Tag Archive | historical romance

The Viking’s Highland Lass

Feb28

160f3-theviking27shighlandlass28533x80029Book 7 in the series!

Gunnolf was left for dead when he was young as he went on one of his kin’s raids, but finds his way to the Highlands and a home with the MacNeill Clan. The clan’s seer warns him he must rescue a woman in need, only he rescues the wrong woman. Yet, Brina is in need. Her father, wounded in battle by Gunnolf’s own kind, must oust the tyrant who has taken his place if he is to rule. Yet he needs Gunnolf’s help, but Gunnolf learns Brina’s father had killed Gunnolf’s brother.

Brina is torn between hating the Viking who has rescued her, and knowing that his kin had killed her grandfather in an age old tale of fighting between their people, and loving the man who took her under his protection, and the wolf cub she insisted on rescuing.

Now, Gunnolf must make a choice: wed the lass as her father has insisted and restore her father’s position as chief of his clan when he’s not sure her father is trustworthy, hoping he can obtain a peace between his people and hers, or leave well enough alone and stay with the MacNeill Clan, his family for the past ten years. The problem is one sweet Highland lass that makes him want a woman—this woman—to warm his bed and have his bairns and to protect and cherish, when having a wife was the furthest notion from his mind…until one prediction changed his whole life.

***

I promised this book a while back, fully intended to have it done by December, but hadn’t planned to buy a house and put a house up for sale, which meant all kinds of work and turmoil and work, and then I had contracted three new books, and the one was due March 1st, and that HAD to be written.

Soooo, my priority was to finish writing The Viking’s Highland Lass, which was already over halfway written as soon as Loving the Silver Wolf was finished. Next is The Golden Fae, also promised. 🙂

And then, I think I have to get back to writing another wolf book after that.

So for now, preorders are up at:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Vikings-Highland-Lass-Highlanders-Book-ebook/dp/B01C9JCKCA

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/the-viking-s-highland-lass

I will have it at the other sites as soon as I can. And it will also be in print.

Back to the book because I love Gunnolf and hope that my readers will love him just as much in a tale of his own!

Have a great day!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

Connect with Terry Spear:

Website: http://www.terryspear.com

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Wilde & Woolly Bears http://www.celticbears.com

 

 

 

Call of the Cougar! Fresh Fiction Review for Her Highland Hero!

Jul7

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Lovely review at Fresh Fiction!

Her Highland Hero, June 2014
The Highlanders #6
by Terry Spear

Self Published
Featuring: Marcus McEwan; Lady Isobel
230 pages
ISBN: 1633110001
EAN: 9781633110007
Kindle: B00LENEGHU
e-Book
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Fresh Fiction Review

“Full of heart-stopping action, sexy good guys, and strong women!”

Her Highland Hero
Terry Spear

Reviewed by Miranda Owen
Posted July 6, 2014

There are certain components in HER HIGHLAND HERO that are staples of just about any book by Terry Spear — the good guys are sweet, sexy and can handle a sword; the heroine is no pushover; and the action adds interest and is exciting but it never overbalances the romance. I also love that Isobel and Marcus discuss the dangers they face and make decisions together. There are some things that Isobel is physically unable to do because she was never trained as a warrior, but neither is she immature or a hindrance on the journey to Marcus’s castle. He admires her determination and heartiness and doesn’t talk down to her or patronize her.

Along with the sizzling romance, HER HIGHLAND HERO is full of treachery, conspiracies, and tons of bad guys to choose from. It’s fun trying to guess who the masterminds are and how the puzzle pieces fit into place. It’s nice seeing familiar faces from past books acting as helpers in Marcus and Isobel’s journey. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for familiar characters like Gunnolf and new characters like Sir Travon, and the mysterious Dwyer.

HER HIGHLAND HERO is exactly the kind of highlander book fans have come to expect from Terry Spear — full of heart- stopping action, sexy good guys, and strong women. I look forward to reading more books in this series!

***

I set His Wild Highland Lass aside to read later and revise some more. It really is good to let a story go for a while. It’s not due out until Feb. So I have time on it.

So I was tossing ideas around in my head of how to start The Viking’s Highland Lass and Call of the Cougar. One of my beta readers said I probably wouldn’t want to release another Highland novel that soon, so work on Call of the Cougar. In actuality, I will have to stop whatever project I get stared on in a couple of weeks to go to a conference, come home for a week, and off to another conference, at which time I will have to work solely on A Silver Wolf Christmas for a November deadline. So no matter what I work on now, it’s not going to be finished right away. Wrote 2500 of Call of the Cougar yesterday, and will be working more on it today. But if I get stuck, I’ll go back to Viking. 🙂

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I saw a note from someone on a loop who asked, “Is releasing a book in August bad for sales?”

Actually, anytime in summer can be bad because families are vacationing and busy doing other stuff. On the other hand, when I wasn’t juggling little ones, I loved to read on a plane. Or when I was at a cabin or hotel at night, read a book.

The same can be said of August or September. Kids are going back to school, money is tight for buying school supplies, new clothes for the kids, and if you have teen books coming out then, kids are too busy with their studies to read. Although I have just as many adult readers for my teen books. Or…releases are bad in November or December because of the holidays and everyone is buying gifts. Hmmm, books maybe??? I always get books for my kids and kids-in-laws. They ask for them! Then I’ve heard January is the worst for sales because no one has any money. And yet, everyone has new ereaders and gift certificates!  And I’ve heard that sales can be really good. 🙂

What do I do? When the book is ready, I publish it. Whether it sells a lot this month or next month, or three months from now is irrelevant. I’m working on the next book. And when that one comes out, maybe IT will hit the right month. The point is we never really know. And we’re in this for the long term. So if you’re reading my books and are looking forward to the next one, don’t worry about me releasing in only certain months to optimize sales! 🙂

When it’s done, it’s yours.

It’s kind of like submitting to an agent. EVERYONE said, don’t submit during a holiday. No agent will read your work. I found submitting during the holidays, not right on Thanksgiving or Christmas, but the weeks before were great times to submit. You know why? No one else was because EVERYONE said… yep. So everyone else didn’t submit. And mine were seen to right away. 🙂

But every book is special. Every release is special. It might not be well loved this month, or it might even take a year for readers to finally take notice. 🙂 We just have to write the next book. Don’t you agree?

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Oh, and after showing off my Patriotic Patrick on Facebook, I had one order for him, and one for another bear! He is cute, isn’t he? He was featured in Teddy Bear Review Magazine some years back.

I had a question: Do I make the bear too? Not just the clothes?

Yes.

Here is a naked bear that I also made and naked bunnies too!

Bunniesmohair2Copy of Mason1

Happy reading!!!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

www.terryspear.com

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Highlanders, Baby Bunnies and Dragonflies!

Jul1

her highland hero print front quote3 1850

I’m still waiting for it to show up on Kobo and Google Play, but it’s now up on B&N!

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Print proof is ready for me to review, but trying to get somewhere on His Wild Highland Lass.
Now that Her Highland Hero is on Amazon, I’ve uploaded it for a narrator for the audiobook format!

It’s been so hot, I’ve had to go out and water and while I did so, I scared a baby bunny from her hiding place behind a shrub. And of course, what did I have to do? Run and get my camera.

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Not only that, but I saw a dragonfly on the top of my pyracantha. The bad news is that it means there are voracious bugs eating my plants. And you can see that from the way they are stripped naked on top. But that is a nice place for my sentinel bird to perch, so some good comes of it. The other good news is the dragonfly will help to take care of the bugs.

I wasn’t sure, as far away as the dragonfly was, nor how high up it was, that I could even get a shot of him. It was hard to see what I was doing. Same with the bunny too. Mostly, I was just seeing light. And we had strong winds and the dragonfly was fluttering his wings rapidly trying to hang on to the branch, but I still managed to get a shot, winds and all.

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When I went out the second time to move the water, I discovered two dragonflies feeding! So naturally, I had to dash back in the house, grab the camera, and try to catch them both.

2 hungry dragonflies feasting

Who would ever thought on such a hot and miserable day, I could find such wonders?

Back to the air conditioned cool and the hot Highlanders. 🙂

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

www.terryspear.com

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Her Highland Hero is Available!

Jun30

her highland hero print front quote3 1850

I’m still waiting for it to show up on B&N, Kobo, and Google Play, but it’s now up at Amazon, All Romance Ebooks, and Smashwords.

Amazon

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In the meantime, well, after I spent all yesterday finishing edits, adding a cover quote, and then last night and this morning working on publishing it, I WAS working on His Wild Highland Lass, the novella. I have nearly 15000 words done on it, was shooting for 20,000, but it will probably be closer to 23-25. Or longer. We’ve decided to go up to 30K if the stories require a longer story to be told. Isn’t that the way?

So I just wanted to pop in to say the book is done, publishing, oh, and for my print readers, it’s also done, and currently in review, so it should be done in a week or so. It takes longer for the print process to finish.

Now that it’s on Amazon, I can start working to find a narrator for the audiobook format!

Hope you are all having a lovely Monday!

It’s going to be a grueling 97 again today. We rarely get these high temps so early, so not looking forward to a really hot summer. Which means I will be working hard to keep these shrubs alive for the season. Only one from last year made it. Then I found a more drought resistant variety and planted that. But it will still need water to make it through its first season. Particularly with these hot, beastly days.

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Off to get back to work. If I am not working on the current work-in-progress, I feel as though I haven’t been working. 🙂

Have a lovely day.

Did you get your blue light today? That’s the early morning light that you’re supposed to soak up so you feel great!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

www.terryspear.com

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Purple Flower Day

Jun21

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These are from my birthday flowers, so not exactly wildflowers, but most of the rest are!

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These are so tiny, barely noticeable when I took the picture of the mushroom.

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Not sure on this one. Tried to locate a picture like it, but couldn’t find one.

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Not sure on these either.

Iris open

My garden iris.

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Mountain Laurel

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not sure on this one
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Dead Nettle

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Aster
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Verbena

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Horsemint, attracts butterflies and hummingbirds!

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Wild petunia

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Clover flowers

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periwinkle

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Desert Willow

bluebonnets wildflower by airport

bluebonnets at the airport

I probably have more, but here is a selection of pretty purple flowers.

And that is my purple flower day.

Don’t you love them?

Off to work on Her Highland Hero.  7,000 words to go! 🙂

her highland hero cover with title cursive copy

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

www.terryspear.com

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Wildflowers of Summer, Central Texas

Jun19

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The bluebonnets are gone, but the Indian Blanket/Firestorm is out in full force, and I caught this milkweed that I thought was pretty with my macro lenses. Who says weeds can’t be pretty?

Back to Her Highland Hero. Need to finish it up so I can work on the Highland novella for an anthology I’m working with 4 other authors on! 🙂 If I don’t keep working on it, I’m bound to get edits in on the other books again and lose my place. LOL And have to start all over again. 🙂

Have a lovely Thursday!

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

www.terryspear.com

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Painting between Storms!

May29

Please vote and have a chance to win too, if you haven’t already.

As of last night when I pre-posted this, The Dark Fae was in the lead, which is incredible! Considering where she began. She might not be there by the end of the contest, and I was ready for it to end when I was ahead, but isn’t that always the way???

So if you haven’t had a chance and want to, she’d still love the votes! Because between now and May 31 when it ends, anything could happen. You know how it is, you’re way behind in a game, and all of a sudden you think you’re going to win and somebody else out of the blue does??? If you’re the person out of the blue, that’s a good thing.

http://www.parajunkee.com/2014/05/26/vote-for-your-favorite-ya-audiobook-giveaway-sultry-listeners-awards/

 

 

I thought I had taken a picture of the wrought iron I had painted too, but apparently not. So here is the before, and the clouds that prevented me from doing much else, then went out again later. I’ll have to take another picture of the wrought iron I did paint for the after picture. But I’m afraid the ALL after will take a long time. I have to do it between violent winds and rainstorms. 🙂 Then it will get too hot and… aren’t I good at making excuses? But I am using about 3 cans a day, so I am getting somewhere with it. I realized I have miniscule black freckles today. So much for the wind going in the right direction.

I love the wrought iron. It makes me feel as though I’m truly within my castle walls. 🙂

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The storm clouds, the corn, the wrought iron I’m painting.

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Reflections of the tops of the corn stalks, pine tree, and red oak tree in the rainwater.

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The unpainted wrought iron, part of my castle defenses. Note, the wheat from last year’s crop and then the corn.

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There’s something cool about holes in clouds. 🙂

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It should be illegal to have electric wires above ground. You know, because of the fact that the best shots are always right where the darn electric wires are.

And that’s my stormy day.

Off to write. For the first time, I was able to get my 3,000 word count yesterday, AND a little ahead. Not much, but writing a little ahead, makes me…a little ahead. 🙂

Have a terrific Thursday!!!

Have a great day!

And thanks again to everyone who voted. It’s amazing to me that I moved up to the top. It doesn’t usually happen. I usually make a little headway and fall right back down. So thank you, thank you to all who voted!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

www.terryspear.com

More Rain, but I Love It!

May28

Please vote and have a chance to win too. You are really helping The Dark Fae to move up in the votes. She was waaaay last, and now she’s in third place but only a vote behind 2nd place! Thanks, thanks, thanks! If you have ever loved a fae, thought of a fae, been a fae, hated a fae, wanted a fae, wanted to be a fae, give her a vote, please??? The underdog is the middle dog now! Woohoo, thanks to everyone who has voted for her. http://www.parajunkee.com/2014/05/26/vote-for-your-favorite-ya-audiobook-giveaway-sultry-listeners-awards/

 

So in between rain showers, I ran a bunch of errands. I have a painter coming this weekend to repaint my ceilings and I had to buy spray paint to paint the wrought iron. It’s coming along nicely. But I have to share a funny.

When I’m at the checkout counter, the clerk asked, “You’re over 18, aren’t you?”

Waaaay over 18. So at first, it took me aback. I mean, really?

Then I realized what it was about. Spray paint. Kids buying it to get high on it.

I didn’t say yes. I just said with a great big smile, “Thank you for asking. I haven’t had anyone ask that in years.”

LOL

She laughed and said she asked a man that and he assured her he was 85. And told her a couple of times. LOL

So, as I was spray painting, it was windy as usual. And though the wind was blowing away from me, I kept getting whiffs of the stuff.

Soooo, will that improve my writing or not? Some of our greatest, most famous artists and writers were drug addicts and alcoholics. With my luck, I’d just be brain dead.

Back to writing and if you wanted to and hadn’t had a chance to, The Dark Fae still could use a LOT of votes.

She’s desperate, and when she’s desperate, she causes mischief for me.

Computer outages, electrical outages…oh, sure, I could blame it on the storm, but I know better.

It all has to do with the fae.

Have a super great hump day.

Over halfway done on Her Highland Hero and I’m working toward reaching 40,000 today!

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A hero in a woman’s eye really isn’t about the muscle. 🙂 Truly.

But it does make for an awfully nice cover. 🙂

Have a great day!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

www.terryspear.com

Some Mornings Are Just… Slow

Jan16

Or… the time is fast and I’m just slow. Now when I was working at the library, sometimes the time went really slowly. 🙂 It’s all relative. When I’m waiting on a repairman, the time goes slowly. When I’m trying to finish up a bunch of projects, the time goes by way too fast.

Have you ever noticed it’s the same way when you’re on your way to something? If you have all the time in the world, you have no traffic, hit every green light, and are there way too early? But if you’re running late, you get behind the tractor trailer that is moving at 10 mph and no way to get around him, and you reach town and EVERY light is against you? EVERY single one? Now what are the odds?

So, I woke at 4, wrote a 1,000 words, and it’s already 8??? How in the world did that happen?

I could give you all the boring details–Story Finds was kind enough to contact me and tell me that I was featured on their site with my 99 cent sale for Taming the Wild Highlander, so I had to share that with the world. That meant Facebook, and then I was on there catching up with all the comments. Then I had to Twitter. Okay, I’m not a big twitterer. Yes. It’s a word. Because I said so. And then I post on Twitter, follow their site, and see the block saying: If you have a free or cheap read to share, share it here, and I was hooked. Sooooo, when you do that, another and another and another, and so on, pop up. So I was happily Twittering away. Hopefully, I didn’t do it wrong. I never am quite sure about it. 🙂 Maybe I should take lessons. 🙂

So here is Story Finds Link, and they did a beautiful job. Thanks!

http://storyfinds.com/book/6983/taming-the-wild-highlander

Okay, then I had to answer a million emails. Yes, overnight fans and friends and many others email me when I’m sleeping. Can you imagine? Why aren’t they all sleeping?

And then I was playing around with my full moon shots, okay, so that wasn’t EXACTLY essential to my morning routine, except that I wanted to share them on this blog. I’ll do it tomorrow though. Today is a shout out about Taming the Wild Highlander going on sale because it’s only for a day. Or, at least that’s what I planned. One day. It was picked up by ENT Book of the Day, you see, and that’s a great boon, so it’s coming out on Jan 22. That’s the sale day. So why is it on sale now? I had to reduce the price to ensure it WAS on sale for the sites by that day.

Edana Chattan senses concerns where people she knows could be in danger. When her brothers warn her they’re in trouble, she can’t convince her father to listen to her, so with an escort, she tries to locate them. Separated from her escort during a storm, she is discovered by Angus MacNeill, who is tasked to return her home.

Only Edana has other notions–and convinces him and his companions to allow her to use her abilities to locate her brothers who are manacled in a dungeon somewhere. That leads to a faux marriage and more dungeons and more trouble than Angus had ever thought possible. So why is the bewitching, fiery-haired lass making him think of marrying her for real?

Do you remember when I said that some times you are ahead of the game and then you’re even more ahead, but other times you’re way behind the ball and you’re never going to catch up?

That’s it! If I had changed the prices a day before, they wouldn’t have gone into effect until two days later. Murphy’s Law. But by changing them the week before, voila, instant success! An hour later, the 1-day sale is a go. Wrong day, a week early.

And that’s okay. I hate it when I see a sale that I missed because I was working or didn’t get the word until too late. So you get to enjoy it and I’m happy.

Now, as to my day that is slipping away before my very eyes, I’m off to make up for it. 25,000 words left to go on Jaguar Pride! Maybe about 2+ weeks to write on it, and it will be finished. Not all the way, but written, in any event. It’s due Mar 15, so that’s good. Then I’m off on another project! Keeps me out of trouble.

Okay, got to show off the full moon. Do you see the white light directly above it? That’s the North Star.

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So, do you ever feel that your day is running away from you when you don’t want it to, and won’t go away when you do want it to?

Terry

www.terryspear.com

Highland Rake on Sale!

Oct21

Highland Rake

I’m doing a BIG promotion for the new release of The Highlander, 5th book in the series. So this is Highland Rake, 3rd book. I have NEVER put these Highland books on sale.  So for one week only, starting today and running through Oct 27, Highland Rake will be on sale for 99 cents. 🙂

Dougald MacNeill is the next to youngest MacNeill brother and he’s not about to settle down, until Lady Alana Cameron is placed squarely in his lap…and then, the trouble begins.

When Dougald finds Alana roaming the heather on the MacNeill lands, he takes her in hand to see his laird brother James at Craigly Castle to determine her fate. But who has sent her there and why? Her uncle, laird of the Cameron clan, that has warred with the MacNeills for years, has made a marriage arrangement with another clan and now that is even at stake.

Having witnessed her father’s death, and even believing he had returned her home when all along he had been dead, Alana discovers she has the gift, or curse, of seeing the newly departed and sometimes those who should have long ago passed over. Her own deceased brother continues to plague her, the rake, and now another, who is very much of the flesh, Dougald MacNeill, has her thinking marrying a rake might just have its benefits. Dougald’s sister, who is one feisty ghost, has offered to help Alana keep Dougald in line if he thinks of even straying.

But who sent Alana on a fool’s errand in the first place to remove her from the Cameron’s lands and set her squarely in Dougald’s care, and who really killed her father and her brother, and what has it all to do with Alana? Will she and Dougald learn the truth before it is too late?

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Enjoy!

Terry