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And that gives us...THE KEITH TRILOGY!
The Keith Clan of Dunnottar Castle in Scotland--that's where it all began. I would love to take you with me, just in
time for Christsmas, to the British Civil War in Dunnottar, then to the Regency era for the biggest
mystery in Scotland's history in Marylebone, and finally, on a trip through time back to try to
keep Mary, Queen of Scots, from literally "losing her head" in Par for the Course.
At the bottom of the page, you will find a link where you can purchase them all at a special holiday price. And
you know how a Scotsman loves a bargain!
It all began at the breakfast table. It was a long time ago--over 20 years, in fact. I was working on my first book,
which was a Regency romance. I innocently mentioned to my husband, Ivan, that I needed some sort of a hidden or lost treasure
in Great Britain.
His reply, without a moment's hesitation, was "Why don't you use our family jewels?" Well, this was the first I had heard
of this! He told me the tale of the Scottish regalia, which had been hidden at Dunnottar Castle during the British Civil War
to keep Cromwell from melting them down, which he had already done to the English regalia.
Being a natural skeptic (or knowing that he was prone upon occasion to stretch the truth a wee bit), I set out to prove
him wrong. But a funny thing happened on the way to the rest of the story: I found out he was right. His great-grandmother
Caroline (Keith) Smith was a descendant of the Keith clan from Dunnottar Castle.
And that, in the end, became the rest of the story. Please enjoy a trip back to a huge part of Scottish history and fame,
and if you are ever in Scotland, be sure to make a trek to Dunnottar. And if you want to see the same jewels that the Keiths
protected, they are on display at Edinburgh Castle.
Dunnottar is a trip to the past and what started it all, both for me and for the Scottish regalia.
Marylebone goes to the regency era, where I intended to go at the beginning, to the discovery of
the same regalia, which had been hidden for 150 years. And Par for the Course? Well, it's a trip
(on an oak tree root) that you will never forget. You've never seen history like this before!
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Dunnottar was the No. 1 best-selling Scottish book (out of over 8,000 titles) on
amazon.com for almost 3 months. That many people can't be wrong!
A No. 1 bestseller on Amazon.com for over 2 months!
Dunnottar Castle, Scotland, the domain of the Clan Keith, close consorts of the royal family for many generations.
The whole country is at war with itself: Scotland against England. William Keith, the patriarch, is the wealthiest man in
Scotland, but he desires only to be known as the kindest; John, his younger brother, is eager to fight for his country, even
if his motives are a little questionable; and Robert, William's oldest son, is off to battle, but his mother's only hope is
that he finds a wife in the process.
Even the most seemingly righteous families have some deep, dark hidden secrets. The Keith clan is no exception;
some of them so deep and dark even the other Keiths don't know they exist. But they are privy to secrets of King Charles II
himself.
Click here to read an excerpt of DUNNOTTAR
Nina M. Osier says of Dunnottar,
Before I started to read "Dunnottar," a visiting friend who's a museum curator (and graduate degreed historian) happened
to pick it up from my dining room table. She leafed through it and declared, "This is a good book! May I read it when you're
through?" Since her tastes and mine often differ, I wondered if that meant I was going to find the tale a dry one.
Well, I most certainly did not. Janet Elaine Smith's novel takes a story from her husband's (Keith) family history, and
peoples it with men and women about whom any reader can't help but care. Being able to guess how John Keith's apparently hopeless
love for Ann Hastings would turn out, and knowing enough about the time and place depicted so that I also was sure where the
plot must go, didn't keep me from turning the pages eagerly and thoroughly enjoying a well-spun tale.
Romance and intrigue, friendship and betrayal, against an accurately researched historical backdrop. No wonder "Dunnottar"
has been an Amazon bestseller. I really ought to make my friend the museum curator buy her own copy.
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MARYLEBONE, the sequel to best-selling DUNNOTTAR, flits back and forth between London
and the Scottish highlands during the regency era. Handsome young James Keith, wanting to remain anonymous, visits "the clubs"
in London, where he encounters Caroline Kent, who has just returned from Vienna after studying the piano.
Caroline is
immediately enraptured by the mysterious Scotsman, but he seems to disappear every time she gets close to finding him. She
calls on their mutual friend, the Duke of Hamilton, to help her locate him. Keith, who is using the alias Robert Paterson,
swears Hamilton to secrecy, as he is on a personal quest to locate the Scottish regalia, which was hidden by the Keith clan
at Dunnottar Castle more than one hundred years earlier.
Complete with two mysteries (who is the mysterious
Scot and where is the regalia), throw in a famous person (Walter Scott), a secret which Caroline's father, the Earl of Kent,
has kept buried almost as long, a surprise about the "mad King George" and you have the makings of a read that will delight
you for a long time to come.
Click here to read an excerpt from MARYLEBONE
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Maureen Boylan, ReaderToReader.com
Awesome! A wonderfully entertaining book full of mystery and surprise that will keep you turning
the pages. A book this reader just couldnt put down and was saddened only by its not being longer. An edge-of-the-seat story
that will keep you engrossed as the mystery of the whereabouts of the regalia is unraveled. And characters you cant help but
love, especially James and Caroline and the secondary characters of Hamilton and Mrs Scarborough. Cant wait to read more books
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PAR FOR THE COURSE was selected by Affaire de Coeur magazine as "the best
time-travel of 2003." They obviously have good taste in literature!
Par for the Course returns to Dunnottar Castle and the Keith clan, but in a new
and exciting way. Mikki Jeanotte, a young golf pro at St. Andrew's Golf Course, just outside Aberdeen, Maryland, has been
summoned by a strange-sounding woman who insists on having a private early-morning golf lesson. As Mikki waits for her, in
a dense fog, she trips on an oak root, finds a black gooey orb she hits to kingdom-come, only to have it burst into a million
feathers, and wakes up with her head on the lap of the man of her dreams. How did Mikki get from 1996 and St. Andrew's Golf
Course, just outside Aberdeen, Maryland, to the 1500's and St. Andrews Golf Course, just outside Aberdeen, Scotland, with
her head in the lap of Lord Robbie Keith, Viscount of Kintore, and in the company of the world's first woman golfer: Mary,
Queen of the Scots? She soon discovers that the fate of Queen Mary lies in her hands, and she enlists Lord Robbie's aid to
carry out the most far-fetched plan history has ever known. The twist at the end will have you laughing for months to come.
It's history like you've never seen it.
Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews says of Par for the Course,
AWESOME! Do not worry if you know nothing about the game of golf. You do not have to and the story will not really teach
you anything about the game, itself. However, you will learn history and enjoy every second of it! Will Mechi stay in the
year 1561 or somehow return to 1997? One thing is for sure, I will never tell you. Highly recommended reading! *****
Click here to read an excerpt from PAR FOR THE COURSE
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