Book Title: Thunder on the Moor
Series: Thunder on the Moor - Book 1
Author: Andrea Matthews
Publication Date: 30th October 2019
Publisher: Inez M. Foster
Page Length: 430 Pages
Genre: Historical Romance / Time-Travel
Maggie Armstrong grew up with tales of blood feuds and border raids, so when her father takes her back four hundred and fifty years to his Scottish home, she is enchanted. Enchanted, that is, until her uncle announces his intentions to betroth her to Ian Rutherford, the son of a neighboring laird. Maggie’s twentieth century sensibilities are outraged, but refusal to agree could ignite a blood feud. Maggie’s worlds are colliding. Betrayal, treachery, and a tragic murder have her questioning whether she should remain or try to make her way back to her own time. To make matters worse, tensions escalate when she stumbles across handsome Englishman, Will Foster. But could he be the hero she’s always dreaded of or will his need for revenge against Ian shatter more than her heart?
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Excerpt
Maggie lounged back amongst the fragrant blossoms, the soft sunlight no more than a golden glow along the horizon. Though the air remained damp, the promise of warmth comforted her, and she closed her eyes, letting its delicate cocoon engulf her weary body. A few yards away, a thrush welcomed the coming day, tweeting its morning song in perfect harmony with the steady bass of a croaking frog. The sweet melody soothed her cluttered mind and lulled her into a light sleep.
Images of beaches and warm summer days at the shore filled her dreams. Memories of sandcastles and dabbling her toes in the ocean sent her senses reeling. She could almost smell the salt air, hear the surf crashing against the shore. But wait—those were no breaking waves she heard, but something else, something far more menacing.
With a sudden jolt, she woke, the predawn tranquility shattered by a distant rumble. Maggie sprang up, her eyes widening as she recognized the thunderous beat of hooves rising from beyond the ridge. Behind her, about five hundred yards away, pressed against the graying sky, stood her uncle’s tower. He’d warned her about venturing from the safety of its walls, but she’d been too stubborn to take his words to heart. Perhaps she should have put her dislike of the man aside just this once.
Frantic visions of vengeful reivers sprang to mind, and she rose, determined to make a sprint for the distant peel tower. With the creak of leather armor already echoing in her ears, she struggled to gain purchase on the dew-covered ground, but she slipped and fell into the tall grass of the gentle slope.
Pushing herself up, she chanced a glance over her shoulder and froze. He was nearly upon her, his steel-blue eyes reflecting the mood of the moor. A wave of terror washed over her, for somehow she knew this time Will Foster wouldn’t turn and ride away.
She slumped back on her elbows, unable to move, the world around her fading into obscurity. Riders rode by on their way to the tower, their images blurred and distorted, for nothing could pry her attention from Will or the amulet he wore around his neck. He paused a few feet from where she’d fallen, tugging hard on the reins, hunger burning in his gaze.
Maggie swallowed hard, anger and fear lodged in her breast. She tried to embrace the former, but it was tempered by a sudden desire that caused her thighs to quiver and her mouth to long for the touch of the striking young reiver before her.
Will nudged his horse closer, the fire in his eyes intensifying, and this time fear surged to the fore, jarring Maggie back to her senses. No matter how handsome he may appear, he remained at heart a murdering barbarian, his intentions all too clear. Digging her heels into the soft earth, she pushed herself into an upright position and started running for the tower.
Andrea Matthews is the pseudonym for Inez Foster, a historian and librarian who loves to read and write and search around for her roots, genealogical speaking. In fact, it was while doing some genealogical research that she stumbled across the history of the Border reivers. The idea for her first novel came to mind almost at once, gradually growing into the Thunder on the Moor series. And the rest, as they say, is history …
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