Cathie Dunn writes...

Welcome to the brand-new Ocelot Press Book of the Month ! Each month, we will focus on one particular Ocelot Press publication.  This month it is Sue Barnard ’s romantic intrigue The Unkindest Cut of All , the action of which takes place over one week in March, during an amateur dramatic society’s production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Here’s the blurb: BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH… Brian Wilmer is God’s gift to amateur dramatics – and he knows it.  So when the Castlemarsh Players take the ambitious decision to stage Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, there is only one man who can play the title role – even though Brian’s posturing “prima donna” attitude has, over the years, won him few friends and many foes. Rehearsals progress apace, and the production draws ever closer.  But when another member of the cast has to drop out due to illness, local journalist Sarah Carmichael (a stalwart of the Players’ backstage crew) suddenly finds herself called upon to step into the breach a...

I’m thrilled to share my review of Nicole Locke ’s gripping tale, Her Dark Knight’s Redemption . Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources and the author for a review copy. This novel had a different feel to it which made for intriguing reading. It begins in Paris in 1297. The heroine, Aliette, is not simply a lady, but a girl who has to fight for her survival every day. She looks after three strays – an older couple and a boy whose parents had been hung for theft, so when he steals several loaves of bread, she returns them to the baker who wants to see her thrown into gaol.  Instead, she is whisked away into the house of Reynold, a son of the infamous Warstones – a family more powerful than kings, where she is to look after his daughter, Grace, whose mother had died. Reynold really is a bad guy, a man who has killed during his feud against his family; a man who literally walks over corpses.  Both main characters are scarred by their past and how their lives...

I'm so thrilled to celebrate my new release today: Love Lost in Time ! I'm out of bubbly, but a nice G&T with blueberries will suffice! Later, of course...  A dual-timeline mystery, Love Lost in Time takes you to sunny Carcassonne, in the south-west of France.  For the historical part of the story, I chose the late 8th century – a time when the Franks under Charlemagne expanded and solidified their presence in Septimania (today's Languedoc-Roussillon) on the Mediterranean Coast. The locals were a mix of Visigoths, Merovingians and descendants of the Romans. After decades of upheaval, the Franks brought some stability into the region, and fortifications like Carcassonne helped to beat back any Saracen incursions.  But not all dangers came from the enemies. Some lay much closer to home... A tale of love, death and redemption… AD 2018 Languedoc, south-west France Madeleine Winters discovers ancient female bones under her kitchen floor. How did t...

Today, I'm delighted to welcome author Laura Briggs to my blog as part of her blog tour with Rachel's Random Resources . Laura will tell us a little about her brand-new release, A Spirited Girl on Cornish Shores. It's a Halloween Romance!  Laura has even brought with her some goodies for you to win, so make sure you enter into the Rafflecopter giveaway below to be in for a special treat! Having sadly never been to Cornwall (it's been on my list of places for too long to remember), I'm intrigued about Laura's novels. I hope you are too. So, grab a cuppa and get settled... Over to Laura... Writing a Spooky ( But Not-Too-Scary) Halloween Romance! Thank you so much to  Cathie  for letting me share with her lovely readers about my newest romantic read,  A Spirited Girl on Cornish Shores . If you’ve seen the cover art for this book, you’ve probably guessed already that it’s a Halloween-themed story. It’s also the sequel to my summer romance ...

Oooh, my favourite landscape is featured on My Place today: the Scottish Highlands! I love the sweeping valleys and steep hills, the open lochs, the absolute silence and those four-seasons-in-one days. I've not been back since I moved to France nearly three years ago, so having guests on my blog who write about them helps a little... In my view, you can never have enough of the Highlands, and therefore I'm thrilled to welcome historical romance author Emily Royal to My Place. I have downloaded her debut novel, Sins of the Sire, and I can't wait to get reading.  Over to Emily... ~~~ Living in Scotland I’m fortunate enough to be surrounded by stunning landscapes. Even more fortunately, I live in the shadow of a prominent hill. It’s not a mountain, but you can see it from the aeroplane window on the flight into Edinburgh Airport. My debut novel  The Sins of the Sire is set in the Highlands; a little further north from where I live, but a lot of the landscape aro...

Today, I’m reviving my popular My Place series of posts, where I invite fellow authors of historical fiction / romance / mystery to share a little about the setting of their novels. This can be a place, a town, a fictional village, or a castle. I’m kicking off with a beautiful place in Scotland. Imagine a tiny outcrop off the Scottish isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides. Facing westward, the small island of Eorsa is the location of my current work in progress, a Scottish medieval romance, as yet untitled. Set in the aftermath of the battle at Falkirk in 1298, it tells the tale of Isobel de Moray, whose father was killed when he helped fellow knight Cailean MacDubhgaill escape.  Eorsa – (c) Yvonne Marjot Following her father’s death, Isobel is abducted from her manor on the shores of Loch Ness by Scottish henchmen to marry her off to an English lord, her being a cousin of the late guardian, Andrew de Moray. During their journey along the great glen, she is freed by Cailean,...

I'm delighted to share the news that I have now re-issued Highland Arms through our new author cooperative, Ocelot Press . If you haven't heard of us before, feel free to discover our authors on the Ocelot Press website . I have decided to bring Highland Arms into the Ocelot clowder because I feel we have a wonderful network of likeminded writers of quality novels, mainly with focus on historical fiction, mystery and romance, and my upcoming titles will also be released through the coop. Highland Arms will now also be available in ebook format not only on Amazon, but also on a range of outlets through D2D, including Kobo, Apple and Barnes & Noble. And for a few days only, it will be priced at 99p / 99c! It is still available in paperback through Amazon, but I'm also exploring other options. So...why not try a gripping historical read with plenty of romance and mystery! ~~~ “The author has a wonderful way of describing the highlands.” ~ Booked Up Revi...