Cathy MacRae's Blog, page 6

Medieval Monday with Ruth A. Casie

                                      Medieval Monday

                                              Week #5

Pirates ahoy on today's Medieval Monday blog! Come party with the pirates from Ruth A. Casie's book, The Pirate's Redemption.

You'll find my snippet from The Highlander's Crusader Bride on Ruth's blog here:  http://ruthacasie.blogspot.co.uk

Excerpt:

They ate and laughed with the others until every belly was full and satisfied. The meal over, everyone gathered around the pile of wood in the middle of the green, eager for the bonfire to
begin. Wilem began to play his lyre. One of the sailors took out a flute, another a drum. Moira and Gareth found a place to sit and made themselves comfortable.
Tonight, she didn’t want to be their chieftain, only a villager, or a pirate’s wench. From their perch, they gazed at the sea and were lost in the sound of the breaking waves on the shore.
Gareth draped his arm around Moira’s shoulders and grinned.
“I love the colors at sunset,” Moira said.
He pulled her closer, and she shivered. Gareth tilted his face toward her.
“Are you cold?”
 
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Follow along next week (December 23) for excerpt #6 here: https://barbarabettis.blogspot.com
Please leave a comment below. Miss last week and a chance to comment? Check it out here:
https://judithmarshallauthor.com Blurb:
After her beloved father dies, Moira MacDougall becomes chieftain of their small clan. She is tested on every level, not only by her councilors who question her every move, but also by an exiled Englishman who raids her village under the guise of a notorious pirate, Gareth Talbot.
He wants the secret weapon Moira possesses, and will do anything to get his hands on it—including committing murder so he can give it to King Henry to prove his worthiness and be welcomed home.
Moira will follow her destiny and do whatever is necessary to protect her clan.
The real Gareth Talbot is through with love. His last romance did not end well. He suffered a broken heart and doesn’t trust women.
Humiliated, Gareth goes to sea and becomes a captain for MacAlpin, the pirate king. When raids along the Scottish coast are blamed on him, he seeks revenge. Nothing less than death will do.
Moira and Gareth are on different missions but seek the same goal. Can they work together and eliminate their greatest enemy, and in the process, find the one thing they didn’t know they were searching for, true love?

Buy Link: Amazon KU

Medieval Monday with Sherry Ewing

                                   Medieval Monday

                                        Week #4

I'm pleased to welcome Sherry Ewing on my blog today with an excerpt from To Love a Scottish Laird! There's a wedding in the air!

You'll find my snippet from The Highlander's Crusader Bride on Sherry's blog here: https://sherryewing.com/blog/

Excerpt from To Love a Scottish Laird:
Douglas began pushing his way through the crowded room, and Catherine’s eyes widened once she noticed him walking in her direction. Her hand shook when she raised it to tame an errant lock of hair, and he had the sudden desire to kiss away her fears. After all, they were to be wed. The sooner she accepted they were promised to one another, the better ’twould be.
​
Follow along next week Barbara Bettis’s blog at
http://www.barbarabettis.com/index.php/blog/ Blurb:
Sometimes you really can fall in love at first sight…
Lady Catherine de Wolfe knows she must find a husband before her brother chooses one for her, but none of the knights and lords she knows have caught her eye. A tournament to celebrate the wedding of the Duke of Normandy might be her answer. She does not expect to fall for a man after just one touch.
 
Laird Douglas MacLaren of Berwyck is invited to the tournament by the Duke of Normandy. He goes to ensure Berwyck’s safety once Henry takes the throne. He does not expect to become entranced by a woman who bumps into him.
 
Before they can express their feelings, the Duke orders them wed to strengthen ties between his English supporters and the borderland, and then separates them by commanding Douglas’s escort to his home.

Yet, nothing is ever quite that simple. Not everyone is happy with the union of this English lady and a Scottish laird. From the shores of France, to Berwyck Castle on the border between their countries, Douglas and Catherine must find their way to protect their newfound love.

Buy Links or read for Free in Kindle Unlimited:
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2UbuMKB
AU: https://amzn.to/2OvonVg
CA: https://amzn.to/2uzkwNO
NL: https://amzn.to/2JIZCGe
UK: https://amzn.to/2uzR3TI

Medieval Monday with Bambi Lynn

                                Medieval Monday

                                           week #3

I'm happy to have Bambi Lynn with me today for a look at a celebratory dinner from her book, Marek, The Knights of Stonebridge, Book 1.

Kitty has been planning a surprise dinner. It's going to be a hit!

To follow my snippet from The Highlander's Crusader Bride, join Bambi on her blog here:
https://bambilynnblog.wordpress.com/


​BLURB:
Boring accountant, Kitty Petty, struggles to get through each day one at a time since the brutal murder of her husband. She spends every free moment caring for her young daughter, until the night she wakes to find her bed on fire.
Kitty doesn’t know how she got to the year 1196, much less how to get back. But if she doesn’t, her daughter will be institutionalized. Having failed to save her child from the clutches of a madman. Kitty vows to protect her future. But going back to her time means risking her own life and separating her from the knight she has grown to love.
Marek Stone wants to protect his wife from the people of Stonebridge. Katherine has been declared a demon after her miraculous rise from the funeral pyre, and the villagers want justice.
Kitty must return if she has any hope of saving her daughter. However, the knight who loves her
will do anything to make her stay.

                                                                                             * * *
BUY LINK:
Amazon Excerpt:

​“My lady,” Bryn called from the floor below. “Tell me again the name you have given this
feast.”

“Thanksgiving,” Kitty shouted back to him. “While you’re eating, you have to go around the
table and tell about something you’re thankful for.”
Marek reached over and squeezed her hand.
                                                                                      * * *
Want more? Check out Bambi’s web site: www.bambilynn.net

Medieval Monday with Mary Morgan

                               Medieval Monday

                                     Week #2

Mary Morgan's exciting new book is due to release December 9, so be sure and grab your copy now! Her excerpt is all about Midwinter and kissing boughs!

You'll find my excerpt from The Highlander's Crusader Bride on Mary's blog here:  http://www.marymorganauthor.com

Blurb:
 Patrick MacFhearguis, hardened by battles won and lost, desires what   he can never have—peace within his heart and soul.  Yet, the ever-   meddling Fae weave a new journey for him to conquer—a task this   highlander is determined to resist.
 When skilled weaver, Gwen Hywel, is commissioned to create a tapestry for the MacFhearguis clan, she embraces the assignment. While seeking   out ideas, she finds herself clutching the one thread that can alter the   tapestry of her life and heart.
 A man conflicted by past deeds. A woman with no family of her own. Is it possible for love to unravel an ancient past, in order to claim two badly   scarred hearts? Or will the light of hope be doused forever? ​                                                                                    Excerpt:

Her cheeks were stained a becoming pink, and full lips begged to be kissed again. Patrick raked a hand through his hair, doing his best to refrain from backing her inside the hidden enclosure again.
She giggled and stole a glance upward within the alcove. “Yes. We can blame it on the kissing boughs.”
He laughed nervously. “This is a first.”
“Are you confessing you’ve never kissed another under these boughs?”
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Follow along next week on Barbara’s blog here: http://barbarabettis.blogspot.com/
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Buy Links:
Amazon
Barnes Noble
AppleBooks
Book Page

Medieval Monday is back!

                     Welcome back to Medieval Monday!
For the next several weeks, some of your favorite Medieval Romance authors will share in a round-robin hosting of excerpts from some truly wonderful books.

What better time to showcase this season's Celebration theme than in this time of holidays, gatherings, and remembrances?

I've chosen a snippet from The Highlander's Crusader Bride that centers on a bit of unexpected humor at Arbela's and Caelen's wedding.

Here is the list of sites for upcoming snippets:
Week #2:  http://www.marymorganauthor.com
Week #3:  https://bambilynnblog.wordpress.com
Week #4:  https://sherryewing.com/blog/
Week #5:  https://sherryewing.com/blog/
Week #6:   https://judithmarshallauthor.com/blog/
Week #7:  http://www.laurel-odonnell.com/blog.html
Week #8:  http://barbarabettis.blogspot.co.uk
Week #9:  https://www.ashleyyorkauthor.com
Week #10:  http://lanemcfarland.com/blog/
And the final snippet, week #11, will be back here!  https://www.cathymacraeauthor.com/bits-n-bobs-author-blog


Born in the Holy Land to a life of danger and adventure, Arbela MacLean is not the bride Caelen expected.                                                                                      
                                              THE HIGHLANDER’S CRUSADER BRIDE
 
Born in the Holy Land only a few years after the Third Crusade, half-Armenian, half-Scot Arbela MacLean is a true daughter of the desert, beautiful and untamed. Trained to be a warrior to avoid her gentle mother’s fate, Arbela has honed her skills with Turkish bow and arrow, sword, and throwing darts—and dreads the day her father choses a man for her to marry.

After more than thirty years in the Holy Land, Donal MacLean, Baron of Batroun, is recalled to Scotland, the last son available to take up leadership of clan MacLean. He brings with him knights, treasure, trade—and a daughter of marriageable age.

Caelen MacKern, known as the Bull of the Highlands, is cynical about women. His first marriage formed an alliance, and he did not grieve when his spoiled, immature bride passed away. He has agreed to marry again—against his better judgement—for the men, means, and coin to recover from a devastating pestilence that all but wiped out his clan.

More than a little resentful at finding himself forced to remarry, Caelen’s proposal to Donal MacLean’s headstrong daughter nevertheless piques her interest. Each will receive what they want most from life—the ability to live as they please without interference from a meddling spouse. But their marriage of indifference will soon change to one of passion that neither Arbela nor Caelen could have predicted.


Excerpt:

The sudden skirl of pipes snatched Caelen from his musings. Glancing up, he spied a procession coming from the end of the great hall to his position near the enormous double doors of the keep. Even Bram, who’d begun to fidget, stood straight, grabbing at Caelen’s tunic as he peered around his legs.
“Bela?” he asked.
Caelen caught a glimpse of scarlet fabric trimmed in gold and glittering in the candle light. “Aye,” he breathed, awed in spite of himself.
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Buy links:
Amazon: https://www.amzn.com/dp/B0762TL89Z
B&N: http://bit.ly/THCBB_N
Kobo: http://bit.ly/THCB_Kobo

Follow me for next week’s snippet on Mary Morgan’s blog: http://www.marymorganauthor.com
  ​​

99 Cents for a limited time!

  To celebrate Samhain, Malcolm, one of the Ghosts of Culloden Moor series, is on sale for only 99 cents!

​You'll find him here: Amazon

Unfamiliar with the series? Read The Gathering, by LL Muir (link) and follow the tale of 79 ghosts tethered to the moor for 270 years following the battle that changed Scotland's history.

New at Kobo and B&N!

Announcing the arrival of the first 3 books in the Hardy Heroines series at Kobo and B&N! For a limited time, the best-selling books from the Hardy Heroines series will be available from Kobo, B&N and Amazon! Other books to arrive soon. Keep in touch!
Links:
Highland Escape:
     Amazon: https://www.amzn.com/dp/B00X60XB2U
     Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/highland-escape
     B&N: http://bit.ly/HE_B_N
The Highlander's Viking Bride
     Amazon: https://www.amzn.com/dp/B0728HWJRY
     Kobo: http://bit.ly/THVB_Kobo
     B&N:  http://bit.ly/THVBB_N
The Highlander's Crusader Bride
     Amazon: https://www.amzn.com/dp/B0728HWJRY
     Kobo:  http://bit.ly/THCB_Kobo
     B&N: http://bit.ly/THCBB_N

Medieval Monday final excerpt from The Highlander's Welsh Bride

                                      Medieval Monday

                                                week #11

I hope you've enjoyed this round of evil villains from Medieval Monday. We've met all manner of characters determined to see our heroes and heroines fail. But strength, determination, and love will conquer the best (or worst) the villains throw at them.

But what will it cost them?

Below is the final excerpt from a scene where Birk and Carys are preparing to fight the pirates once again. This time they also face a giant maelstrom known as the corryvreckan, and the knowledge that their lives won't be the only forfeit should they lose the fight, but that of other innocents as well.

Carys has faced pirates twice before. Has her luck at last run out? Excerpt:

Birk turned to Captain Aklen. “Alert the crew. We have no option but to find wind and current to take us out of this strait. ’Tis too narrow and we could be too easily run aground.”

The captain sent him a shocked look. “Ye mean to sail between Jura and Scarba? The strait there is narrow as well and we sail a flood tide. The full moon was last night and the cauldron will be boiling.” He shook his head. “We could round Islay and head for the open sea, but their ship is fast and I dinnae know if we could outrun them. Mayhap we could aim for Crinan on the mainland instead. ’Tis not so far. There’s a port there and the bastards arenae likely to follow us.”

Birk disagreed. “This is a sturdy ship, but we must get out of these waters.” He stared at the Norse vessel gliding easily across the waves, maintaining a steady distance. “We will head into the Gulf of Corryvreckan—and hope the westerly wind fails.”

“He means to force the pirates to abandon the chase through the witch’s cauldron.” Hanna’s voice stretched thin, her face strained. “The langskip sits too high and they would be fools to challenge the whirlpool.”

“Why do ye fear it so?” Carys followed Hanna’s gaze—not to the following ship, carved dragon head riding high above the waves, but to the shore of Scarba as it slipped past, rocks at its base partly hidden by mist and sea spray.

“The tale is an old one,” Hanna said. “A prince of Norway loved a princess of Jura. Her father would only allow them to wed if the prince showed the skills and courage to anchor his ship within the fury of A’Cailleach for three days. ’Twas an impossible task, but he would not give in. To secure his ship against the witch’s wrath, he wove three ropes—one of hemp, one of
wool, and one from the hair of a maiden of pure virtue. He sailed alone into the maelstrom as the tide rose. His ship struggled against the pull of the whirlpool, and the first night, the woolen rope broke. The hempen rope fell apart the second
night, and the third night, to his horror, the rope woven from the hair of his less-than-virtuous princess also parted. His body washed ashore the next day, and he was buried in a cave nearby—as was his beloved who died of a broken heart not long after.”

“Am I to understand few ships make it through the corryvreckan?” Carys asked.
​
Hanna turned bleak eyes to her. “If the cailleach is angry, none may pass.”

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Thank you for following! Don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win an ebook (kindle) of The Highlander’s Welsh Bride!
Join us again for our next round of Medieval Monday. Dates TBA.

Book Blurb:

It was over. Prince Llywelyn was dead, his soldiers fleeing before King Edward’s army. Carys, a distant cousin to the prince, herself a princess of Wales, had picked up arms alongside her husband more than a year ago. Now homeless, her husband buried beneath the good Welsh soil, she seeks shelter in the north, far from the reach of Longshanks’s men. Carys and Wales would never be the same again.

Birk MacLean has been ordered to take a bride and produce an heir. He grows weary of the lasses paraded before him, women of delicate nature and selfish motives. He desires a wife strong enough to help lead one of the most powerful clans in Western Scotland.
One like the Welsh woman sitting in his dungeon, arrested for poaching MacLean deer.

Can Birk convince Carys marriage to him is preferable to a hangman’s noose? And will the hard-headed Scot be worthy of a Princess of Wales?

From the towering Welsh mountains to the storm-swept Scottish coast comes a tale of betrayal and loss, deceit and passion. An epic tale of honor and the redeeming power of love.
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Buy link: Amazon: https://www.amzn.com/dp/B07KNYTMPK

Book Sale - Highland Escape

Don't miss your chance to add Highland Escape to your library for only 99 cents!
Available at this discounted price through Aug. 31 from:
Amazon: https://www.amzn.com/dp/B00X60XB2U
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2TL8VqL
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2HhaCam

Thanks to all our amazing readers for putting Highland Escape as a #1 bestseller at all three retailers!

Medieval Monday with Rue Allyn

                                       Medieval Monday

                                                week #10

Today I have Rue Allyn joining me on the Medieval Monday blog with an excerpt from her book, Knight Errant.

You'll find my excerpt from The Highlander's Welsh Bride on her blog here: https://www.rueallyn.com/blog/


Fra Basti, known as The Hand of God, is determined to wipe out those who oppose him, and Lady Juliana Verault is high on his list. Trapped in her room as she prepares to flee the city, she may have disregarded Sir Robert's warning to her peril.



Excerpt:

The words hissed in her ear, the minty sweetness of his breath a counterpoint to the stench of his meaning.
“I have committed no sin.”
Basti laughed. “How quaint. Lies, disobedience, envy”—he cast a glance at the rumpled beds—“lust, and worst of all, heresy. Woman, you cannot fail to commit sin.” The smile left his face abruptly. “Come.”
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Be sure to leave a comment for Rue to be in the running for her giveaway -- an eCopy of Knight Errant. A winner will be randomly selected and announced on Medieval Monday, September 9, 2019.

Miss last week and a chance to comment? Check it out here: barbarabettis.blogspot.com
Follow Rue to next week's snippet on her own blog (September 2, 2019) here: www.rueallyn.com/blog/ Blurb:
Set during the early days of the Inquisition, Sir Robert Clarwyn must find a way to compel Lady Juliana Verault to return to England, or he’ll lose any chance of regaining his family lands and redeeming his heritage. Yet Juliana must complete her mission to ensure a safe future for her gender in the church. With danger and intrigue mounting, Robert and Juliana must rely on each other and risk everything … including their hearts.
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Buy Links:
Amazon
Kobo
Smashwords
Apple Books