Hey the last of my Scottish Love Songs is out.  It's titled THE LAIRD'S DAUGHTER and I think this is one of my favorite books of all time that I've written, certainly the favorite of the three book series.  This book has lots of action and wonderful characters, a brave and handsome hero, a beautiful and courageous heroine, terrific secondary characters and a fierce and vicious villians that get their comeuppance. 

Am I bragging too much?  Well, it's hard not to.  Like a proud mother hen with her amazing little chicks, I want to show them off.  I want people to discover them and be as impressed as I am.  As a writer, we just can't take credit for our H/H because they take over the story and move it where it needs to go.  That's part of the fun of writing.  Getting to know about these interesting, fantastic people who fill up their whole world and for a time, yours as well. 

Let me tell you a little something about them.

Anna is Laird Ewan MacDougall's eight year old daughter when she sees her father murdered and beheaded by Archibald Campbell.  Only the quick action of the priest, Father Cowan saves her life. At first, unable to speak from the shock of all she's seen, Anne is mute.   Eventually, she regains her voice, but continues with the goose girl disguise and becomes the leader of her broken clan, leading them to battles against Baen, Archibald's right hand man, who's harshness toward her clansmen has caused them to hate and rebel against the man.

Rafe Campbell has been called on by his uncle to help put down uprisings by the clansmen he rules.  When he arrives at Dunollie, the castle once held by the MacDougalls, he's appalled at the poor conditions of the villagers and their lack of crops and cattle which is a sure indication of hunger in the winter months.  But Rafe must face other problems, when Baen challenges him and gathers his own army to go against Dunollie.  Rafe finds a surprising friend in Annie the mute and crippled goose girl.  And he finds desire such as he never expected when he comes upon a beautiful woodsprite.

This book has many twists and turns.  It was fun to write and has a wonderful romantic ending.  Now I have to leave these favorite characters behind and get to work on my next project which is a complete change of pace.  Leaving the Historical genre behind, I'm writing a story of Maxie Donovan, a fancy lingerie retailer who's life is in danger because she witnessed a murder.  Only a Gerard Butler look-a-like lawyer can save her, but who's going to save him from Maxie?   .

There she is in all her glory, The Country Wife, a brave wonderful heroine who's not trying to save the world just one tiny baby, the daughter of her brother and her best friend.  Lilli MacGregor, alias Lilli Hardy has a load of trouble.  Not only has she watched her brother hanged, delivered his baby from its dying mother, fled from the leader of one of Scotland's most powerful clans, but now she must rescue a wounded Callum MacAllister, the new Laird of Lister Castle, who has been set upon by his distant cousin, Robert Lister who lays claim to the title and castle.Taking refuge in a lonely, secluded crofter's cottage set high on Tollis Hill, Lilli struggles to deny her growing feelings for the handsome laird.

Wounded, Callum MacAllister must depend upon a beautiful young woman who has too many secrets of her own.  As she nurses him back to health, he tries not to become ensnared by her bravery and beauty, but when she at last confides in him, he can't resist her.  Maddened by her presence, he is finally free to claim her as his own and finds a love such as he never expected.

I wrote THE COUNTRY WIFE some years ago, after my husband and I had been to Scotland.  We visited every castle we could find and I bought so many research books, we had to buy another case in which to bring them home.  My husband, God bless his soul, was so understanding.  All my books were written by Scottish lords and scholars and I thought who better to know?  There was one book in particular that had to do with common folks, their dwellings, plenishings (furniture), clothing, chores, weapons and so on, I was fascinated and wanted to write about this side of life.  I've written about Scottish Castles enough.  So from this came the story of Lilli and Callum.  They made a wonderful couple and I'm so proud of them.  .  . 

More Gorgeous Covers

Didn't I tell you these were gorgeous covers?  I love the colors, love the heroes and heroines and I hope you all love the story.  They were such great fun to write.

THE PIRATE PRINCE is about and Indian Prince, Rajak, whose brother has taken his throne and tried to kill him.  In retaliation Rajack turns pirate and takes back as much of the fabulous wealth of the Peacock Throne as he can.  He also takes his brother's bride to be, Azare.  He hadn't planned to fall in love with her, but the gods had other plans.

Azare must decide where her fate will lie, as second wife to an unscrupulous man or as the wife of Rajak.  Passion-filled, tropical nights on the Indian Ocean and on the island of Madagascar bring her love and desire such as she's never known.  She ties her fate to Rajaks and together they claim their future.

A PIRATE'S KISS is probably my favorite.  Faith leaves behind her English family to go in search of her missionary father, but her ship is damaged in a storm, then pirates attack, then she's kidnapped by those very same pirates for the express purpose of servicing each and every one of them until the captain rescues her.  But who's going to rescue her from Hunter Reed?

Knowing that her life as a missionary will hold little in the way of love and sexual discoveries, Faith decides to offer herself to Hunter.  She didn't expect to fall in love with him.  He's a pirate or is he?  As she struggles to save Hunter from a hangman's rope, Faith learns new things about this enigmatic man, about herself and about the ways between a man and a woman.

It's so much fun to write dashing tales of pirates and innocent young heroines who are unafraid to let go of their old life to find fulfillment in the arms of a handsome hero.  Hope you enjoy it.

More Romance on the High Seas

Here is the picture of my fourth Pirate book, part of the Pirate Booty series from Resplendence Publishing..  Isn't it beautiful and I've seen the covers on the other two books and they are gorgeous as well!  I'm so excited about them.  People are going to just be blown away by the vibrant colors and beautiful characters and they'll want to buy my book right away and hopefully they'll love my handsome heroes and beautiful, courageous heroines.

In THE BLACK PIRATE, Mary Cormack is caught in a storm and nearly drowns until rescued by an American Pirate, Captain Caleb Howard, sailing under the auspices of Benjamin Franklin and the new American government trying to free their sailors held in British prisons.  Caught up in the danger and intrigue, Mary can't resist the handsome captain while Caleb falls for the feisty Irish lass.. They throw away all restraints and fight for their passion.

Exciting News

I have so many projects in the fire, that I've neglected many things along the way. Unfortunately, one of them was my blog. I want to tell you all about what I've been doing.

First of all,I sold ten books at one time and have been hard at work on those. I've also had my first pirate trilogy, called PIRATE'S BOOTY come out in print. The book looks fantastic. They used the cover shot from my first book in the series, called THE VIRGIN PIRATE and it's beautiful and sexy Besides THE VIRGIN PIRATE, HER PIRATE LOVER, AND THE PIRATE BRIDE are also in the trilogy. The books are available at ResplendencePublishing.com, ARe publishing and at Amazon.com and best of all, if your budget can't swing the print book, they're still available in e-books. So read your heart out.

Now as for what I've been working on. I'm revisiting the Pirate Booty Series, by adding three more books. The first one is already out, called THE BLACK PIRATE a tale based on some fact. Under Benjamin Franklin's orders, Caleb Howard is in charge of several ships who sail to Ireland to capture as many British ships and prisoners as possible so they can trade for American prisoners, one of them is Caleb's brother. Along the way they rescue a shipwrecked Irish lass and her wild wolf dog, who join the American pirates.

The second book in the series is finished and going through edits. It's called THE PIRATE PRINCE, definitely a departure from my normal pirate stories. This one is set in the Indian Ocean and involves a Mogul Prince from India and a Persian Princess who sails to India as the bride of his brother, who has poisoned their father and stolen the fabulous Peacock Throne. Again, this is loosely based on facts. Lots of intrigue, excitement and sex.

The next book in the series is the one I'm working on now. It's called A PIRATE'S KISS about a buccaneer who has papers from the English government to infiltrate the pirates plaguing England's shipping lanes, especially Captain Kidd. He finds himself with a missionary on his hands, a woman on her way to India to join her father in his mission. She seems to spend every waking hour on her knees. He can think of better things for her to do on her knees than pray, but tries to respect her calling until he realizes how beautiful and desirable she truly is.

After I finish the last pirate story in this series, I'll be working on the third in the Dark Paradise series, a vampire trilogy about vampire hunters who must fight their attractions for vampires. The first two, DARK PARADISE and DARK SECRETS tell of the Stanislaus brothers and their attempt to capture wily vampires, one in Michigan, the other in Ireland and the beautiful women who claim their very souls. This third book, DARK SURRENDER is about their younger sister, MARISKA who is only a 100 year old virgin who's about to learn about wicked, handsome Vampires.

After these books, I'll be doing a trilogy called A SEASON OF WITCHES and another Scottish trilogy called SCOTTISH LOVE SONGS. By the way, my last Scottish trilogy, FROM THE SEA will be out in print soon. So there you are. You know what I'm doing a lot of and loving every minute of it. Happy Reading to you all.

THE BROODING HERO

When someone says, brooding hero, I immediately think of Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre or Heathcliff and I remember the vicarious thrill I got in first meeting such difficult characters and how happy when the heroine is able to tame his savage heart. I've always loved a good brooding hero. That's why in borth of my recent books from Resplendence Publishing, HER PIRATE LOVER and DARK PARADISE, I've used the brooding hero. They just worked perfectly. And in each book I tempered their brooding quality with a touch of humor or with a heroine so sweet and appealing even my brooding hero couldn't resist. I think a brooding hero brings out such a knee jerk reaction on our part (our being every red blooded romantic woman) to change them and bring them to the light. My heroines do just that, but not in a calculating, manipulative way. In HER PIRATE LOVER, Hawke's dark soul is intent on revenge and he means to use the beautiful, virginal Abella as his means, but Abella's purity and her generous open heart capture him and show him what love is all about. Abella changes Hawke so his love for her is stronger than his need for revenge, but will have to give her up, after all? DARK PARADISE's Romanian Vampire Hunter, Matthew Stanislaus is another brooding hero. The very nature of his quest leaves him longing for a simpler more normal life which he believe has slipped beyond his grasp. And the woman who might be able to save him is coping with her own destiny as she slowly turns to one of the undead. I used humor to soften the grim darkness of this story and Had a wonderful time writing it. Matthew and Molly went along with my approach and in the end found solutions for both their problems. I don't think either book would have been as touching if I hadn't used a brooding hero. I wouldn't like ever book I write to have such an intense character, but for these two books, they worked.

October Whee

Hi everyone. Welcome to my blog. I try to get on here once in a while and post my thoughts about this and that. Six years ago I wrote a paranormal, a vampire book. I'd said for years I'd never write one. How could they be romantic and sexy. Every time I thought of a vampire lover, I thought of Gary Oldman, who is a fantastic actor but just not sexy in my book and the thought of his skinny chest was a real turnoff. Even the vampire movie starring not only Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Antonio Banderos turned me off on vampire lovers. They ate rats!! Enough said. Well, Antonio didn't and maybe that's why he's held a special place in my fantasies.

Anyway, I got around the problem of a vampire hero by making my heroine the vampire. Women can do anything in my book, so I made this poor innocent, bored thirtyish librarian meet up with Vasilek the evil, get bitten by the aforementioned monster and saved by a sexy as sin Hungarian vampire hunter who makes her mouth water. It was fun to write and now I'm working on a sequel with one of the characters in DARK SHADOWS. Nope, no hero vampires in this one either, just a taciturn, determined vampire hunter who runs into a sexy, playful Cat and learns, all work and no play is not good for the soul or anything else!

Now for some soulful thoughts. I ran into this note I'd written some years ago and decided it's still pertinent today.
Are we as individuals really unique, original or are we copy cats of what's gone before?To be or not to be. Hey, if Shakespere used it, why can't i? It was probably a common saying back then and he just pilfered it!
If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, etc. etc. Can we honestly under stand ourselves-better yet- I suggest this gleefully-can we understand who and what we are before we hit our forties? I remember my thirties as a time when I wanted to achieve, wanted to know there was more to me than the sum total of kitchen stove, washing machine and marriage bed, the instruments of my greatest triumphs, thus far. That was back when I fell into bed to tired to think of any fun things to do there. We are born, said I, in full dramatic cry, in the isolation of our suburban ranchers when we let go of those unknowning young women we had been and become someone new-someone who finds the courage to take pen and paper and write down what great things we think we've learned. Our new egos engage and we dare to believe what we think is worthy of other people's notice. Somewhere we stop looking at what other people are doing and thinking because we've become too busy doing and thinking and acting on new goals. Daring kicks in and we go forward unafraid, impatient with ourselves for the time we've wasted in getting here. Yet it was all part of the process. And you know what I'm liking what that whole process kicked out. I'm awesome! I'll bet you are too!