All posts by Melanie

#AtoZChallenge, Book Titles, Chris Longmuir, Dead Wood

D is for Dead Wood #AtoZChallenge

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Dead Wood

D is for Dead Wood by Chris Longmuir

Dead Wood

Blurb: (from Goodreads) Award winning crime novel set in Dundee, Scotland, A mystery and detective story which is a combination of police procedural, and woman in jeopardy. Book 2 of The Dundee Crime Series, with the popular DS Bill Murphy.

Kara owes money to Dundee gangster Tony and takes to the streets to earn the cash. She narrowly escapes the clutches of a killer on the prowl, but stumbles across the bodies of his other victims. Hunted by the serial killer and the gangsters, Kara goes on the run.

DS Bill Murphy teams up with newcomer, DC Louise Walker in the murder investigation. But Murphy is heading for a breakdown and it is up to Louise to catch the killer.

One of the murder victims is the daughter of Dundee gangster, Tony, and he vows revenge. He is determined to mete out his own kind of justice to the killer.

Who will find the killer first? Tony or the police. And what will happen to Kara? In the end what kind of justice will prevail?

Buy Links

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

Dundee International Book Prize winner 2009

Chris Longmuir is an award winning novelist. Her previous crime novels have won the Pitlochry Award, and the Dundee International Book Prize.

 

#AtoZChallenge, Cauldstane, Linda Gillard

C is for Cauldstane #AtoZChallenge

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Cauldstane

C is for Cauldstane by Linda Gillard

CAULDSTANE_kindle_600 x 800

I love this cover! And if you’ve seen my posts about “I see faces”, I’m happy to say, I found one here, too!

Blurb: (from Goodreads) When ghostwriter Jenny Ryan is summoned to the Scottish Highlands by Sholto MacNab – retired adventurer and Laird of Cauldstane Castle – she’s prepared for travellers’ tales, but not the MacNabs’ violent and tragic history.

Lust, betrayal and murder have blighted family fortunes for generations, together with an ancient curse. As members of the family confide their sins and their secrets, Jenny learns why Cauldstane’s uncertain future divides father and sons.

But someone resents Jenny’s presence. Someone thinks she’s getting too close to Alec MacNab – swordsmith, widower and heir to Cauldstane. Someone will stop at nothing until Jenny has been driven away. Or driven mad.

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Especially a dead woman.

Buy Links

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

#amwriting, Authors, Book Titles, Books, Contests, haunted houses, King Park Press

And the #CONTEST winner is!!!

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And the Winner is…

 

#contest

Before I announce the winning title, I want to thank everyone who entered. In the end, I received over 100 submissions! WOW!!! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would get such a fantastic response.

Here are the suggestions I received from the 26 contest entrants…

The Mystery of Hillcrest House

The Angel Falls Mystery

The Haunting of Hillcrest House

The Haunting Hargraves

Hand of The Hargraves

Caveat Emptor

Visions at the Hillcrest House

Haunted Hillcrest House

Haunted House— Hillcrest

Haunted Angel Falls– Mystery of Hillcrest House

A Walk with the dead

Shadows in the Hillcrest House

Gates of Hell

Screaming Souls

Screaming Souls at Hillcrest House

Midnight Mist

Fallen Angels

Silent Screams

Hargraves on the Hill

Haunted Souls Angel Falls

Mystery of Angel Falls

Angel Falls Haunting

Hillcrest Haunting

Hillcreast haunting

Scotland’s Eerie Hillcreast mansion

Hillcreast, help my kilt!

Echoes from the Past

Secrets of Hillcrest House

Beware of Hillcrest House

Devils at Angel Falls

Demons at Angel Falls

Secrets of Hillcrest House

Shadows at Hillcrest House

The Taming of Hillcrest House

Imprisoned at Hillcrest

The Souls of Hillcrest

The Lost Souls of Hillcrest

Lost Souls at Hillcrest

Unspoken Secrets of/at Hillcrest House

Unspoken Secrets

The Lingering’s

All that Remains or The Remains

The secret of Hillcrest House

Mystery in Angel Falls

Secrets of (from) the past

Whispers from the past

Lost in the future

Alone in the past

Victorian’s Secret

When Angels Fall

The Moon in Hillcrest House

The Deafening Silence of Angel Falls

Haunting Horrors of the House on the Hill

Hillcrest House of Horror

Portal to the Spirit World

Horror Halls

Look Over Your Shoulder

The Haunting Beauty of Hillcrest House

The House of Fear and Beauty

The Hillcrest House Haunting

The Haunting of Hillcrest House

The Haunted House of Angel Falls

Full Moon Gothic

A Rose for Jessica

What Lies Unknown

The Secret of Hillcrest House

The Mystery of Hillcrest House

The Haunting of Hillcrest House

Souls in Waiting

A Past Unearthed

A Past Reclaimed

Jessica’s Folly

The Hargrave Factor

The Haunting of Jessica Maitland

The Hargraves of Hillcrest House

Cliffside Manor

House of the Silver Moon

Jessica’s Dream/Nightmare House

Ghosts of Hillcrest Mansion

A Home Forever

Passage Way of Secrets

Unknown Messages

Hargrave Affair

Hargrave Encounter

Hillcrest Encounter

Fallen Angels Trapped on a Cliff

Fallen Angels in Hillcrest House

Maitland; The Reckoner

Cliff Dwelling Interlopers

Jessica’s Jaunt with Hillcrest

Unwilling Tenants of Hillcrest House

Unholy Occupation of Hillcrest

Unwilling Entrapment at Hillcrest

Hillcrest Manor

The Haunting of Hillcrest

Haunted Hillcrest

We Will Never Leave!

Beyond these Walls

The Ominous Fortress of Hillcrest House

The Ominous Fortress

An Ominous Dynasty

The Chronicles of Hillcrest Place

Unnerving Truth of Hillcrest House

The Unnerving Truth

Here Forever

Moonlight Seduction

Moonlight Desires

Haunted Desires of Hillcrest House

The Seduction of Hillcrest House

And now without any further delay … the grand prize winner (selected by titles received in chronological order) is Greta Krasteva with her title The Secret of Hillcrest House. Congratulations, Greta!

And the random winner among the remaining entrants is Jennifer Rogers!

I will contact you to find out your preferred e-book format (mobi for Kindle, epub for other ereaders, or .pdf).

 

#AtoZChallenge, Authors, Bagpipes and Bullshot, Janice Horton, Scotland

B is for Bagpipes and Bullshot #AtoZChallenge

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Bagpipes & Bullshot

B is for Bagpipes and Bullshot by Janice Horton

Bagpipes & Bullshot

Blurb: (from goodreads) When Innes Buchanan inherits the title of Laird, he is entrusted with the Scottish family estate, the ancestral home, and centuries of noble tradition. Sadly, he also inherits the family bank balance which, after death duty, is crumbling faster than the walls of their ancient castle.

After exhausting even the most unlikely of cash generating alternatives and with bankruptcy on the horizon, Innes stumbles across one last initiative, a research scholarship in Texas to establish a new herd of cattle. With a lifetime of sheep farming and no room for failure, Innes’s luck returns on a chance encounter with Orley MacKenna, a born and raised Texan cowgirl who needs little convincing to leave her past behind. Though a likely couple, the two settle for an unlikely business partnership, and return to Scotland to try and save the Buchanan fortune.

Told with timeless Scottish romanticism and a knowing sense of humour, Bagpipes and Bullshot twists an everyday love story with a whole cast of village eccentrics who integrate seamlessly into a fantastic play on rural life.

Buy links:

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

#AtoZChallenge, Animal Farm, Book Titles, George Orwell

A is for Animal Farm #AtoZChallenge

23 Comments

Animal Farm

A is for Animal Farm by George Orwell

Animal Farm
Blurb: (from amazon.com): Animal Farm is the most famous by far of all twentieth-century political allegories. Its account of a group of barnyard animals who revolt against their vicious human master, only to submit to a tyranny erected by their own kind, can fairly be said to have become a universal drama. Orwell is one of the very few modern satirists comparable to Jonathan Swift in power, artistry, and moral authority; in animal farm his spare prose and the logic of his dark comedy brilliantly highlight his stark message.

Taking as his starting point the betrayed promise of the Russian Revolution, Orwell lays out a vision that, in its bitter wisdom, gives us the clearest understanding we possess of the possible consequences of our social and political acts.

You buy Animal Farm at amazon.com

 

#AtoZChallenge

Theme Reveal… the #AtoZChallenge starts tomorrow…

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theme

THEME REVEAL

 

Drum roll, please… I’m ready to reveal my theme for this year’s Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

Are you ready? What else would a writer blog about during a challenge such as this? How about books? Yup, I’ve put together an eclectic collection of book titles that take in every letter of the alphabet.

I hope you’ll stop by every day next month to see what book I’ve spotlighted. Some are well known… some not so well. Maybe you’ll even find a title or two that you’ve not heard about and you’ll want to read.

See you in April!

 

 

#amwriting, Authors, Book Titles, Books, Contests, haunted houses, King Park Press

There’s still time to enter! #CONTEST ~ Help me choose a title… you could win…

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My Title #Contest

 

There’s still time to enter in the Help me choose a title #Contest. Don’t be disappointed. Enter between now and midnight March 31, 2016, Eastern Time.

Fancy your title on the cover of a book, your name mentioned in the acknowledgements? It could happen! For the month of March, I’m running a book title cover contest.

Not to worry, I am giving you some help starting with the image that will grace the cover. Are the creative juices starting to flow?

#contest

Here’s what the book is about…

Sometimes there’s more to a house than bricks and mortar.

Hillcrest House is one such place. Perched on a cliff in the picturesque town of Angel Falls, there is more to this Victorian mansion than meets the eye. When referring to the house, the locals use the word haunted on a regular basis. Strange visions appear in the windows, especially the second-floor ones over the side porch. Even stranger events take place within its four walls.

Rumour has it, the original owners, Asher and Maggie Hargrave, never left their beloved home. They claim the couple and their family are responsible for driving people away. Over the years, Hillcrest House has changed hands numerous times. No one stays long. Renovations begin then stop and the house is once more abandoned. The latest in this long line of owners is Jessica Maitland.

Will Jessica be the next one to succumb or will she unravel the mystery of the haunting of Hillcrest House?

How about now?

How does it all work, I hear you ask.

Contest details…

Contest opens March 1, 2016 and runs until March 31, 2016.

Come up with a title and leave your idea in the comments. And for those of you who would like to take your chances but aren’t comfortable leaving a comment on a blog, send an email to Title Contest.

At the end of the contest, one lucky entrant’s title will be chosen. He/she will receive an e-copy of the book (Mobi, epub or pdf – their choice) and their name included in the acknowledgements.

Another winner will be chosen at random from the non-winning titles.

Enter as many times as you like but be sure you do before the deadline for your chance to win.

Good luck!

Book Promo, England, Novels, Rachel Brimble, romantic fiction, Victorian Romance

Her One True Love by Rachel Brimble #Victorianromance #giveaway #guestpost

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one true love

Her One True Love

by

Rachel Brimble

 

one true love

Genre: Victorian romance

Release Date: March 15th 2016

Publisher: eKensington/Lyrical Press

She Can’t Forget Him…

Jane Charlotte Danes has loved the squire of her idyllic country town for as long as she can remember. He is good, kind, and alluring beyond words… and he chose to marry another. Tired of dwelling on her futile longings, Jane plans a move to Bath, where she dreams of a new beginning. But the man who has so imprisoned her heart is only a few steps behind…

He Can’t Let Her Go…

Until now, Matthew Cleaves has endeavoured to meet the responsibilities of his position with dignity and good spirits–including his dutiful marriage. But when his wife leaves him for another man, Matthew is at last free to pursue his one true love. Only one vital question remains: will the captivating, stubborn, beautiful Jane allow him the challenge, and the pleasure, of winning her back?

BUY LINKS

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Barnes & Noble

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The Highs & Lows of writing in different genres – Contemporary Romance & Victorian Romance

I often get asked how I divide my time between contemporary and historical novel writing and in an ideal world, I like to alternate the two sub-genres to keep my writing fresh and interesting. For the reader and me!

I began my career writing contemporary because I’d always been told to ‘write what you know’. I have devoured romantic suspense for as long as I can remember and so my first two novels with The Wild Rose Press were romantic suspense. I then wrote a romantic comedy. Throughout writing and promoting these books, I began to wonder whether I could attempt an historical…. after all, I didn’t ‘know’ how to abduct or murder anyone as the characters did in my first two books .  ☺

Like most (if not all) writers I read voraciously and reading historical work, whether novels or biographies, is amongst my favorite choices. I love history! I am drawn to British Royal history especially, but also love the social and industrial changes of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. As I was, and still am, intimidated by including real people and events in my work, I decided my first attempt would be Victorian and focus entirely on fictional characters and their emotions.

Emotion is key in romance. Love, hate, revenge, loss, joy and tenacity would have been felt in the same way in the late 1800s as they would today. So with this thought at the forefront of my mind, I dove straight in and wrote The Arrival of Lily Curtis (The Wild Rose Press). It sold a lot more copies than my previous contemporary work so that gave me the confidence to continue.

The main ‘highs’ for me writing in the two genres is the diversity in setting and premise – the life problems or goals women face today are profoundly different than they were in the past…even if the emotional challenges are the same. These different shifts and changes of what women want gives a whole range of ideas of where to start with a story and how to tackle it.

The main ‘lows’ for me is managing to finish one genre before I have to work on the other. More often than not, I am writing one book, editing another and promoting another, which means I have to jump from contemporary to historical a lot throughout the year. As much as I love the challenge, it can be difficult when I am totally immersed in a contemporary or historical and then forced to stop in order to meet a deadline for a book of the other genre.

Having said that, I wouldn’t change my current work status for the world – as long as publishers and agents still want me to write both contemporary and historical, I will. Long may it continue!

ABOUT RACHEL BRIMBLE

one true love

Rachel lives with her husband and two teenage daughters in a small town near Bath in the UK. Since 2013, she has had five books published by Harlequin Superromance (Templeton Cove Stories) and recently signed a contract for three more.

She also has four Victorian romances with eKensington/Lyrical and hoping to sign a new contract for further historical romances shortly.

When she isn’t writing, you’ll find Rachel with her head in a book or walking the beautiful English countryside with her family.

AUTHOR LINKS

Facebook: Facebook

Facebook Street Team – Rachel’s Readers

Twitter: Twitter

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1806411.Rachel_Brimble

Website

Blog

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GIVEAWAY

£15/$25 Amazon gift voucher

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Authors, Book Tour, chick lit, Novels, One Starry Night, Tilly Tennant

One Starry Night by Tilly Tennant #chicklit #giveaway

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starry

One Starry Night

by

Tilly Tennant

 

starry

Genre: Chick lit

Release Date: 30th March 2016

Publisher: Lawsome Books

One Starry Night is the fourth and final part of the Once Upon a Winter series:

They say the darkest hour is just before the dawn, and Hannah has never really understood the true meaning of that until now. With Gina’s husband misbehaving, bad news for Mitchell that only Hannah can break and Ross under attack, things seem to be falling apart around her, and how is she supposed to be the rock everyone else needs when she can’t even get her own life in order? It’s going to take a special kind of courage to see this dawn break, but when it does it might just be all the brighter for it. The trouble is, Hannah’s not sure she can be that strong…

BUY LINKS

AMAZON UK

AMAZON US

ABOUT TILLY TENNANT

starry

 

Tilly Tennant was born in Dorset, the oldest of four children, but now lives in Staffordshire with a family of her own. After years of dismal and disastrous jobs, including paper plate stacking, shop girl, newspaper promotions and waitressing (she never could carry a bowl of soup without spilling a bit), she decided to indulge her passion for the written word by embarking on a degree in English and creative writing, graduating in 2009 with first class honours. She wrote her first novel in 2007 during her first summer break at university and has not stopped writing since. She also works as a freelance fiction editor, and considers herself very lucky that this enables her to read many wonderful books before the rest of the world gets them.

Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn was her debut novel; published in 2014 it was an Amazon bestseller in both the UK and Australia. It was followed by Mishaps and Mistletoe and The Man Who Can’t Be Moved. Find out more about Tilly and how to join her mailing list for news and exclusives at www.tillytennant.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TillyTennant/?ref=hl

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TillyTenWriter

website: www.tillytennant.com

GIVEAWAY

£10 (or equivalent) Amazon Gift Card

a Rafflecopter giveaway