I’ve always had an interest in art, growing up a military brat and constantly moving, left me time to doodle and read. I spent the first part of my life as an art professor and artist. I began writing three years ago when my manuscript was chosen for RWA’s Ramp program in 2021. With my art, my interest leans more towards the bizarre and unexplained. I believe the romance stories I write follow suit, dark and gothic romance my primary interest, but always with spiritual and hopeful undertones. I also write some non-fiction for a local magazine where I live, The Greenville Stroll and on substack a newsletter for romance writers.
Skye Warren is one of my favorite romance authors. HerEndgame Trilogygot me hooked on romance. However, I love Wanderlust even more.
It chronicles the story of a budding photographer who leaves her overbearing mother to work in another city. On her way there, a trucker kidnaps and holds her in the back of his truck as they cross the country. This book has a similar theme as my book and some of the others I've listed and deals with captivity and power.
I've read this book several times, once as a reader and then as a writer, analyzing how to transform a morally gray character or someone despicable into someone readers could care about. Turning hatred for an abductor into pity and wanting him to be with the heroine is no easy feat. I'm still impressed with her skill.
"I loved the story! I loved that it made me feel, that it turned me on, turned me off, made me pause and think, twisted my stomach into knots..." - Haydee's ReviewsCan love come from pain?Evie always dreamed of seeing the world, but her first night at a motel turns into a nightmare. Hunter is a rugged trucker willing to do anything to keep her--including kidnapping. As they cross the country in his rig, Evie plots her escape, but she may find what she's been looking for right beside her.Wanderlust is a full-length dark romance novel that explores captivity and…
I’ve been reading romance novels since I was way too young to be reading romances and I love the romance genre. I’m a fan of many tropes, but second-chance romance is one of my favorites and it is the main trope in my debut novel, Just a Fling. When I read romance, I want to read stories that make my heart break and then stitch it back together. Second-chance romances do that because they capture the essence of hope and forgiveness. They give readers the opportunity to experience the beauty and power of forgiveness and to believe in the transformative power of love.
Dark Skye is both an enemies-to-lovers and a second-chance epic paranormal romance.
It's part of the Immortals After Dark series (the best PNR series out there) and features Thronos, a Vrekener prince seeking revenge against the sorceress Lanthe. But things get complicated when he realizes she might not be the enemy he thought she was.
With action-packed scenes, steamy romance, and tons of supernatural creatures, Dark Skye is a must-read for anyone who loves paranormal romance.
In this highly anticipated fifteenth novel in the Immortals After Dark series, #1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole spins a sultry tale of a mighty warrior scarred inside and out and the beguiling sorceress with the power to heal him—or vanquish him forever.
Eternal Obsession As a boy, Thronos, prince of Skye Hall, loved Lanthe, a mischievous Sorceri girl who made him question everything about his Vrekener clan. But when the two got caught in the middle of their families’ war, tragedy struck, leaving Thronos and Lanthe bitter enemies. Though centuries have passed, nothing can cool his seething…
I am a voracious reader who loves to escape my hectic busy life with a good book when I don’t have the opportunity to do so in person. I’m a sucker for a good love story with a little angst and mystery. I read all genres but sexy romantic thrillers are my absolute favorite. I love them so much I started writing my own sexy stories in this genre. It has become my passion. I currently have three published books, Mr. Black, Mr. Stone, and Mr. Bennett, books one, two, and three of A Black Stone Series. My fourth book, Luke, the first book in my new Cross Security series is scheduled for release later this year.
I am a sucker for dark, broody, and mysterious heroes. And Private Property is a promise of rough emotions mixed with shattering sensuality that will take the reader to the most unexpected and amazing journey. I was so consumed by the mystery, deeply entangled in this dark story that took over my head and soul. Mr. Rochester is a brooding billionaire consumed by secrets and our plain Jayne is an innocent nanny. Both characters’ souls are broken in a way that only the other can fit the empty spaces of their souls. Enter here a permanent and continuous storm, salty air, and a gothic contemporary mansion. There is something forbidden and hunted about the storyline that woken up goosebumps on my skin.
"This. Book. The characters. You will fall in love with them, and you will devour this book so quickly, you'll end up wanting to read it all over again. I loved it!" - New York Times bestselling author Monica Murphy
When I signed up for the nanny agency, I didn't expect a remote mansion on a windswept isle. Or a brooding billionaire who resents his new role. His brother's death means he's now in charge of a moody seven year old girl. She's lashing out at the world, but I can handle her. I have to. I need the money…
I am a very realistic person, curious by nature, who loves a good thrill. A good twist—no matter the genre—that has all the above recommendations captures my attention. A feel-good chick flick or book does nothing for my curious side but adds a twist or two and you have me hooked. Love at war is that kind of book. It has a few twists that touch on important topics and leave you with a few thoughts to think about afterward. Life is not only marshmallows and sprinklers. Life is real and I like my books like that, too. Therefore, I call myself a multi-genre author. I don’t want to be bound by one genre.
I absolutely loved this book based on true events. Don’t be fooled by the name either. This is intense as it gets. A historical thriller slash romance that made you wonder how much the heroin can endure. Believe me, you are in for a ride.
So much heartache poured from the pages, and you keep on reading in the hopes that love will conquer, and the evil will be stopped. Every character's persona was well developed and got under your skin as you became part of their lives and struggles. One of my favorites and a book I would read again.
Meara isn’t thinking about Death when she kisses her mother good-bye, but hours later she is as her fingers slide into the back of Mother’s shattered skull. Meara thinks her world has ended. She has no idea… Ebullient and feisty, Meara MacDonald lives an idyllic life on the mist-enfolded Isle of Skye, dreaming of the day she will wed her heart, the gallant Duncan MacLeod. Fate, however, has other plans and when Aunt Deirdre and Uncle Sloan arrive, Meara’s family is taken, one-by-one, for reasons she discovers are both personal and nefarious. Unable to rein in her spirit or her…
I love everything Scottish. My grandfather was Scottish. I never met him, but mom passed the pride of her heritage and culture to me. Mom used to throw out an occasional phrase or poem that I thought was Gaelic. (I later learned it was Scotts but that’s another story.) I decided I wanted to learn the language and found a short course at a small college on the Isle of Skye and it changed my life. After that short course I committed to learning the language and enrolled in the distance learning program. I travel to Skye for the short courses between my semesters and have made lifelong friends.
This is the first book in the Loch Lannick series. I love that this book is set on the Isle of Skye because I know the area fairly well. Like Colgan’s books, she has created a world that I can’t wait to travel back to. She has created a close-knit world on the loch full of highland culture and hospitality. I am only three books into the series but so far I’ve loved the heartfelt humor in each one.
What happens when you meet the right person, at the right time, in the wrong place?
Twenty-two-year-old Leana Mackenzie is looking for adventure. Full of excitement, she leaves her home in a remote Scottish village and heads for the bright city lights.
In Edinburgh she meets Alasdair – a cute and charming singer/songwriter. As their relationship develops everything feels perfect.
But as the sparkle of her new life begins to fade, Leana finds herself longing for her cosy home on the Isle of Skye, and the close-knit family she left behind.
When Alasdair is offered the career opportunity of a…
I ran across this book by accident. It’s mostly found used or as an ebook at Project Gutenberg.
It’s a lovely, poetic fantasy about a young girl living on the Isle of Skye. She sets out on a quest to find a Faery treasure, leading to adventures. The description, however, doesn’t do the book justice. It’s a short but enchanting read that left me smiling. I wish more people knew about it, because I think it would rank high in the list of fantasy literature.
"My excavations came to an untimely end," said the Student. "I always owed that old man a grudge for being beaten before my tent. Why couldn't he have been beaten somewhere else? I should like to meet him again and tell him precisely what I thought of his conduct." "You have done both now," said the hawker. "And it is his turn." "Impossible," said the Student. "He was as old twenty-five years ago as you are now." "At my age," said the old man, "one grows no older. No one who walks the world as I do need ever grow…
I dropped out of law school to pursue a PhD in music at the University of Glasgow and to write the history of the flute in Scotland. Essentially, I wanted to know that if Scotland was a leader in Enlightenment thought, and if there were hundreds of publications with flute on the title page, and since the flute was the most popular amateur instrument in the eighteenth century, why was nothing written about the flute. I obsessively read Scottish mythology as a child, and was always drawn to the stereotypical wild misty landscapes of Scotland without knowing much about it.
I couldn’t make this up: one night masked men broke into the Edinburgh townhouse of Lord and Lady Grange, gagged Lady Grange, bound her to a chair, and carried out of the house to a waiting horse. From there, they travelled across Scotland to the remote islands of St Kilda, where she was left for the next seven years. Lady Grange was by all accounts unbalanced and difficult to live with, so her husband decided to have her abducted, and told his friends she had died. The west of Scotland at the time was essentially a different country from Edinburgh society, complete with an English-Gaelic language barrier. This story is so outrageous that it is difficult to believe it is true. Pair it with any edition of Johnson and Boswell for another look at life in the west of Scotland in the eighteenth century, and read their versions of the…
In the 18th century shotgun weddings were not unusual, but in most cases it wasn't the bride that was holding the gun. So began the stormy marriage between Lord and Lady Grange, a marriage which was to end with Lady Grange's death on the Isle of Skye after 13 years in exile.
The daughter of a convicted murderer, Lady Grange's behaviour, such as her fondness for drink, was so outrageous that her sudden disappearance from public life was not considered surprising. But few knew the true story of her disappearance.
This book reveals, for the first time, how the unfortunate…
Louisa Waugh is a writer, blogger, and the prize-winning author of three non-fiction books: Hearing Birds Fly, Selling Olga, and Meet Me in Gaza. She has lived and worked in the Middle East, Central and West Africa, and is a conflict adviser for an international peace-building organisation. She blogs at The Waugh Zoneand currently lives in Brighton, on the southern English coast, where she kayaks and drinks red wine on the beach, usually not at the same time.
Of all the destinations we can and do explore during our lives, our internal landscape is the most intimate. Without silence, how do we begin to know ourselves, and to see ourselves for who we really are? Sara Maitland moved from being a chatterer to “a silence hunter,” seeking out spaces where she could live alone and savour silent solitude. Her book explores histories and landscapes of silence, from contemplatives to explorers. She nails the difference between bad silence (the kind most of us are terrified of) and the spaciousness of prolonged silence that, eventually, becomes a state of bliss. Don’t be put off by the apparent seriousness of this subject: Sara might be a religious reclusive, but she writes in accessible prose that, ironically, induces the sense you could almost be having a drink together. It’s a brilliant book.
After a noisy upbringing as one of six children, and adulthood as a vocal feminist and mother, Sara Maitland began to crave silence. Over the past five years, she has spent periods of silence in the Sinai Desert and the Australian bush and on the Isle of Skye. She interweaves these experiences with the history of silence told through fairy tale and myth, Western and Eastern religious traditions, the Enlightenment and psychoanalysis, up to the ambivalence towards silence in contemporary society. Maitland has built a hermitage on an isolated Scottish moor, and the book culminates powerfully with her experiences of…
I adored the seaside setting of Salcombe in Devon and felt like when the characters made a trip to the beach, that I was alongside them, feeling the warmth of the sun on my face and the waves lapping at the shore while I was having an imaginary paddle.
The multigenerational characters were totally relatable, wonderful people that I felt I really connected with. It covered family dramas, dilemmas and secrets, lies, and second chances. It really is an incredibly uplifting and wonderful heartwarming read. Will guarantee the gorgeous feel-good factor you look forward to from this genre of book.
Total escapism, full of joy, hope and heart and left me with a huge smile on my face.
'This was pure joy to read and left me feeling warm inside!!'
'This book pulled at my heart strings and broke me in places and then slowly pieced me back together again'
'Oh my!!!!!! Cathy Bramley has done it again, a fantastic read and I could not stop reading it'
'This book - I absolutely adored it!'
Three generations of women, and the summer that saved them.
The holidays are here, and in Salcombe, Liz longs for the arrival of her god-daughters, Skye and Clare and Clare's daughter baby Ivy. After years on her own, she needs help to save…
I’ve always had a fascination with the past. After graduating with an Honors degree in English Literature, with a minor in History, I spent years working as an English Language Teacher, while I wrote stories in my free time. Writing is a compulsion for me. It’s my escape and entertainment – my solace in tough times. Now, as a full-time author, I’m lucky enough to get to spend my days in Ancient and Medieval Scotland. I write the kind of stories I love to read: with vibrant characters, richly researched settings, and action-packed adventure romance that transports readers to forgotten times and imaginary worlds.
Set upon the Isle of Skye in the early 14th Century, The Chief is an exciting historical romance, with a lot of depth. The hero, Tormod MacLeod, is a man on a mission, to support Robert the Bruce in his struggle against the English. When he’s tricked into marrying Christina Fraser, a young noblewoman whose father was imprisoned for supporting William Wallace, he’s determined to keep his wife in her place. He has no time, or interest, in love. However, control slowly slips from his grip. This novel has one of the best kiss scenes I’ve ever read, and the setting at Dunvegan Castle upon the Isle of Skye is beautifully researched and depicted.
AN ELITE FIGHTING FORCE UNLIKE THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN . . .
Scouring the darkest corners of the Highlands and Western Isles, Robert the Bruce handpicks ten warriors to help him in his quest to free Scotland from English rule. They are the best of the best, chosen for their superior skills in each discipline of warfare. And to lead his secret Highland Guard, Bruce chooses the greatest warrior of all.
The ultimate Highland warlord and a swordsman without equal, Tor MacLeod has no intention of being drawn into Scotland’s war against the English. Dedicated to his clan, the…
