If you're expanding your Ghosts of Culloden Moor library, or if you've never read a GOCM book before, don't miss this opportunity to grab Patrick's and Malcolm's stories for only 99 cents each!





Here are the links:
Malcolm: https://www.amzn.com/dp/B01AX22UPM
Patrick:  https://www.amzn.com/dp/B01NBPDMAP

Please spread the word!! Thank you!

I'm deep into wrapping up the next story in the Hardy Heroines series, and suddenly realized I needed to do a bit of research.

This series has really tested my historical knowledge, and this particular story involves the Battle of Orewin Bridge (Wales) and the state of affairs in both England and Scotland.

In 1283/4, England and Scotland were pretty much in accord. Edward Longshanks was too involved with supressing the Welsh to pay much attention to the Scots. Scotland had signed the Treaty of Perth seventeen years earlier, so they weren't butting heads with Norway any longer, and Alexander III had married his daughter Margaret to King Eric of Norway.

Things were fairly quiet at Morvern--until Birk met Carys.

That's our current book, The Highlander's Welsh Bride.

And today's research was on cursing like a Viking. I kid you not. There is more than one blog/website for that. Apparently Vikings had some pretty awful curses, ones that allowed the cursed one free shot at killing the person who spoke the curse. We're not going there.

At some point in this book, our hero Birk does something that makes his ma really angry with him. She's Hanna from The Highlander's Norse Bride, and falls into her Norse roots for a really good shot at her son.

Any idea what a 'raven-starver' is?

It's pretty cool to follow the reasoning behind this curse. Ravens were an integral part of Norse legend. They were large birds, uncannily intelligent, and carrion-feeders. Imagine being only moments away from battle and seeing the ravens gathering around the battlefield. They know what is about to happen. They seemed to have the knowledge of who would die and live--perhaps they spoke with the Valkyries and therefore had the power of gods?

The men and women who bravely went to battle stood a good chance of dying--and feeding the crows. Someone who was cowardly and chose not to fight would not end the day as carrion and feed the crows. Such a person was a raven-starver.

It's official!

The Highlander's Outlaw Bride won the 2016 RONE award in the historical/pre-medieval category!

I'm thrilled beyond words! The RONE award is a very prestigious award in the indie and small press world.


Here is the description from the InD'Tale magazine site:

​ 
RONE (Reward Of Novel Excellence) Awards
RONE Book Awards:
Each year InD’tale Magazine honors the very best books in the Indie and Small publishing industry by awarding the prestigious RONE award.  To achieve this award, a book  must go through the most comprehensive process in the industry today, with three distinct areas of focus.

1. All books in each given year (January 1st - December 31st) must have been read and reviewed by our professional staff of reviewers and be given a four star rating or higher to qualify as a nominee.
2. All nominees, with the exception of 5 star rated books which will automatically become finalists, must then be voted on by the reading public.  The books with the highest number of public votes will progress on to become finalists.
3. The finalists will then be read by a group of industry professionals consisting of editors, writers, professors etc. and be judged on a one to five scale from a specific list of requirements such as characterization, overall arc, editing etc.   Those scores will then be tallied by a professional company unrelated to InD’tale or its employees to determine the winner of the coveted RONE award, along with the honorable mentions.

All awards are announced at the annual RONE award gala event and ceremony and given the beautiful Crystal RONE award. This is a formal but extremely fun and entertaining night for all, one that truly honors all Indie and Small published authors, readers and professionals!

Other than this lovely gold star being quite an honor, The Highlander's Outlaw Bride was the first historical novel I ever wrote. It also won the Golden Claddagh award in medieval romance. Though it would be published as the fourth book in The Highlander's Bride series, it was the book that caught my heart and steered me along the writing path to Scottish romance. I'm very pleased to see my first book baby succeed so well!!

MacLeod, book 21 in The Ghosts of Culloden Moor, is now available on Amazon!

Check out the series today, and be sure to read The Gathering by LL Muir first to avoid confusion.

​Buy links:
The Gathering, book 1
MacLeod, book 21

I'm visiting with Mary Morgan today, chatting about writing and The Highlander's French Bride.

Come visit with me!

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​http://marymorganromancewriter.com/blog/2016/02/18/spotlight-author-interview-cathy-macrae/#comment-30208

The Highlander's French Bride, book 5 in The Highlander's Bride series by Cathy MacRae, is now available on Amazon!

Medieval Scottish/French romance



https://www.amzn.com/https://www.amzn.com/B018OHXKHK

 Heir to a lairdship, Kinnon Macrory is driven to prove his worth by fighting the English on the battlefields of France. His dreams of heroic valor are destroyed by the realities of war—the atrocities visited by fellow soldiers on the very people he is sworn to protect. Three years in a French prison for a crime he did not commit leave Kinnon longing for the one thing of beauty in his war-torn life—a young woman of great kindness and wisdom named Melisende.
Melisende de la Roche struggles to stay one step ahead of soldiers who would imprison her for helping an injured Scotsman wrongly accused of treason. She finds refuge in her uncle’s shop—until a chance encounter sends her fleeing into the unknown once again, haunted by the beguiling friendship with the troubled young Scotsman she is certain she will never see again.
Determined to find the woman of his dreams, Kinnon returns to France, only to discover a trail of clues to Melisende’s whereabouts. Their reunion will open the doors to passion, but half-truths and lies from the past could destroy the one thing they both are willing to fight for—each other.
​

Look who grabbed the Thursday Threads spotlight this week! Me!

Meet Ranald and Riona in The Highlader's Reluctant Bride, the prequel to the 5th book in The Highlander's Bride series, The Highlander's French Bride, scheduled to release in December.

Determined to keep the Macrory clan’s holdings out of the clutches of marauding pirates, King Robert II sends his man, Lord Ranald Scott, to hold Scaurness Castle. There, Laird Macrory lays dying, awaiting word from his son who is missing on the battlefields of France. If the son is not found before the old laird dies, Ranald will take over as laird—and marry Laird Macrory’s headstrong daughter. 

Lady Caitriona sees no reason she cannot rule the clan in her brother’s stead, and is bitterly disappointed with the king’s decision to send a man to oversee the castle and people. Not only is Ranald Scott only distantly related to the Macrory clan, but he was her childhood nemesis. She has little trust or like for him. 

Her disappointment turns to panic when the king’s plan is completely revealed and she realizes she must wed Ranald. Pirates, treachery, and a four-year-old girl stand between her and Ranald’s chance at happiness. What will it take for them to learn to trust each other and find the love they both deserve? 
 
Excerpt:
Absently Riona brushed a wayward strand of dark auburn hair from her face as she took two quick paces to catch up with him. The movement reminded Ranald of her as a child.
“I don’t suppose ye were too anxious to come here,” she said.
He formed a rueful expression. “Nae. ‘Twas no’ my first choice.”
“I know ye dinnae like it here. Ye always seemed relieved to depart.”
Ranald laughed. “‘Twas ye I dinnae like.”
Rather than take offence, Riona nodded again. “Nor I ye.”
“Ye were a difficult lass.”
She drew up short, staring at him. “Me? Difficult? All I ever wanted was to be included. Ye were forever running off, trying to leave me behind.”
Ranald did not check his pace. “Ach, we did let ye play sometimes.”
With a huff, Riona scrambled to his side. “Oh, aye. Ye let me play ‘princess.’ The princess ye kidnapped and held for ransom by tying me to a tree all afternoon.” She grabbed at her skirt again as she stumbled and caught herself.
Ranald paused and his horse tossed his head at his master’s sudden halt, but Riona didn’t slow her stride. With one long pace he was even with her again.
“And what about the time ye let me go fishing?” she tossed at him. “Except I had to sit in the bottom of the boat and use my skirt to hold yer catch. I smelled of fish for a week.”
Ranald chuckled and shook his head. “That wasnae me, lass.”
She bit her lip, and Ranald wondered why her straight, white teeth fascinated him so. He stared at the reddened mark her bite left behind.
“True,” she allowed. “Ye dinnae like the water, do ye?”
Ranald swallowed back his wayward thoughts. This was Riona, his childhood nemesis, not the sweet widow he’d left behind at Scott Castle.
He caught her sideways glance at him and realized he’d not answered her. “Nae. ‘Tis all that up and down and sideways motion. Makes my stomach churn.”
“How do ye intend to be laird of a people who live by the sea?”
“I cannae say if I’ll ever be much of a sailor, but I will be laird.”
 
BUY LINK: http://www.amzn.com/B00J1PNPPC/
                                              * * *

Author’s links:
Website: www.cathymacraeauthor.com
Twitter: @CMacRaeAuthor
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cathy.macrae.58
​

Madelyn has a new book out! Her historical romance, Heather in the Mist, reunites Lady Rogan with her childhood nemesis, Ian Albright. But it is too late for their unexpected love, as she is betrothed to another. . .

Back Cover Blurb:

Forced to wed to save her clan, Lady Rogan Cameron agrees to wed without love.
What her father doesn’t know is Lady Rogan has plans of her own—plans to keep her from a loveless marriage. Can she save the clan before she has to say “I do?”

Ian Albright abolished all ties to Scotland after his family betrayed him and he is now nursing a wounded ego due to an unfaithful fiancée. He pledges never to return to his home until the fateful day he accepts an invitation to his dear cousin’s wedding. The minute he sees his cousin’s betrothed, his heart is captured. If only she didn’t belong to another . . .

Lady Rogan and Ian have known each other since they were young and bent on vexing each other. Now, the only thing they find vexing is the fact Rogan is betrothed to another. Together they fight their growing attraction while investigating the forces bedeviling the clan. Yet at every turn their foe appears and wreaks havoc. When tragedy strikes, their hopes are dashed again.

Can Lady Rogan and Ian’s love win when fate seems determined to keep them apart?
                                               * * * 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015EFRB6G/

About the author:
​Madelyn Hill has always loved the written word. From the time she could read and all through her school years, she'd sneak books into her textbooks during school. And she devoured books daily. At the age of 10 she proclaimed she wanted to be a writer. After being a "closet" writer for several years, she sent her manuscripts out there and is now published with Soul Mate Publishing. And she couldn't be happier! 

A resident of Western New York, she moved from one Rochester to another Rochester to be with the love of her life. They now have 3 children and keep busy cooking, watching their children's sporting events, and of course reading!