HIGHLANDER'S CASTLE — My Newest Release. Historical Highlander Romance.
Hey everyone, thanks so much for joining me today. I couldn’t be more excited to bring you both a cover reveal and a book release in one.
I can’t believe HIGHLANDER’S CASTLE is now available. This is book one in my Highlander Heat series. The novella in the line (Highlander’s Captive) which released six weeks ago, shot into the bestsellers charts on Amazon’s US and UK sites, and continues to remain there. I’m still a-buzzing over that. So, if you picked up a copy, then thank you, thank you, thank you. You helped make a dream of mine come true.
The next two books in this series, Highlander’s Magic and Highlander’s Charm, will release later this year, and I can’t wait to bring you those stories. In the meantime, check out the swishy cover. I hope you like it.
Highlander’s Castle
HIGHLANDER’S CASTLE
Traveling through time…for a Highlander.
Anne MacLeod’s identical ancestor has made a wish on the Fairy Flag at Dunvegan Castle, one which sees the two young women swapping places in time and leaving Anne set to handfast with the very man her ancestor wished to escape. Only Anne sees the possibilities, because now she could change the future and ensure her parents never perished in the inferno which took their lives.
Highland warrior Alex MacDonald has made an agreement to handfast with Anne in order to bring a halt to the feud raging between their clans. The last thing he expects though is a woman claiming to come from the future, a woman who stirs him on a physical and emotional level to protect, and to even believe.
When Anne finds herself in her MacLeod chief’s presence, she chooses to go with him in order to leave a message for her parents. In full pursuit, Alex wages a battle of the heart, and of the very essence of time. Can he defy the odds as Anne is taken from him…to work his own magic and get her back?
A Historical Highlander Romance
~~ BUY THE BOOK: Amazon Kindle ~~
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Are you all ready for a tantalizing, toe-curling excerpt? I’ll try and melt away some of that winter chill. Here we are.
EXCERPT –
Anne rounded the corner of the stables with Mary. Before the waters of the glistening loch, a hundred shirtless warriors wielded claymores in a battle of strength against one another.
She searched through the half-naked men and found the very one she was after. Alex’s body was hard and packed with muscle, his shoulders and arms thick and strong. His chest held the finest smattering of hair, the same blond of his head. Below the plains of his glorious chest, his abs rippled, layer upon tight layer and all covered with a healthy sheen of sweat.
“He’s by far the tallest.” And Anne wanted every inch of that body back against hers.
“Aye, my son could never be missed in a battle.”
His powerful form was magnificent, and his command of the warriors he fought against a sight to behold.
Alex thrust his enormous sword against his opponent’s as if it were an extension of his arm and not a monstrous piece of steel. Now, this was exactly how he’d come about every one of those bulging muscles.
“I have to get closer.” She passed Mary her basket.
“I’ll hold Alan off.”
“Thank you. You make a wonderful friend.” Stepping forward, she focused on the man who’d made love to her so intensely throughout the night. He moved deftly, growing stronger with each strike of his claymore upon his opponent’s blade.
The two men circled each other, as if waiting to pounce for the next attack. Alex raised his weapon and—
“Lass, get back here now.” Alan tried to pass Mary who zigzagged in front of him.
“Damn,” Alex swore, barely missing his challenger’s blow. His gaze speared toward her. “What are you doing out here?”
She stared at his wide chest. Even the veins on his arms stood rigid and firm. “Sorry, the view was rather distracting.”
“You could get hurt.” He marched toward her, caught her arm then led her to the rear of the stables where all was quiet. “Lass, you cannae look at me like that.”
“Like what?” She touched his chest with her finger then swirled down over his wicked abs.
“Like that.” He picked her up, kicked open the door of a side room, set her down and slammed the door shut. His eyes burned a molten hue even in the dark confines of the cramped room. “Up with your skirts.”
“What?”
“Up. With. Your.” His plaid rose at the front, and all of its own accord.
“Oh, like that?”
He backed her against the wall. “Aye, like that, my sweet.”
~~ BUY THE BOOK: Amazon Kindle ~~
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~~ Joanne Wadsworth’s Books ~~
Buy HIGHLANDER’S CASTLE (Highlander Heat #1) at: Amazon Kindle
Buy HIGHLANDER’S CAPTIVE (Highlander Heat #0.5) at: Amazon Kindle
Buy WITNESS PURSUIT (Bodyguards #1) at: Amazon Kindle / B&N Nook / Kensington Publishing / iTunes / Kobo
Buy ENCHANTER (Magio-Earth #3) at: Amazon Kindle / B&N Nook / Kensington Publishing / iTunes / Kobo
Buy HUNTER (Magio-Earth #2.5) at: Amazon Kindle
Buy WARRIOR (Magio-Earth #2) at: Amazon Kindle / B&N Nook / Kensington Publishing / iTunes / Kobo
Buy PROTECTOR (Magio-Earth #1) at: Amazon Kindle / B&N Nook / Kensington Publishing / iTunes / Kobo
I’m thinking of you all who are suffering from this terrible winter weather. Take care this week. 
Guest Author: Liza O'Connor with Coming To Reason #Giveaway
Like Carrie, in my life, ‘coming to reason’ came fast and hard.
When the man I thought was my soul mate of ten years told me he’d met someone else and wanted to see where it might go, I was floored. Totally didn’t see it coming.
Surely, there should have been some signs…
We never fought, so I pushed my memory for smaller hints. We still did things together, played tennis, skied. There had to be some hint I hadn’t caught onto.
and I completely fail to notice, can he?
I thought back to the night I finished reading Bridges of Madison Country. I looked over to him and likened us to the couple in love. I remember he seemed disturbed by the comparison. No doubt because he saw Heather as his true love, and me the one keeping them from being happy. At the time I assumed he hadn’t liked the book and didn’t wish to be compared to it.
That was the only clue I had.
In my perspective, this Heather person came out of nowhere.
I asked him to tell me about her. He seemed happy to share. She worked at his office, she had a girl from a previous marriage, and a boyfriend so this wasn’t easy for either of them. She was my age and he really liked her and wanted to see where it might go. He spoke with great calmness and compassion, but not an ounce of guilt or remorse. He had to know his words were ripping me apart, but he didn’t give a shit. It was all about him. (I say this now. At the time I only saw his compassion, not what was missing.)
He asked me to stay until he got the matter sorted out.
And because I loved him more than I loved myself, I agreed.
We had plans to attend a theatre production that night and I tried my hardest to be cheerful, but the more his words replayed in my mind, the deeper they cut. I began to silently cry, then not so silently. We had to leave so other people could enjoy the play.
His mother called me soon after. She was so sorry we were breaking up. Then she told me less than a month ago, he’d told her he ‘was thinking about’ marrying me. That floored me. Now nothing made sense.
I moved into the guest bedroom. Living in his house with him kept me hoping we could turn matters around. I desperately wanted to fix whatever was wrong. I got him to go to counseling with me, but after the first meeting, where we got along so well, the counselor split us up.
And thus began the counselor’s efforts to make me come to reason, but I remained hopelessly in love, so desperate to fix my soulmate’s temporary insanity. Instead of helping me fix my problem, the guy focused on the unhealthy aspects of our relationship. Even before I came to reason, I knew he strongly felt I needed to break away.
But at home, matters almost seemed normal again except I slept in the guest room and my heart was severely injured. My soul mate went to visit friends in California. He said Heather wasn’t going, but he may have lied. Still, every night he would call and tell me the stupid ass things he’d done because I wasn’t there to fix matters. We’d laugh and hope grew within me that we could get beyond this. He mentioned the same, saying we’d be stronger in the end.
While a part of me hoped for the best, another part of me knew whatever had broken wasn’t fixable nor could I ever trust him again. I would always be searching for signs I missed this time.
Somewhere in this painful month, I parked my pride at the curb and called Heather, begging her not to take him from me. She said she had no idea what I was talking about. Nothing was going on between her and my guy.
Now I wondered if my soul mate had truly gone insane and had made this whole romance up.
I discovered the truth on the day we planned to go to a Giant’s game. I remember telling him that morning how much I was looking forward to the having fun together. He agreed and for a moment things seemed good. Due to my counselor’s advice, after work I never went straight home. I would go to the Y and swim laps for two hours.
But this night, I didn’t want to make us late for the game, so I cut my workout short and hurried home. He’d promised to be home by six. When it turned six-thirty, something broke inside me. I got in my car and drove to his place of work. The door was locked, so I lurked about outside, pacing in fury. Finally, he and Heather came out, arm in arm, laughing and happy. (Had I owned a gun, none of us would be alive now. When I saw them together, I lost all reason.)
Being gunless, I went a little crazy on him while Heather scurried back into the office.
All my pent up rage came pouring out of me. And when I finally made it back home, my EX-soulmate opened my car door and declared it over. He was done with Heather. No more.
Too Late. I was done with him.
Coming to Reason:
COMING TO REASON
Humorous Contemporary Disaster Romance
Blurb
When he fires her so they can be a ‘normal couple’, everything heads south. Providing her a stark contrast, her new boss is everything a woman could want in a man.
But for Carrie, her heart is taken and thus, her path to reason remains long and arduous.
I only have one thing to say about Liza O’Connor’s A Long Road to Love series: Read them. They’re funny. You won’t regret it!
Excerpt
Ghost Lover
Liza O’Connor
Author Bio:
Prizes:
Enter to Win $50 Amazon Gift Card
A Valentine's Day Blog Hop – PRIZES and #GIVEAWAY
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Interestingly, we actually have a saint, a priest from Rome known as Valentinus, to thank for Valentine’s Day. Back in the day, and I’m talking around the fifth century, Valentinus was a bit of a rebel. The Roman Emperor Claudius II didn’t believe married men would make good soldiers, and he banned his top guns from getting hitched, but Valentinus was sneaky.
This saint, with his amethyst ring engraved with the cupid symbol, performed marriages for those soldiers who wished them. Then to remind them to remain faithful to their wives when out celebrating a winning battle, he cut heart shapes from parchment and gifted them to them.
So, what does Valentine’s Day mean to you? Do you go all out and present flowers? Buy chocolates or send a card? For me, I love to give heart-shaped chocolates wrapped in red foil to my closest. Just love it.
To continue spreading some yummy sweetness, I’m going to share a new snippet from HIGHLANDER’S CAPTIVE, one in which the hero has just captured his heroine and stolen her away. I’d also like to thank everyone who’s bought a copy. Highlander’s Captive has shot into Amazon’s Bestsellers Charts in the UK and the US. During the past month since release, this novella has made the #1 slot within the Scottish Medieval Romances and Historical categories several times. I’m simply buzzing.
Wind whipped through Ivor’s shoulder-length hair, drying it into a rakish look. As he held the ropes, his biceps bulged and his every muscle strained to control the wind power he’d harnessed in the skiff’s tight sail.
Oh, Julia should turn her gaze away. Only, so impressive. A warrior of great strength.
Mayhap she should enjoy this since she didn’t have a choice. She’d certainly never ridden in a boat moving at such speed that ’twas half out of the water. Awed by his ability, she peeked over his arm. The coastline was but a blur. Her heart near jumped out of her chest and she clutched him tighter. “How fast are we going?”
“Faster than usual, but the crosswinds will ease off soon.”
Plastered against the hard planes of his body, she almost hoped they didn’t. She smiled and lifted her face to the sky, allowing the moment to expand. This was life, and far more interesting than the confines of Dunvegan Castle, not that she’d ever tell Ivor that.
She might be his captive, but not for long.
~~ BUY THE BOOK: Amazon Kindle ~~
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For those who’d like to enter my giveaway for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card and some other goodies, then click on the Rafflecopter Giveaway link below.
~~ RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY ~~
But that’s not all… In addition to my personal prize for this hop, there are some fabulous blog tour prizes up for grabs. The grand prize will be a Kindle Paperwhite and a digital new adult romance basket. Also every comment in the hop will count as an entry toward this prize. Just let me know what your favorite Valentine’s Day gift has been. I’d love to hear about it. (But don’t make me too jealous.)
Keep hopping– The complete list of participating authors is on the list below:
~~ Joanne Wadsworth’s Books ~~
Buy HIGHLANDER’S CAPTIVE (Highlander Heat Novella) at: Amazon Kindle
Buy HUNTER (Magio-Earth Novella) at: Amazon Kindle
Buy WITNESS PURSUIT (Bodyguards #1) at: Amazon Kindle / B&N Nook / iTunes / Kobo
Buy WARRIOR (Magio-Earth #2) at: Amazon Kindle / B&N Nook / iTunes / Kobo
Buy PROTECTOR (Magio-Earth #1) at: Amazon Kindle / B&N Nook / iTunes / Kobo
TAKE CARE.
Cover Reveal for Jessi Gage's "Wishing for a Highlander." #AmazonGiftCard
COVER REVEAL
WISHING FOR A HIGHLANDER
Be careful what you wish for. It might just come true.
Single-and-pregnant museum worker Melanie voices an idle wish while examining a Scottish artifact, that a Highland warrior would sweep her off her feet and help her forget her cheating ex. The last thing she expects is for her wish to be granted. Magically transported to the middle of a clan skirmish in the sixteenth-century Highlands, she comes face to face with her kilted fantasy man.
Tall, handsome, and heir to his uncle’s lairdship, Darcy Keith should be the most eligible bachelor in Ackergill. Instead, thanks to a prank played on him in his teenage years, he is known for being too large under his kilt to ever make a proper husband. “Big Darcy” runs his deceased father’s windmills and lives alone at his family manor, believing he will never marry.
But a strangely-dressed woman he rescues from a clan skirmish makes him long for more. When the woman’s claims of coming to Ackergill by magic reach the laird’s ears, she is accused of witchcraft. Darcy determines to protect her any way he can, even if it means binding her to him forever.
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Hey everyone, Jessi Gage is dropping by and showcasing her beautiful cover for Wishing for a Highlander.
Thanks for hosting me, Joanne! I always love visiting your blog! I’m so excited to reveal the cover of my recently re-released time-travel romance, Wishing for a Highlander!
In a nutshell, it’s about a single and pregnant museum worker who accidentally wishes herself back in time and is forced to marry a Highland warrior with intimacy issues.
Here’s a short excerpt.
Size might have its advantages when it came to fighting, but those few boons fell far short of making up for the problems it caused. Being the biggest and the strongest had gotten him into far more trouble than it had gotten him out of. Swallowing his regret for how careless he’d been with her, he sought to determine whom she belonged to, whom, saints forbid, he might owe.
“Whose wife are ye, then? Not a Gunn’s or I wouldna have had to rescue you from one.”
“I’m not married,” the lass said. “And thank you for the rescuing, by the way. I can’t believe I dropped the dirk. Stupid.” She shook her head.
His heart warmed at her thanks. He didn’t hear many kind words from the lasses and would take what he could get, even from a dishonored woman who had caught a bairn out wedlock. Oddly, he didn’t think poorly of her. Whether it was her worried brow, her guileless, soft mouth, or her vulnerable size, he had not the heart to condemn her.
He didn’t even mind so much that she found him distasteful for his size, although talking with her now, she didn’t seem overly upset to be in his arms. He endeavored to keep her talking, keep her distracted from her disgust.
“Ye never answered my first question,” he said. “Who are you? And where are ye from if ye’re no’ English?”
“Ugh. I don’t know. Is there an answer that won’t get me burned at the stake or locked up in a ward for the hopelessly insane?”
Like most things out of her mouth, that had been a peculiar answer. “Ye could try the truth,” he offered, slowing his pace since he heard Archie’s voice not far off.
“No,” she said flatly. “I couldn’t. At least not the whole truth. How about we just go with my name, Melanie, and with the honest fact that I’m a long way from home and I have no idea how to get back.” Her green eyes pierced his. “I’m afraid you might be stuck with me, Darcy Keith.”
Wishing for a Highlander – Buy Link:
~~ Amazon ~~
Jessi Gage links
Website | Blog | Facebook Fan Page | Twitter | Goodreads
If you’d like to enter Jessi’s giveaway, feel free to click on the rafflecopter link below.