#Interview with Rowena Kinread #Author of The Scots of Dalriada @RowenaKinread @cathiedunn #HistoricalFiction #ScottishHistoricalFiction #MacKade

The Scots of Dalriada by Rowena Kinread released in January in the Historical Fiction genre.

THREE BROTHERS
Fergus, Loarn and Angus, Princes of the Dalriada, are forced into exile by their scheming half-brother and the druidess Birga One-tooth.

THREE FATES
Fergus conceals himself as a stable lad on Aran and falls helplessly in love with a Scottish princess, already promised to someone else. Loarn crosses swords against the Picts. Angus designs longboats.

TOGETHER A MIGHTY POWER
Always on the run the brothers must attempt to outride their adversaries by gaining power themselves. Together they achieve more than they could possibly dream of.
Fergus Mór (The Great) is widely recognised as the first King of Scotland, giving Scotland its name and its language. Rulers of Scotland and England from Kenneth mac Alpín until the present time claim descent from Fergus Mór.

Full of unexpected twists and turns, this is a tale of heart-breaking love amidst treachery, deceit and murder.

Buy Links:

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/47VXAL

Author Bio:

Rowena Kinread grew up in Ripon, Yorkshire with her large family and a horde of pets. Keen on travelling, her first job was with Lufthansa in Germany.

She began writing in the nineties. Her special area of interest is history. After researching her ancestry and finding family roots in Ireland with the Dalriada clan, particularly this era.

Her debut fiction novel titled “The Missionary” is a historical novel about the dramatic life of St. Patrick. It was published by Pegasus Publishers on Apr.29th, 2021 and has been highly appraised by The Scotsman, The Yorkshire Post and the Irish Times.

Her second novel “The Scots of Dalriada” centres around Fergus Mór, the founder father of Scotland and takes place in 5th century Ireland and Scotland. It is due to be published by Pegasus Publishers on Jan.26th, 2023.

The author lives with her husband in Bodman-Ludwigshafen, Lake Constance, Germany. They have three children and six grandchildren.

Romance is a juicy page turner in any book. Whether a pure romance book or sub-plots in historical-, crime-, or thriller- novels, without a little romance, something crucial is missing, like milk in my coffee for example!

In The Scots of Dalriada, Fergus the MC, meets Rhianna as a fourteen-year-old youngster. He doesn’t know at first, who she is. In fact, he believes her to be a boy! At the time he is hiding from his evil half-brother, disguised as a stable boy, in a horse stud at Brodick castle, on the island of Aran. So nobody knows who he is either, in reality Prince of the Dalriada.

Rhianna has her own problems, she is Laird Douglas’s daughter, a Scottish princess and has been promised in marriage to Ceredig, king of Strathclyde. He is an obnoxious individual, over sixty-years-old, with the stature of an overgrown toad standing upright.

One day Rhianna, not yet known as such to Fergus, sneaks into the stables to give a horse an apple. Fergus gives the ‘boy’ chase, leaping over stone walls, running hot-footed across the heather and vaulting a fence; Rhianna nearly escapes until she misjudges the width of a ditch and tumbles over. Fergus lands on top of her, straddling her squirming body. She quickly pulls her tunic back over shoulder but not before Fergus has caught a glimpse of her breast. They do not have time to speak much on this encounter. Fergus is primarily relieved that the apple wasn’t poisonous. But from this day on he cannot banish Rhianna from his mind.

Their first romantic encounter is on the day of the horse fair. Fergus climbs up Goat Fell to hide from his half-brother, who has turned up at the fair unexpectantly. Shortly afterwards Rhianna flees there too, in order to avoid being with her future husband. They spend all afternoon together talking and getting to know each other better. Rhianna is desolate that she must marry Ceredig and Fergus tries to console her, constantly putting his foot into it and making everything worse.

As night falls they lie down in the heather together watching the stars, snuggling up to each other to keep warm. Their bodies are taut with tension, emotion overcomes them and they kiss, before Fergus, feeling guilty, breaks away horrified. He knows that he is too young and powerless to stop the marriage.

King Ceredig mishandles Rhianna viciously. He only leaves her in peace when he believes she is with child. They live in Alt Clut, a stronghold at the base of twin rocky pinnacles, domineering the right side of the promontory where the river Leven joins the Clyde. It is a formidable stone fortress, fronted by a wall of rock boulders to protect it from the rage of winter storms. A flight of steps leads up to a gatehouse, set in the crevice between the twin peaks. It is indomitable.

Rhianna fears for her life and is desperate to flee from her husband. She wishes he had run away while she’d had the chance on Aran. She remembers Fergus’ kiss on Goat Fell. It had been soft and tender, she would like to kiss him again.

Despite his exciting and prosperous ventures with family and trusted friends, Fergus cannot dismiss Rhianna from his thoughts. Against his will he realises that he has fallen hopelessly in love with an unobtainable woman.

Together with friends and a cleverly devised plan, Rhianna and Fergus attempt the impossible, a simulated death and flight to freedom.

I do not wish to spoil this book for you, so I will stop here and recommend you delve into the story of Rhianna and Fergus yourselves.

The Scots of Dalriada by Rowena Kinread