I’m thrilled to welcome Jennifer Cary to the blog this week. I’ve known Jennifer for a while now, and I’m so excited about her new book. You all are seriously going to love it!! Here’s a little bit about the storyl

Sometimes a hero is born, sometimes he rises to the occasion, but sometimes being a hero runs in the family. See how it all began.

Antoine Desaure Permonette de Crocketagné, the dashing second in command of the Versailles palace guards for King Louis XIV, is about to have his world turned on its ear when the king’s beautiful and mysterious cousin, Louise de Saix, arrives for a visit. What begins as a matchmaking scheme on the part of the king turns into an assignment like none Antoine has ever experienced. Now he must decide what is right at a time when choosing right could mean great loss, including his life. Could Louise be a Huguenot spy? Who is this Matthew Maury? And if his king’s commands go against God’s, what will Antoine choose?

Louise, a distant and sheltered cousin of the king discovers two things during her first appearance at court—she is out of her element and the escort her host has provided stirs foreign emotions in her heart. Will her secret get her into trouble? Can Antoine be trusted? And if she finds her heart’s desire, what will it cost?

Set against the opulent world of seventeenth century Versailles, The Patriarch depicts a fictional account, based on factual information, involving the first Crockett in the lineage of the famous frontiersman, Davy Crockett.

Thanks for joining us, Jennifer. What inspired you to write the book?

I first learned about Antoine de Crocketagné while in college.

Growing up, my siblings and I all knew we were related to Davy Crockett. Having been born in the 50’s, the Disney and John Wayne movies had him fresh in the public eye. Daddy made us memorize our lineage because he’d been laughed at as a kid. It’s five generations back from me to Davy Crockett. Then my mom did research to help with scholarships from the DAR. She located a book series titled Notable Southern Families. It listed the genealogy from Davy Crockett to my grandfather, but it also went back five generations from Davy Crockett to the first Crockett, Antoine. He’d changed his name to Crockett after leaving France. There were two short paragraphs about him stating he was a great horseman with black hair and blue eyes. So good in fact that Louis XIV offered him a position the moment he saw him ride. He ended up second-in-command of the palace guards at Versailles. It added that he and Louise had to escape for their lives because they’d become Huguenots.

For decades I ruminated about his story, wanting to write about him and Louise. The more my own faith evolved, the more I considered there was a thread of faith passed down from the two of them. I was able to research into the Huguenot movement and was surprised at what I had not been taught. Growing up Lutheran, I was aware of the Protestant Reformation, but had never heard of the Huguenots until Notable Southern Families. I even discovered that some of the families who settled in remote parts of the Alps during Antoine’s time had descendants who helped hide Jewish children during WWII. For such a time as this.

Jennifer Lynn Cary is a direct descendant of Davy Crockett making  Antoine and Louise her ancestors as well. A retired elementary teacher, she resides in Arizona with her husband where they enjoy family time with two more generations in the Crockett linage.

Wow, what a fascinating story! Thanks so much for sharing it with us, Jennifer. She’s giving away an ebook copy of The Patriarch. Follow the directions below to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for joining us, Jennifer! We’re looking forward to the rest of the books in the series!