Blog Archives
Happy New Year or, as we say in Scotland . . . lang may yer lum reek
My novel, WINTER STAR IN THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS, published mid-December, has been well received. It’s a sequel to Dark Highland Skies and continues the love story of Tor and Halley as they prepare for the birth of their first child. I’m happy to say it’s one of my best-selling novels and due to readers’ feedback, I plan to write one last book in the trilogy.
As one of my lovely readers put it: “This is a superbly written story, easy to follow with fine details and explanation which are second to none. You will laugh, cry and sense all the emotions that the characters do in this snow-covered Christmas setting with an ending not to be missed. I’ve learnt so much from Lizzie Lamb’s portrayal of this magical place. As always, it’s best to read both books, but Winter star in the Scottish Highlands can be read as a standalone.”
This is Ballindalloch Castle which I visited a couple of summers ago and which inspired the castle in my book – Creag na h-lolaire, which means Eagles Crag in Gaelic. Everything about it is romantic and if you’re ever in the Trossachs its well worth a visit.
If you would like to know what the novel is about. here’s the blurb
If you’d like to read the opening chapters of Winter Star in the Scottish Highlands FREE, click here
. . . A Winter’s tale to warm your heart from the Queen of Highland Romance Wrap up and snuggle down, this is the perfect winter read, whatever the weather
if you’d like to know what readers thought of Winter Star in the Scottish Highlands – see below –
. . . A captivating and heartwarming sequel to Dark Highland Skies. Fall in love with Halley & Tor and the glorious Scottish Highlands all over again! A Winter Wonderland of love, family feuds and friendship – a gorgeous read
. . . As usual Lizzie Lamb writes a compelling and heart-warming story of love, friendship and at times difficult family relationships, with great characters and a few scheming villains too! Tor is a wonderful hero and Halley is a strong heroine and their love for each other really shines throughout the story.
And, finally, before you go, please consider leaving a rating/review for Winter Star. Short written reviews matter on Amazon and just a few sentences is enough. More importantly, enjoy the story and look out for the last book in the trilogy which I hope to publish at the end of the year.
Bliadhna Mhath Ùr
HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO
When I started writing Dark, Highland Skies I thought long and hard about the hero: Hector Strachan, known as ‘Tor. I’d already created heroes with typical highlander colouring: dark hair, blue eyes and fair skin that blisters at the first touch of the summer sun. (see Ruairi Urquhart in Tall, Dark and Kilted). Some of my choices were influenced by Jamie Frazer in Outlander – who could resist the combination of auburn hair and blue-grey eyes. Then I thought, no, Tor is going to be more like his Viking ancestors who harried the west coast of Scotland and left their DNA behind: tall, blonde – the image of a young Robert Redford sprang to mind. Well, a girl can dream, can’t she!
It appears that readers and reviewers have fallen for Tor, too. Here’s what they’ve said …
It’s great to see our military heroes so well understood, with life changing injury and post traumatic stress explored sympathetically (in Tor’s case)
It is not just the story itself which I loved but also the description of all the locations and in many cases the history behind it, I would say it was all extremely well researched
I must say I rather fell for Tor – not only because he looked like my kind of guy but because of his infinite patience and gentleness, too.
The chemistry between astrophysicist Halley Dunbar and veteran Tor Strachan, a soldier suffering from PTSD and veteran Tor Strachan simply sizzles.
A former career soldier, he was invalided out of the army following horrific wounds sustained in a dreadful incident in Afghanistan
An extract from Dark Highland Skies
‘Look.’ Tor pointed skywards to where a golden eagle was circling above them, its wing tips spread open like fingers, yellow talons tucked neatly into its body. It turned its head and looked down on them, as if demanding to know what they were doing on its land. Its high chirruping cry cut through the bright, still air, drawing everyone’s gaze away from the coffin and heavenward. ‘It’s a sign that Tam is ready to leave us and that all will be well,’ Tor murmured, bending his head close so only Halley could hear.
Lizzie’s new novel – Harper’s Highland Fling
HIP HIP HOORAY – IT’S PUBLICATION DAY
Light the blue touch paper and stand well back
I’m really thrilled to be able to share Harper’s Highland Fling with you. Within a day of publication it reached #1 spot in ‘hot new releases’ and (briefly) #1 in Scottish Historical Romance – happy days.
It’s been a tough year for all of us with the pandemic breathing down our necks and to make things worse, my home town of Leicester has been in lockdown since the beginning of June. Seriously. So it was a blessed relief to be able to lose myself in my novel and join Harper and Rocco on their road trip as they set out to track down Pen and Ariel and bring them home. This is my sixth novel and I hope, by the time you reach the end of this post, you’ll be tempted to download it.
Here’s the BLURB
A classic Land Rover 
Rocco rides a classic motorbike
I wanted to incorporate the notion of a road trip featuring the uptight head of a federation of failing primary schools, a bohemian garage owner with a tragic past and a couple of teenagers who couldn’t understand why going AWOL might upset their responsible adults. Sound familiar? I take them on a road trip from the toe of Cornwall to Plockton in the beautiful west highlands of Scotland – stopping off at Bristol, Leicester (where else?), Penrith, and Gretna Green. I’ve travelled that route many times so I was able to get out all my old photos and have my own private road trip. As for the uptight headmistress – I wonder who she was based on ?
Heron Croft – the hero’s family home 
View of Loch Carron from Heron Croft’s garden 
The front door of Heron Croft 
The decking at the end of Heron Croft’s garden 
Heron Croft’s garden and view towards Harbour Street 
Cordyline Australis which grows on the shores of Loch Carron 
flotsam and jetsam collected on the fore shore and displayed on window ledges 
Plockton Station from where Harper catches her train back to England
To celebrate the launch of Harper’s Highland Fling I’ve organised a GIVEAWAY for newsletter subscribers. All you have to do is subscribe to my newsletter and follow the instructions there for a chance to win a signed copy of Harper’s Highland Fling and magnetic bookmark, a FREE kindle download of Harper’s Highland Fling, a gorgeous notebook, shortbread Scottie dogs (!) or Emma Ball notelets. The newsletter will be sent out on Monday 30th November – St Andrew’s Day, of course.
A Cornish Affair – Jo Lambert
I’ve been a fan of Jo’s well crafted books for a long time so I am pleased to announce the arrival of her new romance. Take it away, Jo – Tell us about your latest …….
BLURB
In the close-knit community of Carrenporth in Cornwall everyone knows everyone else’s business. Luke Carrack is only too aware of this. He’s been away for two years but nothing has changed – from the town gossips who can’t see past the scandal of his childhood, to the cold way he is treated by some of his so-called family.
The only person who seems to understand is local hotelier’s daughter Cat Trevelyan, although even Luke’s new friendship with her could set tongues wagging.
But Carrenporth is about to experience far bigger scandals than the return of Luke Carrack – and the secrets unearthed in the process will shake the sleepy seaside town to its core …
Photo by Dominika Roseclay on Pexels.com
Author Bio – Jo Lambert lives on the eastern edge of Bath in Somerset. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and the Society of Authors. She has been writing since 2008. Her first five books, a set of linked romantic sagas following the lives of several families in West Somerset, was followed in 2015 by Summer Moved On, a contemporary romance set in South Devon. A sequel, Watercolours in the Rain followed in 2017,
In June 2018 Jo signed to Choc Lit and her debut A Cornish Affair, set in North Cornwall, has just been published. Jo is currently working on another Cornish coastal romance. When she isn’t writing she reads and reviews. She also has an active blog. Jo loves travel, red wine and rock music and she often takes the odd photograph or two.
Buy links
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cornish-Affair-Jo-Lambert-ebook/dp/B07S4M3JNC
US – https://www.amazon.com/Cornish-Affair-Jo-Lambert-ebook/dp/B07S4M3JNC
In e-book and audible form
Also available on KOBO, Nook, Google Play and iBookstore
Social Media Links – Website: http://jolambertbooks.com
Blog: http://jolambertwriter.blog
Twitter: @jolambertwriter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jolambert185
Instagram: jolambertwriter185
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/jo-lambert-6 4644530
What readers and reviewers have said about A Cornish Affair
” perhaps my favourite yet of the author’s books” Welsh Anne 5*
” A really lovely and enjoyable debut by Jo for Choc Lit ” Barch 5*
” The many plot twists and one curious mystery kept my interest and moved the story along at a good pace. ” All125 4* Amazon.com
” What I really did enjoy about this novel was that I felt it went beyond where I would have expected it to. ” Gilski 4*
” A romantic, engaging and irresistible tale of love, loyalty and the ties that bind.” Julie 4*
New Novel – Take Me, I’m Yours – a Wisconsin love story
I hope you’re having a great summer and enjoying these endless days of sunshine. It reached over 35 degrees in SCOTLAND (Motherwell) when I was there this summer researching my next novel. However, I turned my back on the glorious sunshine and spent time in the caravan putting the finishing touches to Take My, I’m Yours. 
For some of the time, I was working with my formatter, Sarah Houldcroft of Goldcrest Books almost 600 miles away in Leicestershire. In one hilarious incident I had to travel across north-west Sutherland to find a phone signal in order to finalise the last details with her. Then I was forced to sit in the car park of the Fisheries Dept in Lochinver to check through and upload the final version of the novel.
See how I suffer for my art?
Anyhoo, here’s the blurb – I hope it’ll tempt you to download a copy of Take Me, I’m Yours, or buy a paperback for yourself or a friend.
You’re probably wondering why I have deserted the highlands of Scotland for Lake Michigan. If you download the novel you’ll find the answer in the dedication. In Take Me, I’m Yours the hero Logan MacFarlane quotes Robert Frost, saying that he has ‘promises to keep’. I promised my friend Dee Paulsen that when I left the teaching profession to become a full-time author, I would write a romance set in Wisconsin. Take Me, I’m Yours is that novel.
Many years ago we stayed in Door County, Wisconsin. On our last day, we went to Egg Harbor and Cana Island to explore the lighthouses there. Images of that day stayed with me and when I came to write Take Me, I’m Yours, I had no trouble imagining Aunt Elspeth’s dilapidated house with its ancient lighthouse looming over it. The story almost wrote itself because I’d spent many years thinking about it and having conversations with the characters in my head.
Here’s how the novel begins . . .
The first reviews are in – Goodreads – and here’s what they say:
- From the moment that Logan MacFarlane roars into view on his vintage Triumph motorcycle and India Buchanan grabs her monkey wrench to defend herself for their first skirmish, I knew I was going to love this book
- I fell in love with Scotland reading Lizzie’s books, and now with Wisconsin, too!
- As usual Lizzie’s characters leapt off the page and I felt as if I knew them; loved some and despaired of others. A very satisfying read.
- Be ready for 19 chapters of pure escapism where witty, ironic dialogues mix skilfully with top romance.
If you’d like to read some of Take Me, I’m Yours click here. TMIY is also free to read for Kindle Unlimited and Amazon Prime subscribers.
I am proud of this novel and everything I’ve achieved over the last five and a half years as an an indie publisher. I could rest on my laurels but I am burning to start novel number 6, a ‘road-trip’ romance which will take readers from Cornwall of Scotland on the trail of two runaways.
And, of course I have another gorgeous hero waiting in the wings to meet you . . . and a less-than-impressed heroine who will keep him on his toes.
Planning sheet for #6 which I started while in Scotland in June
Finally, from the 15th – 21st of September, Take Me, I’m Yours will be on tour
footnote: I received an email this morning from Amazon inviting me to enter Take Me, I’m Yours into the Kindle Storyteller Award 2018 judged by Lorraine Kelly and readers. Will I do it? Of course I will – as Del Boy once so famously said: she who dares, wins. It would really increase my chances of being shortlisted if you downloaded a copy and left a review.
Thank you very much , Lizzie x
Lizzie Lamb - author 