries to what women could do, Katharine liked to break all the rules. Determined to fight for what she deemed was right, she did not shy away like all the others when confronted by the King.
When James first met Katharine, he felt annoyed and lustful. He had never met such a female, unfearful of any consequences. On the other hand, she felt hatred for him with some other feelings lingering around that she did not quite understand. But she is desperate to change him into the King that everyone deserves.

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The third man approached her, taking her all in, he stated, “She would do quite nicely.” He had a look of a desire to devour her. She would prevent him if he tried. It would not be the first time she stopped a man who wanted her; she doubted it would be the last time either.

As he went to grab her, Katharine twisted out of the other man’s grip and punched him in the face. Then she took her dagger out and gently placed it at the third man’s throat. The first man stood there in amazement as the second was on the ground nursing his jaw.

“Now will you leave calmly or must I have to hurt you,” Katharine coolly said. She believed she had the advantage. They did not seem to carry any weapons, which appeared weird to her. If the men did, they had them incredibly concealed. But she did not put any more thought into it. Some men thought they were so superior that they did not need to carry weapons, this was their downfall, not hers.

The third man merely stared at her. He had never known a peasant to be that efficient or capable of such ingenuity, he never seen a peasant speak in such a fashion either, especially a female. But when she learnt who he was, she would soon regret her actions. He was not one to be provoked without consequences.

“I do not believe you would hurt me,” he arrogantly stated as if it were a fact. No person would be that thoughtless.

“Oh, is that so? Keep pushing, and you will soon find out,” Katharine plainly told him, she was not afraid to kill him if need be. She was not fearful of anything. She would not start now because some man thought he was above her. She would sure show him that was not true.

Seeing some guards approach behind her, he condescendingly replied, “You do not realise who I am, do you?” he paused. She will wish she had not woken up that day when she did learn who he was.

Katharine noticed him looking behind her and glanced in that direction. Seeing the guards standing there with their swords pointed at her, she groaned inward. She could not believe that this man was that high ranked. Why would he come to the Market Square to begin with? Men like him would not show their face in such low places, especially since they had servants to do their dirty work for them. “I am the prince,” he continued, as he slowly pushed the dagger away from his throat with the tip of his finger. He loved the shocked face she had. It served her right to meddle in dealings she had no concern in. She would soon learn that he was not someone to mess with.

Author bio:

Olivia Shepard has a passion for writing. She started writing at an early age and continues to grow and learn and develop her talent. She has a romantic heart. She believes that love is everywhere. A quote from Olivia, “Love is like the wind, sometimes very strong, sometimes weak, but is always present. We just need to look, and we can find it.”

On Writing and this story

I love writing, and I love romance, so why not put them together? It takes elegance to put such emotion in words for a book. So many stories that I have inside my head that will hopefully make it into a book for everyone to read one day. I find that we all know that the two people who love each other will most likely end up together for most romance stories. But I feel that romance novels are all about the journey. Love is a journey, and it takes you through many twists and turns before two people can see that love is at the end of this journey. And this is how I write my books because I enjoy developing an incredible journey that allows characters to grow and become their best selves. Also, I like to add some humor, thrills, and low points; it is all about building a great story with exciting characters.

Change of heart is one of my favorite books that I have written. I love the main characters in this book because each character has their strengths and weaknesses. The main female, Katharine, is strong yet sometimes charges in before thinking. She does not behave as she should, as she is told a woman should. I like to see her as ahead of her time for that time frame that the book is written in. I wrote her this way because I believed that it takes a certain kind of female to be able to handle all that may be thrown her way in a world that is so against women. However, she does develop as a character, for she begins a bit on the naïve side about certain things, although she learns that sometimes feelings are better to be followed than listening to others who may not always know what they are saying.

The main male character, James, is not like most men, which puts him apart. He has a strength unlike any man, which is great to have as a king to keep his kingdom safe, but not so great for dealing with people. His character develops quite a lot in this book, which is depicted on the cover of my book. He starts off being like the gray and thorny castle. Yet, he changes into the man he was always meant to be. But this side of him hides so deep within him because of the pain of his past.

This book is all about change and how it can take one person to stand up in love to start a process of change. I think this is a lesson that we all need to hear sometimes, that one sympathetic action, one affectionate smile, one helping hand, one loving word, can show another love in which they desire to become better. Although Katharine does not always do it the right way, her desire to make the King a better man comes from her heart, even when she charges in all fire a blazing.

I do not think that there is anything that I disliked about these two main characters or any of the side characters. Although some of their personalities are not something I would desire, I feel that each plays a vital role in the book’s development so that the characters move through their story and have the ending that they desire. Even the characters that play the role of opposition, I loved writing them. Even though they are there to play the role of ‘bad guy,’ they are very much needed, and I find that they are interesting characters that make the book more fun to read.

My professional email is: oliviashepard01@yahoo.com

Author links:

Website: www.olivia-shepard.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/oliviashepard01/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/OliviaShepard01/