Tag Archives: Lizzie Lamb

WRITERS ON THE ROAD: LIZZIE LAMB

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People often talk about Castles in Spain however the inspiration behind my novels comes from an entirely different source – castles in Scotland. We visit Scotland every year with our caravan and I spend part of the day writing on my MacBook and the rest researching/exploring castles, researching ideas for my next novel. My favourite castle is Castle Stalker on Loch Linnhe, the castle featured in Girl in the Castle, although I’ve renamed it Tearmannaire, meaning guardian or defender in Gaelic. We stumbled upon it almost by chance as we were driving from Oban to Ft William and it loomed at us out of the Scotch mist. It was like something out of a film set – grey, imposing and sitting squarely in the middle of the loch.

Catching a sign advertising a café, Castle Stalker View, we pulled in for a better look. There we discovered that the owner gives guided tours of the castle. Even better, he collects potential visitors from the shore and ferries them across to his home in his launch. That later used that in a scene from in Girl in the Castle where the heroine arrives on the shore,  shrouded in an autumn mist, and rings a bell for the ferryman to take her over to the castle.

The following year we discovered Bioran Dubh Caravan Site overlooking the castle and have stayed there in subsequent years. The thrill of seeing the castle every morning when we open the blinds never palls. We’re booked ourselves in there this summer on our way south after touring the highlands. A word of warning, there is no toilet block at the site, only water and electricity so your caravan needs to be pretty much self-contained if you fancy staying there.

Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. . .

The tour of the castle revealed details which I subsequently used in Girl in the Castle. How the RAF practices low level flying along the loch using the castle as a marker and dip their wings as they fly past. How Castle Stalker became Castle Argg in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, including the scene where John Cleese hurls abuse at King Arthur from the ramparts. I learned how canny landowners were reluctant to dine at the castle in the past because there was a good chance it would be their last meal; all very Game of Thrones. (I later used that detail in Dark Highland Skies my current novel).  I also learned about heiresses being dragged to the altar to secure their dowries, the groom who was murdered by a rival before the ceremony was over and the Jacobite gold allegedly hidden there after the 1715 uprising.

They’re still looking for that!

As a nice touch, I was able to give the owner current a signed copy of Girl in the Castle as my thanks for him sharing his iconic home with us. And, as an extra, you can dine on the pub on the shore which was a notorious haunt of Jacobites back in the day.

We’re really looking forward to our tour of Scotland this summer, who knows what gems we’ll uncover and how that will influence what I write next?

https://viewAuthor.at/LizzieLamb

 

CARIADS’ CHOICE BOOK REVIEWS, MARCH 2023

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Nicola Cornick’s The Winter Garden, reviewed by Morton S Gray

Ten stars! I loved this book. A perfect mix of past and present. I was in love with the present day hero Finn and wanted things to work out for Lucy. The historical side was told in an intriguing way and I enjoyed the ghostly elements of the story. Best historical/timeslip I have read in a long time. Bravo Nicola Cornick.

 

Lizzie Lamb’s Dark Highland Skies, reviewed by Jessie Cahalin

Dark Highland Skies is another triumph for Lizzie Lamb. Who doesn’t love a highland hero, strong heroine and a wee dram of secrets?

‘We all have demons to confront, secrets we’d rather not share. But that’s life, isn’t it?’

The characters are like good friends who really deserve a happy ending. The deeper you delve into the Halley and Tor’s past, the more you discover about what makes them tick. I wanted to know what was behind Halley’s ‘wall of aloofness’ and why a ‘bleakness appeared to descend’ on Tor. This is a heart-warming story of two lonely people finding each other.

Halley reaches for the stars and meets her destiny. A magical romance under the dark highland skies. As a reader I fell in love with the setting, and the ending was wonderful. If only I could have met charismatic Tam, Halley’s late uncle, who touched everyone’s life in the novel. I did not want to leave Lochaber!

Lizzie Lamb is queen of highland escapes. The uplifting stories are a perfect retreat from the troubled world.

 

Daisy Wood’s The Forgotten Bookshop in Paris, reviewed by Jane Cable

This is one of the books that makes me curse review sites that force you into giving stars. For me it isn’t quite five as I give those so very rarely, but it’s far better than the four I’m going to be forced to give.

This is such a skilfully told tale of resistance in wartime Paris with a main character, Jacques, you can root for and cry for, so wonderfully brave and flawed is he. A bookseller who is slow to join the underground movement fighting the Nazis, the plight of Jewish children in particular means he has no option but to help.

Meanwhile in the present day, American Juliette walks away from her unfaithful husband during a holiday in Paris, at first because she simply does not want to go home. She has family history to research but when she finds an empty, dusty bookshop she wonders if she can bring it to life again.

If you love Second World War dual timeline romances this is definitely one of the better ones I’ve read and I heartily recommend it.

 

An Italian Island Summer by Sue Moorcroft, reviewed by Morton S Gray

Get whisked away to Sicily to join Ursula Quinn, who wants to learn to paint ceramics after her life in England implodes. Add in suspicious Alfio Tringali, who returns home to fulfil family duty, helping his sister with her baby and his mother recovering from an operation run the family hotel. Ursula’s parents and family in Ireland are worried about her and her ex-husband is still possessive. There are links and complications between the families that Ursula knows nothing about and these threaten her happiness.

I soon became absorbed in this story with its twists and turns, surprises and revelations. Lovely to have characters from previous novel Under the Italian Sun make an appearance too. A classic Sue Moorcroft read that doesn’t disappoint.

 

 

CARIADS’ CHOICE: BANK HOLIDAY SPECIAL BOOK REVIEWS

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Lizzie Lamb’s Harper’s Highland Fling, reviewed by Jessie Cahalin

Harper expected to travel to Tibet on her holiday adventure, but her niece decided to run away to Scotland with the son of the local car mechanic. Witty, feisty headmistress, Harper, meets her match and is forced to squeeze into biker’s leathers to travel with Rocco to Scotland.

‘At least she hadn’t fallen off the motorbike…or clung to him like a medieval maiden slung across a knight’s errant saddle.’

Forget Nepal, Harper must save Ariel, or does Harper really need to save herself? The novel is packed with expectation, and stereotypes of a headmistress and car mechanic are challenged as we get to know and love the characters – perfect.

Rocco is not about to save the feisty maiden but ‘without meaning to she’d got under his skin and he couldn’t resist winding her up.’ On the other hand, Harper thinks Rocco is ‘an enigma wrapped in a conundrum.’

 

Maggie Mason’s The Halfpenny Girls, reviewed by Susanna Bavin

What I loved about this book, and what made it, for me, a stand-out saga, was the concentration on family life. Sagas often revolve around the work-place, but this pre-war story is firmly rooted in the hardships faced by three close friends because of their family circumstances. Violence, alcoholism, betrayal and dementia are all woven into the tale – alongside love, loyalty and the determination of the three young heroines to do their very best for their nearest and dearest, despite every hardship. There are no easy answers to the problems each family faces – just a wealth of warmth and understanding from an accomplished author. This is a complex story with strong, cleverly interwoven plots; well-drawn, multi-layered characters; and, above all, a powerful sense of the importance of family.

 

Faith Hogan’s The Ladies’ Midnight Swimming Club, reviewed by Morton Gray

Loved this book on so many different levels – the characters and the challenges they face. I didn’t think I would like the book being written from so many different points of view, but it was seamless and added to the story. He doesn’t even feature in the novel, but I wanted to bop Elizabeth’s late husband on the nose, especially towards the end of the book. I was praying for Lucy’s son, Niall to make the right choices, shed tears over Jo and Dan. I want to go and stay in Dan’s rented house on the hill and take part in the Ladies’ Midnight Swimming Club. Great book and I’m off to find the author’s other stories.

 

Helga Jensen’s Twice in a Lifetime, reviewed by Natalie Normann

This book is pure enjoyment from start to finish.

Amelia is the mother of twin boys, recently divorced and mostly a sensible woman. She struggles  with how her life has turned out. When Amelia finds the phone number of a gorgeous man she met in New York years earlier, her best friend Sian starts looking for him. And despite all of Amelia’s attempts to hold back, she soon finds herself in a huge mess. It’s hilarious!

This book got me through tax season, by providing a wonderful distraction and lots of laughs. Amelia is such a lovely person who tries so hard, you can’t help falling in love with her. There are twists that I didn’t see coming, and I loved the surprises. All I wanted was for it not to end! Helga Jensen knows how to tell a good story that stands out in the crowd. It’s right there on my top romcoms list now. That’s a five stars from me!