Once & Future Series
Celtic legends and modern life collide in this saga of a contemporary woman coming to grips with a destiny set in motion generations ago. Inspired by her unusual childhood in rural Appalachia, Sarah MacAlpin is set on pursuing a career as a folklorist. She had a rough start in life, but has worked tirelessly to set herself on the right track. Just when Sarah comes closest to reaching her professional goals, a startling revelation turns her whole world upside down. Can she survive what fate has in store for her, or will she follow in her mother's footsteps down the road to madness?
The shocking prequel to The River Maiden.
When she left Kettle Hollow, Molly MacAlpin hoped never to see her remote mountain home again. She returned eighteen months later angry, pregnant and abandoned by the man she loved. So, she threw all her energy into making sure her daughter had the best life possible.
With the help and sometimes interference of her mother, she is raising a bright, sweet child she hopes will have every possible opportunity. Until one spring day a brief conversation with her little girl brings her world crashing down around her.
Also includes a preview of The River Maiden (Once and Future Book 1).
Sarah MacAlpin has always felt like an outsider. Raised by her Scottish grandmother deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Sarah grew up with one foot in the old world and one foot in the new world. Her childhood friends were the stuff of ancient Celtic legends.
But Sarah’s seemingly idyllic past hides a horrifying secret. As a little girl she watched her mother’s inexorable slide into madness. But she hasn’t let her past stop her from reaching for her dreams. She has managed to put together a pretty good life for herself. She has great friends, a boyfriend, and her career as a folklorist is all planned out.
That is until she meets Dermot Sinclair. The handsome Scot seems to be dogging her every step. At best he’s a fellow folklorist who can help her research. At worst, he could be there to steal her work. All she has to do is find one song that proves her thesis and her dissertation will be done. Unfortunately, unlocking that song may also mean unlocking some buried memories and a dangerous destiny set in motion generations ago.
Just when Buddy Corbett thought his night couldn't get any worse, his brothers show up.
As the youngest of the contentious Corbett clan, Buddy has spent most of his life trying to get away from the remote mountain hollow where they all grew up. Now at the end of a long day, he can't avoid talking to them. When one of his brothers mentions their old neighbor, Maggie MacAlpin, he can't help thinking about Old Maggie's granddaughter, Sarah. She was as tough and wild as she was beautiful. And she was the first girl that Buddy ever loved.
One summer when they were barely old enough for kissing, Buddy learned just how much that love could cost them.
The traumatic events of The River Maiden have left Sarah MacAlpin’s life in shambles. Her best friend won’t talk to her. The man she loves says they can’t be together. She’s just discovered something that destroys the main thesis of her dissertation. To top it off, she’s learned that her dream fellowship in Scotland was given to her with ulterior motives by her billionaire benefactor. Sarah has to choose whether to accept the fellowship anyway or try to find a different path.
Meanwhile she’s battling her own personal demons and questions about her family. She hopes to find some answers in her mother’s memoir. What she finds are some upsetting parallels to her own life. Like Sarah, Molly left Kettle Holler on the verge of making her dreams of being a dancer come true, but her ambitions were derailed by a family secret that took her across an ocean and left her a broken shade of her former self.
Amy Monroe returns to the scene of the crimes, and she is sure she’s guilty of being the worst friend on the planet. Not only did she let a stalker into her apartment, but when attacked her roommate, Amy in her grief, and shame, and confusion managed to blame the victim.
Well, her former best friend set her straight yesterday, and she’s back to apologize. There’s just one problem. Her friend has disappeared.
Fleming Sinclair’s job for Alba Petroleum’s security department has taken him all over the world, but there is something about North Carolina that just feels right to him. He can relax here. It’s comfortable, so comfortable that last night the woman he was supposed to be guarding disappeared right out from under his nose. He’s got to find her if he wants to keep his job, and his best hope, is the woman that caused the trouble in the first place.
Can they find Sarah in time for Amy to mend fences and Fleming to keep his job?
When Sarah left her home in North Carolina, she had two goals in mind: get answers about her mother and get her man. Unfortunately, no one seems to want to cooperate.
Working side by side with Dermot she throws temptation in his way every chance she gets. But something is always holding him back. So, Sarah devotes her time to researching the mysterious Highland village where her parents met. Of course, she can’t find it on any map and her so-called gift can’t help her. She has to turn to folklore for clues. Meanwhile Sarah is being pursued relentlessly by Scotland’s most eligible bachelor, James Stuart whose generous gifts and lavish attention may prove hard to resist.
All Dermot wants to do is keep the women he loves safe, but he is torn between Sarah and the needs of his ailing mother. Watching his childhood friend, James attempt to romance the woman he loves may be more than he can take.
When you can see everybody's secrets, it's hard to find someone worthy of your heart.
Everyone hides things about themselves, whether it's out of shame or insecurity. We all have secrets, Oona Ballantyne has more than most. One of her secrets is that she can see everyone else's. It's a gift that's been passed down in her family for generations. They see the truth. Oona uses her gift to paint captivating portraits of people from all walks of life, and she's about to take the London art world by storm.
But her gift also comes at a price. For one thing, it makes it hard to find love, even in a city as big and diverse as London. Seeing the truth of a person, often means that she can quickly see why they would be a bad partner. When Oona meets someone worthy, she falls hard and fast.
Note: Truth Seer is an exclusive story for my January 2021 newsletter subscribers. To subscribe to my newsletter see the form in the sidebar.
What would you sacrifice for the people you love?
Sarah and Dermot are determined to put the Stuarts' ambitious schemes behind them, and start a new life. They're even willing to give up their families and careers. But getting out of Scotland isn't going to be easy. There are obstacles all around them. The Stuarts have money, power and a private security force. More than that they have the scheming mind of Walter Stuart, who means to see his nephew leading an independent Scotland with Sarah by his side.
When their escape plan goes awry Sarah gambles their future on a theory she has. One that could upend all the Stuart plans. To test her theory the Stuarts agree to let her people decide using the way that they have done matchmaking for countless generations. The Nine are willing to oblige her, but the results raise more questions than they answer.
Dermot is desperate to declare independence from the Stuarts. Their agenda has governed too much of his life for too long. The more he tries to escape, the deeper into their web he is pulled. When the Auld Folk fail to provide the answer he and Sarah are looking for, he begins to doubt everything and everyone, even Sarah.
On her own and out of options Sarah must decide how she can protect herself and the people she loves.
For an excerpt and teasers click here.
After spending almost thirty years guarding and caring for Molly and Sarah MacAlpin, Grant MacDuff finds himself alone and without a purpose in Scotland. Molly is gone and Sarah has a steward of her own. A part of Duff is excited about his newfound freedom, but another part of him misses having a purpose. He has one stop to make before he can move on with his life. Will it help him find a path forward?
Note: Steward is an exclusive story for my January 2021 newsletter subscribers. To subscribe to my newsletter see the form in the sidebar.
A prophecy foretold their partnership, but is it doomed from the start?
Every time Sarah MacAlpin tries to escape the Stuarts’ web of ambition and intrigue, she gets pulled in deeper. Now, she’s lost everything; her career, her lover, and her freedom. As she learns to navigate a new world as Lady Sarah, she delves into the secrets underpinning the Stuarts’ belief in their shared destiny. She also confronts how her particular gift can help them reclaim the throne of an independent Scotland. Will she set aside her principles to help them as only she can?
James Stuart finally has what he wanted. All the pieces are in place for the future that was promised in the prophecy. He has the woman he was destined to marry, the wealth, and position to help him retake the crown. He can finally move toward the goal his family has been working for all his life. When he discovers the price of building that future, will he continue to follow the plan his family made for him?
Dermot Sinclair’s life has been one of duty and responsibility. He was raised with the expectation that he would protect the interests of the Stuarts at all costs. As a boy it made him feel like a warrior in the sagas his mother studied. He even joined the Army to train for the job. He was prepared to do his duty until he met Sarah. Meant for someone else, she challenged every notion he had about his life and his future. How is he going to go on without her?
When the three of them uncover a dark family secret, and the malevolent force that has been manipulating events, they’ll have to choose whether to stay on the path that was laid for them or make their own.
