Welcome to my first newsletter!

Well, I can finally say it: Highlander Untamed is now in the stores! I was pushing for a release ten days earlier so JK and I could share midnight release parties, but alas, the timing didn’t quite work out. Just kidding, but if you still haven’t picked up your copy of Harry Potter now you have even more reason to rush to the bookstores.  Of course, it’s also available online.

Highlander Untamed is the first book in the MacLeods of Skye trilogy which will be released in back-to-back months. That’s right, Book Two is only one month away and Book Three only one month after that. Highlander Untamed is the story of Rory MacLeod, a fierce Highland chief who vows revenge on the hated MacDonald clan for the great wrong they’ve done his sister. When duty demands that Rory handfast with Isabel Macdonald, he has no intention of keeping his bride—but treachery is afoot and unexpected passion is in the air.

The major characters and events in the MacLeod trilogy are based on real people and actual events, so when you finish reading don’t miss the Picture Book in the Special Features section of my website. The Picture Book is kind of an illustrated guide to the novel where you can see some of the places I’ve written about.

For those of you who live in the San Francisco bay area, I’ve scheduled quite a few booksignings in the next month with some other local authors and good friends, Tracy Grant, & Candice Hern. You can find the information in the News and Events section of my website. Hope you can drop by and say “hi.”

Don’t forget to enter my online contest -- two lucky winners will each receive a beautiful china mug with the MacLeod badge (referred to in the trilogy!) that I recently brought back from a trip to Scotland and the Isle of Skye. And more on my site: If you love beautiful landscapes, you won’t want to miss my snapshots.

It’s hard to believe the summer is almost over. My kids will be going back to school in a few weeks—just about the time my second book, Highlander Unmasked, is released. An excerpt is now available on my website. I hope you’ll save some room in that Labor Day beach bag.

Slàinte! (loosely, “Cheers”)

Monica McCarty