Pleasant surprises: an award and a longlist

After having had keyhole surgery to remove an inflamed gallbladder, followed by an overnight stay in hospital where I remained hooked up to a drain for the blood caused by the operation (ouch!), I've been rather dopey the least six days. The first three days I just rested, my intake of high-dose painkillers making sure I didn't do anything but eat soup and sleep. Then I slowly started to lower the tablets I'm taking, and I'm now down to two. One strong one and a weaker one. Hopefully by the weekend, it'll just be the weak ones left...

So it came to no surprise that I didn't access my laptop for half a week. I know! Unheard of! 

And when I did, a wonderful email awaited me: A Highland Captive has received the Chill with a Book Readers Award! 😍

What a boost to my muddled brain! I'm so delighted the Chill with a Book readers have thought so highly of A Highland Captive for it to be included in their awards. Thank you so much for your time and your kind words in your review! And a special thanks goes to the organiser, Pauline Barclay. I'm very grateful. http://www.chillwithabook.com/2019/09/a-highland-captive-by-cathie-dunn.html

Their wonderful 5* review: "Thoroughly enjoyable book; I liked everything about it. So often with this time period, the battle scenes and cruelty can be too much, the romance can be overdone & irritating, etc. I felt this book was very well balanced, has an engaging & interesting storyline; good, strong characters; true to the period without overdoing the barbarity."


But that's not all. Today, I woke up to more fabulous news: A Highland Captive is on the longlist for the Chatelaine Awards too. I'm so delighted about it. It seems my little book set in medieval Scotland is receiving wonderful recognition. 
Best of luck to all the longlisted authors! 
https://www.chantireviews.com/2019/09/17/the-chatelaine-book-awards-for-romantic-fiction-the-long-list-for-the-2019-cibas/ 

A Highland Captive is available on Amazon in ebook and paperback formats, and it's free to read with Kindle Unlimited! 

1298
Scotland

Cailean MacDubhgaill, a knight from a small western island fighting for the Scottish cause, joins the battle at Falkirk but is wounded when he takes a blow to the thigh by an axe. Sir Eoín de Moray, uncle to his late friend, the former guardian, Andrew, helps him escape the carnage and takes him into a nearby forest, but is killed whilst fighting off pursuers.

Once Cailean has recovered from his injuries with the help of the healer Eithne, he rushes to de Moray’s manor on the northern shores of Loch Ness to convey the news to de Moray’s daughter, Isobel, but he is too late. He finds the manor burnt down, its people displaced, and Isobel abducted. Determined to honour the knight who had saved his life, he tracks Isobel down.

Finding herself taken away from her home against her will, to be married off to an English lord in service to King Edward I, Isobel de Moray ponders her fate when a nighttime raid on the mercenary camp sees her freed – only to fall into the hands of a strong-minded knight. The stranger takes her to his keep on the remote island of Eorsa, to keep her safe. 

But Isobel has other ideas…