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Saturday, 2 August 2025
Wednesday, 30 July 2025
#BOOKQW - #RAIN
It's Book Quote Wednesday again! We're in Megan's p.o.v. again from The Matchmaker's Mare
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Matchmakers-Mare-Hywela-Lyn-ebook/dp/B0DYF6L15C
Wednesday, 23 July 2025
#BOOKQW - UTTER
It's Book Quote Wednesday again!
This week The Matchmaker's Mare is featured at N.N. Light's Book Heaven
Take a peek - you can not only read an excerpt but you can enter to win a prize pack
Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Spotlight and #Giveaway
In the spotlight at N.N.Light - check it out at https://substack.com/@nnlightsbookheaven/p-168875038 for an excerpt and chance to win a prize pack.
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Wednesday, 16 July 2025
#BookQW - #Shine
It's Book Quote Wednesdat again - I hope you enjoy this short excerpt from The Matchmaker's Mare, featuring the word 'Shine'.
Buy Links:
EBOOK or OR PAPERBACK AVAILABLE ON AMAZON UK and AMAZON U.S.
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Matchmakers-Mare-Hywela-Lyn-ebook/dp/B0DYF6L15C
Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/Matchmakers-Mare-Hywela-Lyn-ebook/dp/B0DYF6L15C
Amazon CA https://www.amazon.ca/Matchmakers-Mare-Hywela-Lyn-ebook/dp/B0DYF6L15C
also available at most other on-line retailers, including:
Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-matchmakers-mare-hywela-lyn/1146972592
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-matchmaker-s-mare
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/228393877-the-matchmaker-s-mare
Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-matchmaker-s-mare-by-hywela-lyn
Monday, 14 July 2025
NewTrailer Spotlight and #Giveaway
I'm excited to have The Matchmaker's Mare 'in the spotlight' with N.N. Light. Thank you so much, Nancy. Today she's highlighting my new trailer to give you a taste of the story
There is a Matchmaker's Mare themed Giveaway running throughout the tour
Enter to win a Prize Pack including Welsh lavender bag, set of heart shaped coasters, ‘Matchmaker’s Mare’ pen and Keychain, signed cover flat, $6 Amazon card.
Open Internationally.
Runs July 15 – August 21, 2025.
Winner will be drawn on August 22, 2025.
THE MATCHMAKER'S MARE
(published by The Wild Rose Press)
Buy Links
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Matchmakers-Mare-Hywela-Lyn-ebook/dp/B0DYF6L15C
Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/Matchmakers-Mare-Hywela-Lyn-ebook/dp/B0DYF6L15C
Amazon CA https://www.amazon.ca/Matchmakers-Mare-Hywela-Lyn-ebook/dp/B0DYF6L15C
also available at most other on-line retailers, including:
Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-matchmakers-mare-hywela-lyn/1146972592
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-matchmaker-s-mare
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/228393877-the-matchmaker-s-mare
Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-matchmaker-s-mare-by-hywela-lyn
Wednesday, 9 July 2025
#BOOKQW - #Order
Today's Book Quote Wednesday word is ORDER. This snippet from The Matchmaker's Mare is from the prologue, which is set in the distant past, and features the matchmaker, Rhiannon.
THE MATCHMAKER'S MARE
(published by The Wild Rose Press)
(also available at most other on-line retailers)
Wednesday, 2 July 2025
Book Quote Wednesday and today's word is #play and sees Megan's first glimpse of Glyn Phillips and the mysterious pony
...Why would anyone voluntarily try to ride such a dangerous animal?
A slim, dark-haired man who looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties, leaned over the gate of the schooling paddock. He turned his head toward her and gave her a friendly smile. She smiled back, taking in twinkling brown eyes like liquid chocolate, under a shock of dark, wavy hair and a tanned, good-looking face with a slight stubble. Good looking was something of an understatement. The man was gorgeous!
THE MATCHMAKER'S MARE
(published by The Wild Rose Press)
(also available at most other on-line retailers)
Wednesday, 25 June 2025
#BookQuoteWednesday
Today is Bookquote Wednesday, and the word is CLIMB, this is another snippet from my sweet paranormal romance, THE MATCHMAKER'S MARE
Wednesday, 18 June 2025
FATE: Tales of History, Mystery and Magic - Published 16th June 2025
Released on 16th May - apologies for late posting.
FATE: Tales of History, Mystery and Magic
If you had a
crystal ball to predict what lay ahead, would you be tempted to use
it? Or would you leave the future to the turn of Fate?
Tales of Variety. Tales of History,
Mystery and Magic – some comprising just one of these popular fiction genres,
others, a mild mixture of all three. Perhaps you prefer historical
fiction rather than a story about magic or fantasy? Maybe you enjoy exploring
new themes or prefer sticking to the familiar? Historical fiction can often
inform, imparting knowledge of the past, of its events and its people. Stories
of mystery exercise the ‘little grey cells’ as Poirot would say, while fantasy
and magic create new worlds and awed wonder.
Whatever result, this is where
anthologies come into their own, and where short stories are often appreciated
as enjoyable, entertaining, quick or easy reads shown through the eyes of a
variety of extraordinary characters and situations. In this instance: an
Anglo-Saxon woman facing the consequence of conquest, the pursuit of alchemy,
the concern of a mother for her daughter, the shifting of time, the necessity
of hidden identity, souls who will linger as ghosts, a warning from the
supernatural, the necessity for (justifiable?) revenge. All mingled with the
rekindling of romance through a mutual quest, and the preparations for a
Cotswold village celebration. (Along with a good tip if illicitly snaffling
cakes.)
The binding
theme? Destiny... Kismet... FATE!
Purchase Link
Amazon Universal link: https://mybook.to/FateAnthology
Author Bios
BRAMBLE CREEP BY
ANNIE WHITEHEAD
When the Normans
arrive at a peaceful Anglo-Saxon village, do the women, children and old men
submit... or fight?
ABOUT ANNIE:
Annie Whitehead is a prize-winning writer, historian, and Fellow of the
Royal Historical Society, and has written four award-winning novels set in
‘Anglo-Saxon’ Mercia. She has contributed to fiction and nonfiction anthologies
and written for various magazines. She has twice been a prize winner in the
Mail on Sunday Novel Writing Competition, and won First Prize in the 2012 New
Writer Magazine's Prose and Poetry Competition. She has been a finalist in the
Tom Howard Prize for nonfiction and was shortlisted for the Exeter Story Prize
and Trisha Ashley Award 2021. She was the winner of the inaugural Historical
Writers’ Association (HWA)/Dorothy Dunnett Prize 2017 and was subsequently a
judge for that same competition. She has also been a judge for the HNS (Historical
Novel Society) Short Story Competition, and was a 2024 judge for the HWA Crown
Nonfiction Award.
Her nonfiction books are Mercia: The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom and Women of Power in Anglo-Saxon. In 2023 she contributed to a new history of English monarchs, published by Hodder & Stoughton, and in February 2025 Murder in Anglo-Saxon England was published by Amberley Books.
Website: https://anniewhiteheadauthor.co.uk/
Amazon Author Page: http://viewauthor.at/Annie-Whitehead
SIX POMEGRANATE SEEDS BY JEAN GILL
A daughter’s dream can be a mother’s nightmare.
ABOUT JEAN
Jean Gill is an award-winning Welsh writer and photographer living in the south of France with a scruffy dog, a beehive named 'Endeavour', a Nikon D750 and a man. First published in 1988, her twenty-six books are varied in genre, including novels, memoir, military history, dog books, poetry, and a cookery book on goat cheese. With Scottish parents, an English birthplace and French residence, she can usually support the winning team on most sporting occasions. She taught English for many years and was the first woman to be a comprehensive school headteacher in Dyfed, Wales. Life has been hectic as she is also mother or stepmother to five children.
Website: www.jeangill.com
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/jeangill
ONE BLACK DOG BY MARIAN L THORPE
A warning of Fate, or simply too much beer and a tale well told?
ABOUT MARIAN
A dual Canadian/British citizen who divides her year between Ontario, Canada, and Norfolk, UK, Marian published the first of her eight-book Empire’s Legacy series, historically-inspired speculative fiction, in 2015. The series is set in a world ‘on the edge of history’: reminiscent of Britain, Northern Europe, and Rome in the latter centuries of the first millennium, but a world where society evolved differently after the Eastern Empire left; a world where one young fisherwoman answers her leader’s call to defend her country, beginning a journey into uncharted territory.
Website: www.marianlthorpe.com
Amazon Author Page: https://relinks.me/MarianLThorpe
IN THE SHADOW OF GHOSTS BY HELEN
HOLLICK
Does the fate of those who survive linger forever?
ABOUT HELEN
Known for her captivating storytelling and rich attention to historical detail, Helen’s historical fiction, nautical adventure series, cosy mysteries – and her short stories – skilfully invite readers to step into worlds where the boundaries between fact and fiction blend together. Helen started writing as a teenager, but after discovering a passion for history, was initially published in 1993 in the UK with her Arthurian Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy and two Anglo-Saxon novels about the events that led to the 1066 Battle of Hastings, one of which, The Forever Queen (USA title – A Hollow Crown in the UK) became a USA Today best-seller. Her Sea Witch Voyages are nautical-based adventures inspired by the Golden Age of Piracy. She also writes the Jan Christopher cosy mystery series set during the 1970s, and based around her, sometimes hilarious, years of working as a North London library assistant. Her 2025 release is Ghost Encounters, a book about the ghosts of North Devon.
Helen and her family moved from London to Devon after a Lottery win on the opening night of the London Olympics, 2012. She spends her time glowering at the overgrown garden, fending off the geese, helping with the horses and wishing the friendly, resident ghosts would occasionally help with the housework...
Website: https://helenhollick.net/
Amazon Author Page: https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick
A FATEFUL
ENCOUNTER BY ALISON MORTON
When time turns in the wrong direction, fate will always step in…
ABOUT ALISON
Alison Morton writes award-winning thrillers featuring tough but compassionate heroines. Her eleven-book Roma Nova thriller series is set in an imaginary European country where a remnant of the ancient Roman Empire has survived into the 21st century and is ruled by women who face conspiracy, revolution and heartache but with a sharp line in dialogue
Six years’ military service, a fascination with ancient Rome and a life of reading crime, historical and thriller fiction have inspired her writing. On the way, she collected a BA in modern languages and an MA in history. She lives in Poitou in France, the home of Mélisende, the heroine of her latest two contemporary thrillers, Double Identity and Double Pursuit.
Website: https://www.alison-morton.com
Amazon Author Page: https://Author.to/AlisonMortonAmazon
FOLLOWING FATE BY ELIZABETH ST.JOHN
A Lost Portrait, a Hidden Conspiracy, and a Second Chance at Love
ABOUT ELIZABETH
Elizabeth St.John’s acclaimed historical fiction brings to life her ancestors – remarkable women linked to England’s royalty – offering unique insights into Medieval, Tudor, and Stuart times. Inspired by family archives and historic sites like Lydiard Park and the Tower of London, her novels include The Lydiard Chronicles, The Godmother’s Secret, and The King's Intelligencer, exploring the English Civil War and the mystery of the Princes in the Tower.
Website: www.elizabethjstjohn.com
Amazon Author Page: https://geni.us/AmazonElizabethStJohn
THE BLACK ONYX
BOX BY R. MARSDEN
The Bluffer’s Guide to Becoming a Famous Alchemist
R. Marsden is an author and musician, passionate about the Middle Ages. He plays the gittern, a beautiful medieval stringed instrument, ancestor of the guitar; and a thirteenth century recorder, a replica of one which was excavated from medieval ruins in modern-day Poland. He also plays the piano, and there’s nothing medieval about that!
Tales of Castle Rory are
Medieval Fantasy Adventures, in which the demesne of Lord Rory of Hambrig is
brought to life. Set in the latter part of the thirteenth century, these
stories have adventure, mystery and magic at their heart. You’ll also find
relationships, romance, friendship and the forging and breaking of ties between
people and nations. Running through the Tales are themes of family, loyalty,
trust and resilience, together with the other sides of those coins:
abandonment, betrayal, loss and disempowerment.
Website: https://talesofcastlerory.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554417124566
Amazon Author Page: https://mybook.to/TalesOfCastleRory
BEWARE THE
CROWS BY ANNA BELFRAGE
Beware the consequences of hatred. Revenge can take many forms…
ABOUT ANNA
Had Anna been allowed to choose, she’d have become a time-traveller. As this was impossible, she became a financial professional with three absorbing interests: history, romance and writing. Anna has authored the acclaimed time travelling series The Graham Saga, set in 17th century Scotland and Maryland, as well as the equally acclaimed medieval series The King’s Greatest Enemy which is set in 14th century England, and The Castilian Saga, which is set against the medieval conquest of Wales. She has also published a time travel romance, The Whirlpools of Time, and its sequel Times of Turmoil, and is now considering just how to wiggle out of setting the next book in that series in Peter the Great’s Russia, as her characters are demanding. . .
All of Anna’s books have been awarded the IndieBRAG Medallion, she has several Historical Novel Society Editor’s Choices, and one of her books won the HNS Indie Award in 2015. She is also the proud recipient of various Reader’s Favourite medals as well as having won various Gold, Silver and Bronze Coffee Pot Book Club awards.Website: www.annabelfrage.com
Amazon Author Page: http://Author.to/ABG
DAME FORTUNE’S
WHEEL BY J.P. REEDMAN
Fate can be in the hands of others – or held within your own...
ABOUT J.P. REEDMAN
J.P. Reedman lives in Wiltshire near to Stonehenge. Born in Canada, she has had a lifelong interest in ancient and medieval history, and is often found lurking around prehistoric sites, ruined castles and abbeys, and interesting churches with camera in hand. She became a full-time writer in 2018. Series include I, Richard Plantagenet, five books chronicling Richard’s life from childhood to Bosworth, and Medieval Babes, a set of standalone novels about lesser-known medieval queens and noblewomen.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IRichardPlantagenet/
Amazon Author Page: author.to/REEDMANHISTFIC
SAINTS ALIVE BY DEBBIE YOUNG
When children are not quite the saints we’d like them to be!
ABOUT DEBBIE
YOUNG
Debbie Young is the author of three series of cosy mystery novels set in the Cotswolds. The Sophie Sayers series starts with Best Murder in Show; the Gemma Lamb series begins with Dastardly Deeds at St Bride’s; and the Cotswold Curiosity Shop series kicks off with Death at the Old Curiosity Shop. She sometimes sends characters from one series to visit those in another. She also writes short fiction, not all of it crime-related, set in the same world, eg Christmas with Sophie Sayers. Her novels are published by Boldwood Books in English, by DP Verlag in German, and by Antonio Vallardi in Italian. She has recently written her first murder mystery play for performance by her village amateur dramatic group. She is a frequent speaker at events for writers and readers, a course tutor for Jericho Writers, and the founder and director of the Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival. She lives in a Victorian cottage with her Scottish husband, her student daughter, and three cats, and she writes in a little hut at the bottom of her garden.
Website: www.authordebbieyoung.com
Links to buy Debbie’s books:
https://authordebbieyoung.com/books-2/
YouTube book Trailer:
https://youtu.be/M9pSrDX8PTQ?si=sqe7R1JpQoGwUjrb
#BookQuote Wednesday - KICK
Another one from Megan's P.O.V. this week. Oh dear, it doesn't sound like good news!
(also available at most other on-line retailers)
(published by The Wild Rose Press)
Wednesday, 11 June 2025
#BookQuote Wednesday - QUOTE
She hated the situation between them and CRAVED for things
to get back to the way they had been.
(If you've read the book you might notice a teeny weeny bit of poetic licence!)
(also available at most other on-line retailers)
(published by The Wild Rose Press)
Monday, 9 June 2025
Some more Welsh myths
I thought I'd post a few Welsh 'horsey' legends and an old Welsh custom. I have posted these before but I think they bear repeating!
MARY GRAY
WATER HORSE
The Ceffyl Dŵr, literally translated into English means the 'Water Horse'. It is most commonly considered a counterpart to the Scotish Kelpie, but has also been compared to the the Irish puca. The ceffyl Dŵr appears as a white or grey horse, or sometimes black, with a white mane and tail, sometimes glowing or wings. It is said to inhabit mostly mountain pools and waterfalls, although it has been known to frequent rivers and the sea as well.
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RHIANNON
It just so happens that Rhiannon is the name of the matchmaker in The Matchmaker's Mare!
Three years after they married, Rhiannon gave birth to a son, but he disappeared at night while his nursemaids, who were supposed to have been watching over him, fell asleep. Frightened of the consequences, the nursemaids smeared the blood of a dead puppy on the face of their sleeping queen. When she awoke, Rhiannon was accused of killing and her son and eating him. As penance, she was made to sit outside the castle walls, and tell passers by what she had done. Pwyll, however, stood by her, refusing to send her away or have her more severely punished.
The newborn child had been in fact found by\ Teyrnon, the lord of Gwent-Is-Coed. He was a horse lord whose beautiful mare gave him a foal every May Eve, but each year. the foal would disappear. Before his mare had her next foal he took her into his house and sat vigil with her. After her foal was born he saw a monstrous claw trying to take the newborn foal through the window, so he slashed at the monster with his sword, before rushing outside. He found the monster gone, and a human baby lying by the door. He and his wife cared for the boy as their own, naming him Gwri Wallt Euryn (Gwri of the Golden Hair). The child grew rapidly, and had a great affinity for horses. As the boy grewTeyrnon who once served Pwyll as a courtier, recognised his resemblance to his father. He was an honourable man, and so he returned the boy to the Dyfed royal house.
Rhiannon was married to Pwyll, the Lord of Dyfed. When Pwyll first saw her, she appeared as a beautiful woman dressed in gold, riding a magnificent white horse. Rhiannon managed to outrun Pwyll for three days, and then when he shouted to her to stop, allowed him to catch up. When he said he'd fallen in love with her and wanted to marry her, she scolded him for not telling her to stop before, and making his poor horse work so hard. Then she said she'd be happy to marry him, because it would save her from marrying Gwawl, who she despised and who had tricked her into an engagement. Rhiannon and Pwyll conspired together to deceive Gwawl and thus Pwyll won her as his bride.
The newborn child had been in fact found by\ Teyrnon, the lord of Gwent-Is-Coed. He was a horse lord whose beautiful mare gave him a foal every May Eve, but each year. the foal would disappear. Before his mare had her next foal he took her into his house and sat vigil with her. After her foal was born he saw a monstrous claw trying to take the newborn foal through the window, so he slashed at the monster with his sword, before rushing outside. He found the monster gone, and a human baby lying by the door. He and his wife cared for the boy as their own, naming him Gwri Wallt Euryn (Gwri of the Golden Hair). The child grew rapidly, and had a great affinity for horses. As the boy grewTeyrnon who once served Pwyll as a courtier, recognised his resemblance to his father. He was an honourable man, and so he returned the boy to the Dyfed royal house.
Ah, I love a happy ending - and there is a happy ending in The Matchmaker's Mare, of course.
Available now, as ebook or paperback, on Amazon and other on-line retailers.
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