Upon A Midnight Dreary Halloween Anthology by @HMcCollumAuthor is a Halloween pick #99cents #spooky
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  • N. N. Light
    • Oct 26, 2021
    • 5 min read

Upon A Midnight Dreary Halloween Anthology by @HMcCollumAuthor is a Halloween pick #99cents #spooky



Title: Upon A Midnight Dreary Halloween Anthology


Authors:

Kathryn Le Veque Chasity Bowlin Hildie McQueen Maggie Andersen Mary Lancaster Meara Platt Violetta Rand Alexa Aston Anna Markland Aubrey Wynne Elizabeth Ellen Carter Elizabeth Johns Elizabeth Keysian Emily E K Murdoch Emily Royal Heather McCollum Anna St. Claire Lynne Connolly Maeve Greyson Whitney Blake


Genre: Spooky Historical Romance Novellas - Anthology


Book Blurb:


Twenty multi-published Historical Romance authors have come together for a collection of never-before-published stories inspired by true, legendary hauntings of the British Isles. These tales will give you a chill, a thrill, and have you reading them over and over. From the moors of Devon to the ballrooms of Regency London, and far north into the Scottish Highlands, these stories will bring you wistful dreams of legendary and haunting romance. You’ve never before experienced a collection like this by some of the very best authors in Historical Romance.


Light your candle, lock your doors, and settle down to this smashing collection of darkly-tinged romantic stories with unforgettable heroes and magnificent ladies. Romance has never been so daring… or so haunting! Only 99 cents!


Excerpt from Rohaise the Red by Heather McCollum


One year to make a profit, or you lose everything. His father’s bitter terms battered against Kerrick’s determination.


And don’t sully the Hay name anymore than ye have, his older brother had added.


Dammit. He’d been a hero in Cromwell’s army, but at home he was just a lowly traitor.


Kerrick guided Leum over the spongy moor, made more treacherous after the rains. Careful progress took nearly an hour, bringing him before the three-story fortress. At least all four walls seemed to be standing. The wind blew the limbs of two large oak trees, their yellow leaves flitting down like colored rain as he led Leum around the eastern side where a stonewall enclosed what he remembered was a back garden. There was little hope it had survived decades of neglect. He stopped Leum near the barn.


“Serves you right. Working for William.”


He pivoted at the sound of the voice. A lass?


Rocks clanked together as if she were dropping them. Kerrick walked silently to the closed gate.


“I suppose I must say some words,” the voice floated over the wall. “Dearest God. As a good Christian woman I must ask for you to forgive this man who no doubt meant to do me harm and to forgive whoever hit him because she saved me.”


Saved her? Kerrick pressed the gate where the lock had been smashed. The lass stood alone amongst the weeds. She had the most beautiful fall of golden red hair. Curls cascaded down the back of her green gown.


She stared down at a pile of rocks. “So blessings on your soul, you horrid bastard.” She dropped another rock onto the heap. The wind shifted, and the familiar, tangy smell of death rolled into Kerrick.


“What the hell?” He pushed through the gate. “Who are ye?” The woman gasped, twirling toward him. “And what are ye doing in my castle?” He looked down at the rock pile where two boots stuck out from the end. “With a dead man?”


***


Before Abigail could form any type of response, a pail flew across the yard as if the wind had picked it up, hurling it toward the mountainous man standing at the broken gate. His arm, which held a sinister sword, came across, knocking the pail away.


“I didn’t kill him,” Abigail yelled, “but if you come closer, you might join him.”


The stubborn man took another step but stopped as smaller rocks from the pile shot toward him. “Stad!” he roared. He dove, rolling over the ground on his back, to leap up, grabbing a discarded wooden wheelbarrow to hold before his face. “I am Kerrick Hay,” he yelled. “Owner of this property and castle. Cease your throwing, woman!”


“I’m not the one throwing things,” she yelled. Abigail ran through the back door, slamming it shut. Her hand scrambled to turn the heavy key in the lock.


Bam!


Abigail jumped back as the man slammed against the door.


Hide. The woman’s voice called loud and clear like the few times she’d spoken to her before. Abigail ran through the kitchen into the great hall. Hiding in a corner, she tried to slow her breath.


Crash!


“Holy God,” she whispered. He was inside.


Bam! Bam! Bam! A series of things hit the walls in the kitchen.


“Stad, ye witch. This is my home, my home as a Hay. Cease your torment!”


Clang! That sounded like the iron poker.


“Who are ye? Rohaise the red? Is that who ye bloody are?” he called out. The specter had a name? “’Tis my castle ye haunt, banshee,” he yelled.


The sounds of attack ceased. If he were a Hay and owner of the castle, it wasn’t likely that he would just leave. He also probably hadn’t been sent by William. Abigail let out a long breath. But she wasn’t in the clear, not if he were bent on rape or murder. She had little defense apart from her fingernails, which were chipped and pointy from all the scrubbing she’d done over the last few days.


Heart pounding, Abigail listened to the man’s boots coming closer. Hands clenched, she held her chin steady. Confidence is your best defense. Her father’s words helped her stand strong.


The man’s gaze snapped around the hall, halting when he saw her. “Fok,” he said and raised his arms to block his face. After a moment, he lowered them, eyeing her suspiciously. “Are ye flesh and blood, lass?”


“Yes, but she will come back if you try to hurt me.”


He muttered something. “Who are ye? And why are ye in my castle?”


Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):


Grab your e-copy for only 99 cents!









What makes your featured book a must-read?


Upon A Midnight Dreary is the perfect book to curl up with this autumn! Twenty original novellas by twenty fabulous historical romance authors for only 99 cents! And all the stories are based on spooky legends from the British Isles.


Giveaway –

Enter to win a $16 Amazon gift card:

Open Internationally. You must have a valid Amazon US or Amazon Canada account to win. Runs October 26 – November 3, 2021. Winner will be drawn on November 4, 2021.



Author Biography for Heather McCollum:


Heather McCollum is an international, multi-published, Scottish historical romance writer. Her favorite heroes are brawny and broody with golden hearts, and the feistier the heroine the better!


When she is not dreaming up adventures and conflict for rugged Highlanders and clever heroines, she spends her time educating women about the symptoms of Ovarian Cancer. She is a survivor and lists the subtle symptoms in the backs of all her books. She loves dragonflies, chai lattes, and baking things she sees on the Great British Baking Show. Heather resides with her very own Highland hero and three spirited children in the wilds of suburbia on the mid-Atlantic coast.


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