Tag Archives: Scotland

Girl in the Castle: Henriette’s Highland Hideaway by Lizzie Lamb @lizzie_lamb #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Book Review, Books, Contemporary Fiction, Mystery, Reading, Romance by
  • Author: Lizzie Lamb
  • Published: April 2017 by New Romantics Press
  • Category: Romance, Contemporary, Mystery, Book Review, Books, Reading.

Her academic career in tatters, Dr Henriette Bruar needs somewhere to lay low, plan her comeback and restore her tarnished reputation. Fate takes her to a remote Scottish castle to auction the contents of an ancient library to pay the laird’s mounting debts. 

After a show of justified outrage with unfortunate consequences, Doctor Henriette Bruar with the help of Professor Maddie Hallam, has secured a job cataloguing the library at Castle Tèarmannair. She is hopeful of finding some valuable books; to secure funds for restoration of the castle and, hopefully, in the process also help her career. Her position as an academic and possibly furthering that position at St Guthlac’s is now in jeopardy and time away, giving Henri chance to try and repair the damage, is just what she needs. Continue reading →

Taming the Highlander (Scottish Relic Trilogy #2) by May McGoldrick @MacmillanAudio #HistFic #FridayReads

Posted in Audiobook, Books, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Reading, Review, Romance by

Innes Munro has the ability to “read” a person’s past simply by touching them, but her gift comes with a heavy price: her freedom. Forced to stay at desolate Castle Girnigoe, Innes never expects to be drawn to the wounded warrior who haunts its dark passages and challenges her at every turn.

Fifty years previously four small pieces of a stone relic, the Wheel of Lugh, were brought to Scotland. Each fragment held a special gift but together, the four pieces would hold a terrible power if they were to fall into the wrong hands. The bearers of the tablets had sworn an oath, to travel to the farthest reaches of Scotland to keep the pieces of the relic separate. Continue reading →

Much Ado About Highlanders (Scottish Relic Trilogy #1) by May McGoldrick #HistFic #Audiobook @MacmillanAudio

Posted in Audiobook, Historical Fiction, Review, Romance by

Highland warrior Alexander MacPherson has lost his wife. When he agreed to take Kenna Mackay as his bride to advance his clan’s power in the north, he expected a bit of an adjustment. He didn’t expect the sharp-tongued beauty to run away on their wedding night. Still, Alexander wants his runaway bride…and he has the sneaking suspicion that she wants him, too.

After a prank backfired and years of father/daughter misunderstandings, independent and headstrong Kenna MacKay fled her marital home on the night of her wedding to Alexander Macpherson. Their marriage was arranged to unite the two clans. For the past six months she has been training in the skills of healing with the nuns at Glosters Priory. Kenna and her cousin, Emily, are attending a birth in the village when they are kidnapped by the Macpherson brothers in a determined attempt to bring Kenna and Alexander together again. Left alone, the attraction ignites. Continue reading →

Turn of the Tide (Munro #1) by Margaret Skea #HistFic #RBRT #FridayReads @margaretskea1

Posted in #RBRT, Book Review, Historical Fiction, Reading by
  • 41kchzt5uxlAuthor: Margaret Skea
  • Published: September 2015 (2nd Edition) by Sanderling
  • Category: Scottish Historical Fact/Fiction
  • four-stars

Old rivalries…new friendships…dangerous decisions. 

Set in 16th Century Scotland Munro owes allegiance to the Cunninghames and to the Earl of Glencairn. Trapped in the 150-year-old feud between the Cunninghames and the Montgomeries, he escapes the bloody aftermath of an ambush, but he cannot escape the disdain of the wife he sought to protect, or his own internal conflict.

Initially, I wasn’t too sure about this book. There are a lot of characters, and their allegiances, to keep track of, which I found it a little confusing at first. Writing them down as a quick reference helped as it’s not so easy to keep referring back on a kindle. The more I read, the easier it became and the story took hold. Set in Ayrshire in the sixteenth century it tells of a notorious feud that lasted almost two centuries, between the Montgomeries and the Cunninghames. In the middle of these two warring clans is Munro and his family. Munro owes his loyalty to the Cunninghames, even as he is ever more uncomfortable with their actions and behaviour, and his understandable failure to comprehend the reasoning behind the feud. Continue reading →

Scotch On The Rocks by @lizzie_lamb ~ A contemporary #romance set in #Scotland #Bookreview

Posted in Contemporary Fiction, Romance by
  • 25849896Author: Lizzie Lamb
  • Published: July 2015 by New Romantics Press
  • Category: Contemporary Romance
  • five-stars

ISHABEL STUART is at the crossroads of her life. Her wealthy industrialist father has died unexpectedly, leaving her a half-share in a ruined whisky distillery and the task of scattering his ashes on a Munro. After discovering her fiancé playing away from home, she cancels their lavish Christmas wedding at St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh and heads for the only place she feels safe – Eilean na Sgairbh, a windswept island on Scotland’s west coast – where the cormorants outnumber the inhabitants, ten to one.

Ishabel (Issy) Stuart is introduced in dramatic style with a race along the causeway to Eilean na Sgairbh, against the incoming tide and an impending thunderstorm. She’s on her way home to her aunt Esme and the house she grew up in, now a B&B, along with a wounded heart and her father’s ashes. She needs the serenity of Cormorant Island, her aunt and a heart to heart chat. But Esme has guests, a motley crew of elderly activists, and was due to leave with them the following day, on a campaign against fracking.  Continue reading →

Tall, Dark and Kilted by Lizzie Lamb @lizzie_lamb #Romance in the Scottish Highlands #bookreview #SundayBlogShare

Posted in Contemporary Fiction, Romance by
  • 16141980Author: Lizzie Lamb
  • Published: October 2012 by The New Romantics 4
  • Category: Contemporary Romance
  • four-half-stars

Notting Hill Meets Monarch of the Glen . . . Fliss Bagshawe longs for a passport out of Pimlico where she works as a holistic therapist. After attending a party in Notting Hill she loses her job and with it her dream of one day being her own boss. When she’s offered the chance to take over a failing therapy centre, she grabs it with both hands. But there’s a catch – the centre lies five hundred miles away – in Wester Ross, Scotland. 

Fliss Bagshawe, determined and independent, has worked hard and struggled to support herself since her parents died. A qualified holistic therapist, she works at a salon in Pimlico, doing a little moonlighting in the evenings to supplement her income. When Fliss is offered the chance to manage a salon on an estate in the Highlands by the self-centred and rebellious, Isla Urquhart and her sister, Cat, she is both excited and apprehensive. Having lost her job, without references, ostensibly through her association with the Urquhart sisters, Fliss feels she has nothing to lose by accepting.  Continue reading →

Outlander Trailer

From the Scotsman

Outlander, which will run for 16 episodes over two seasons, is thought to be the biggest ever film or TV production entirely based in Scotland, with a 250-strong cast and crew and a budget believed to be upwards of £50 million for the initial series, although Gabaldon is due to release the eighth book in the series later this year. 

However it is not yet known when, or even if, it will be broadcast in the UK, as Australia and Canada are the only other confirmed territories for the show so far.

 

Hmm, that’s a blow, although I suppose it will be released on video at some point. With such a long running time I’m hoping it won’t be a case of the book being better than the movie, or in this case TV show.