Forgiven Never Forgotten by Susan Leigh Furlong is a Historical Fiction/Romance Event pick #historicalromance #giveaway
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    • Mar 28
    • 6 min read

Forgiven Never Forgotten by Susan Leigh Furlong is a Historical Fiction/Romance Event pick #historicalromance #giveaway



Title: Forgiven Never Forgotten

 

Author: Susan Leigh Furlong

 

Genre: Historical Romance

 

Book Blurb: 

 

Rory Campbell, falsely accused of participating in the Clan MacDonald of Glencoe killings, is sentenced to hang as a sacrificial lamb while the real agents of the slaughter escape blame. He risks everything to convince the love of his life, Joneta MacDonald, of the truth. He can never forget how completely she owns his heart.

 

Joneta MacDonald watches helplessly as her family is murdered by the king’s men, but forgiving Rory for his seeming participation is harder than she imagined. Can she endure the clan’s hatred of him? Can she cling to her love for a traitor despite overwhelming odds.

 

Excerpt:

 

Much to Joneta’s delight, for the next five days Rory appeared every morning at the MacDonald stall and then again, every evening for more scones. Joneta greeted him with a smile and a blush, and he always replied with a wink and a playful grin.

 

God did good work with this one! He is no’ a Campbell. He couldn’t be a creature with horns and a tail like all the Campbells.

 

This man made her laugh, and she loved to laugh, although the harsh realities of living in a poor clan in the rugged Glencoe valley left little time for laughter.

 

“Ye overpaid again,” she said to him. “The last three days, ye’ve given me a penny or two too many, so today these will be on the house.” She laid two currant griddle scones on a piece of cloth and flipped over the potato tatties in the pan to finish cooking them.

 

“I dinna overpay. I look forward to coming here afore I go to work and then again afore the sun goes down. Besides, I pay what the product is worth, and yer griddle scones are the best I e’er had in my mouth. My da is no’ much of a cook. I was ten afore I kenned that porridge wasna supposed to be black or crunchy!”

 

He laughed from deep in his chest, and Joneta’s heart skipped a beat. He made her mornings better and brightened her evenings. Here stood a man who enjoyed life, not like her father and brothers who were determined, uncompromising men who took hold of life with their fists and shook every bit of pleasure out of it. This Rory created his own happiness.

 

“Sorry ye dinna have anyone to cook properly for ye,” Joneta said.

 

“Me sisters do the best they can, but it doesna match what ye can do with griddle scones. Are ye good at anything else?”

 

“I am good at a lot of things, but all ye’ll get here are griddle scones. Mayhap my brother, John, can find some meat, and I can make meat pies for our last day here. Would ye buy a meat pie? The price would be dearer, mayhap four pennies.”

 

“After I win the mountain race, I’ll have two pounds to spend, and I’ll spend it all on meat pies, but only if ye’re here to serve them. They wouldna taste the same if ye didna cook them up just right. Do ye ken the sunlight shines off yer hair?”

 

Biting her lip to keep from smiling, she said, “Aye, my hair is no’ as ginger as most of my family, but there ye go being sassy again.” Joneta swept her fingers through her auburn hair, sun-streaked with blonde, and tucked a loose strand behind her ear.

 

“Are yer da and mum here with ye?” he asked before he swallowed. He leaned his elbow on the table and grinned at her. Her heart fluttered.

 

“Mum stayed home. She hates the noise and all the people, but that’s what I like best. Glencoe is so quiet sometimes the only sounds are the coos mooing in the wind. John is the oldest son, so he’s the one here with me.”

 

“Will ye see me compete in some of the games? I won the sheaf toss two years in a row. Tossing hay into the mow for the horses gives me a lot of practice. And I’m going to run in the mountain race on the last day. The race began as a way for the king to choose the fastest messenger runners, but now ’tis just to see who’s the best. I nearly won last year, but I’ll do better this year. Does yer brother race?”

 

“Nay, he’s more than ten years older than I am, so he leaves the racing to the lads.”

 

He straightened his shoulders and his cheerful countenance vanished. “I’m no lad. I am partners with me da in the horse business. I dinna work for him. I’m his partner, and I’m good at what I do. I breed and train horses and mules for all the lairds in the Highlands. Ye can ask anyone.” His voice tightened. “Does yer brother think me a restless lad with no ambition? I’ll make something of myself. He’ll see, and so will ye.”

 

She didn’t answer. Instead, she took two tattie scones off the stove and laid them on the now empty cloth on the table. “My brother thinks ye might be a Campbell.”

 

Rory answered quickly. “He’d be right.”

 

Her eyes closed in disappointment for a moment. “I’m a MacDonald,” she said flatly, pushing the cloth toward him, an ache growing in her chest. “That’ll be four pennies. I dinna think ye should come back. John will take yer coin, but he willna take ye talking to me, since ye’re a Campbell.”

 

“The question is no’ what they think, but what do ye think?”

 

Joneta looked at him from under long pale lashes, blinking away her regret that he belonged to a clan hated by her family. “I like having someone friendly to talk to, even as sassy as ye, but my brother would no’ feel the same. He’d likely crack yer head or worse.”

 

“I buy griddle scones whene’er I like, and I buy the ones I like the best. A Campbell talks to any fine young lass he wants.” He tossed the pennies on the table and scooped up his scones. “Good day to ye, Miss Joneta MacDonald.”

 

She watched him walk away again. This man dared to cross the lines drawn so deeply by the longstanding feud. She admired his courage, but she doubted his wisdom, and she doubted her own wisdom for wanting to see him again.

 

Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):

 

Available in paperback and e-book

 




 

Booklinker – International: https://mybook.to/Gw0yNIW 



 


What makes your featured book a must-read?

 

Forgiven Never Forgotten captures your undivided attention immediately and throughout the book. Joneta and Rory have trial after trial simply because they want a life together. Their endurance and sheer will to make their lives one is remarkable. The read brings us into a time and place when culture and traditions speak loudly and must be followed. Yet, Joneta and Rory break through the long-standing war between their families and finally make a life together. This is a fascinating book of life, love, and human endurance. A must read!

 

Giveaway –

 

Enter to win a $40 Amazon gift card:

 

 

Open Internationally.

 

Runs March 21 – April 2, 2024.

 

Winner will be drawn on April 3, 2024.

 


Author Biography:

 

Susan Leigh Furlong knew she had a special connection with words since she was a child. When she was 9 years old, she wrote and directed her first play for the neighborhood children.

 

Her love for history fuels her resilience against the sneezes and coughs that old books give her, and are now relieved by Internet research, as she delves into unique historical events to inspire her historical fiction romance novels. Susan captures her readers’ imagination with a highly enthralling style, chronological events, and smoothly flowing narratives that keep one’s eyes glued on her novels from the first page to the last.

 

Her first three books center on a family living in the Scottish Highlands in the sixteenth century. A fourth novel takes place during the American Revolution with the same family but across the pond while her fifth book takes the reader back to Scotland. All are published by The Wild Rose Press. She also has two non-fiction books published by Arcadia Press filled with over 200 photographs and tales about her hometown.

 

When she is not researching and creating her stories, she writes, directs, and performs with a music and drama group.

 

She married and moved to her small-town boy’s home. Now, even though she was born a “big city” girl, you couldn’t get her out of here with a crowbar.

 

Social Media Links:

 

Instagram: Instagram@Leighfurlong

Twitter (X): Twitter: SusanLeigh

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