The Christmas Present: The Pocket Watch Chronicles Read online

  Paige hugged her back. “Merry Christmas.”

  About the Author

  Ceci started her career as an oncology nurse at a leading research hospital, and eventually became a successful medical writer. In 1991 she married a young Irish carpenter who she met when his brother married her dear friend. They raised their family in central New Jersey but now live with their dogs and birds in paradise, also known as southwest Florida. She recently retired from the pharmaceutical industry and finally is able to devote much of her time to writing “happily ever afters.”

  Her bestselling, Duncurra series, Highland Solution, Highland Courage, and Highland Intrigue are available as e-books, audiobooks, and paperbacks. There are also inspirational versions of each of these which close the bedroom door. Ceci will be continuing this series in the near future.

  The Fated Hearts series begins with Ceci’s novella Highland Revenge (originally appearing in Highland Winds, The Scrolls of Cridhe – Volume 1) and continues with Highland Echoes and Highland Angels.

  The Pocket Watch Chronicles, while related, are all stand-alone books. The Pocket Watch and The Midwife are available as e-books, paperbacks and audiobooks. Once Found is available as and e-book and will be out in paperback soon. The audio version of Once Found is available for free here, on Duncurra’s YouTube channel.

  Don’t miss the Duncurra YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/duncurra!

  You’ll find videos of Scotland, Scottish words of the day explained, free audiobooks and much more

  If you enjoyed The Christmas Present and haven’t read any of the other Pocket Watch Chronicles, you will find Maggie’s story in The Pocket Watch.

  The Pocket Watch: The Pocket Watch Chronicles

  When Maggie Mitchell, is transported to the thirteenth century Highlands will Laird Logan Carr help mend her broken heart or put it in more danger than before?

  Generous, kind, and loving, Maggie nearly always puts the needs of others first. So when a mysterious elderly woman gives her an extraordinary pocket watch, telling her it’s a conduit to the past, Maggie agrees to give the watch a try, if only to disprove the woman’s delusion.

  But it works.

  Maggie finds herself in the thirteenth century Scottish Highlands, with a handsome warrior who clearly despises her. Her tender soul is caught between her own desire and the disaster she could cause for others. Will she find a way to resolve the trouble and return home within the allotted sixty days? Or will someone worthy earn her heart forever?

  The Pocket Watch is available as an e-book, audiobook and paperback

  Or get a bigger glimpse of the Soldanis in:

  Once Found: The Pocket Watch Chronicles

  Elsie thought she had found love.

  The handsome young minstrel awoke her desire and his music fed her soul. But just as love was blossoming, the inconceivable happened—Elsie awoke more than seven hundred years in the future, in the body of Dr. Elizabeth Quinn.

  Gabriel Soldani thought he had found love several times, only to have it slip from his grasp. In medical school he had fallen hard for Elizabeth Quinn but their careers led them in different directions. When their paths cross again, he hopes they’ve been given another chance.

  There’s only one problem…the woman he's never forgotten doesn’t remember him.

  Once love is found…and then lost…can it be found again?

  Once Found is available as an e-book. The audiobook is available for free on the Duncurra YouTube channel.

  Meet Dr. Elizabeth Quinn, in:

  The Midwife: The Pocket Watch Chronicles

  Can a twenty-first century independent woman find her true destiny, in thirteenth century Scotland?

  At his father’s bidding, Cade MacKenzie begs a favor from Laird Macrae—Lady MacKenzie desperately needs the renowned Macrae midwife. Laird Macrae has no intention of sending his clan’s best, instead he passes off Elsie, a young woman with little experience, as the midwife they seek.

  But fate—in the form of a mysterious older woman and an extraordinary pocket watch—steps in.

  Elizabeth Quinn, a disillusioned obstetrician, is transported to the thirteenth century. She switched souls with Elsie as the old woman said she would but other things don’t go quite as expected. Perhaps most unexpected was falling in love.

  The Midwife is available as an e-book, audiobook and paperback.

  Other Books by Ceci Giltenan

  The Fated Hearts Series

  Highland Revenge

  Does he hate her clan enough to visit his vengeance on her? Or will he listen to her secret and his own heart’s yearning?

  Hatred lives and breathes between medieval clans who often don’t remember why feuds began in the shadowed past.

  But Eoin MacKay remembers.

  He will never forget how he was treated by Bhaltair MacNicol—the acting head of Clan MacNicol. He was lucky to escape alive, and vows to have revenge.

  Years later, as laird of Clan MacKay, he gets his chance when he captures Lady Fiona MacNicol. His desire for revenge is strong but he is beguiled by his captive.

  Can he forget his stubborn hatred long enough to listen to the secret she has kept for so long? And once he knows the truth, can he show her she is not alone and forsaken? In the end, is he strong enough to fight the combined hostilities and age-old grudges that demand he give her up?

  Highland Revenge is available as an e-book, audio book and paperback.

  Highland Echoes

  Love echoes.

  Grace Breive is strong and independent because she has to be. She has a wee daughter to care for and, having lost her parents and husband, has no one else on whom she can rely. Driven from the only home she has ever known, she travels to Castle Sutherland to find a grandmother she never knew she had.

  As Laird Sutherland’s heir, Bram Sutherland understands his obligation to enter into a political marriage for the good of the clan, but he is captivated by the beautiful and resilient young mother.

  Will Bram and Grace follow the dictates of their hearts, or will echoes from the past force them apart?

  Highland Echoes is available as an e-book, audio book and paperback.

  Highland Angels

  Anna MacKay fears the MacLeods. Andrew MacLeod fears love.

  Anna, angry with her brother, took a walk to cool her temper. She had no intention of venturing so close to MacLeod territory—until she saw a wee lad fall through the ice.

  Andrew becomes enraged when it appears the MacKay lass has abducted his son, his last precious connection to the wife he lost—until he learns the truth. Anna, risked her life to save his beloved child.

  Now there is a chance to end the generations old hate and fear between their clans.

  Fate connects them. The desire for peace binds them. Will a rival tear them apart?

  Highland Angels is available as an e-book, audio book and paperback.

  The Duncurra Series

  Highland Solution

  The first book in the Duncurra Series, available as e-book, audiobook and paperback. An Inspirational Version is also available which has been edited to remove explicit intimate scenes.

  Laird Niall MacIan needs Lady Katherine Ruthven’s dowry to relieve his clan’s crushing debt but he has no intention of giving her his heart in the bargain.

  Niall MacIan, a Highland laird, desperately needs funds to save his impoverished clan. Lady Katherine Ruthven, a lowland heiress, is rumored to be “unmarriageable” and her uncle hopes to be granted her title and lands when the king sends her to a convent.

  King David II anxious to strengthen his alliances sees a solution that will give Ruthven the title he wants, and MacIan the money he needs. Laird MacIan will receive Lady Katherine’s hand along with her substantial dowry and her uncle will receive her lands and title.

  Lady Katherine must forfeit everything in exchange for a husband who does not want to be married and believes all women to be self-centered and deceitful. Can the lovely and gentle
Katherine mend his heart and build a life with him or will he allow the treachery of others to destroy them?

  Highland Courage

  The second book in the Duncurra Series, available as e-book, audiobook and paperback. An Inspirational Version is also available which has been edited to remove explicit intimate scenes.

  Her parents want a betrothal, but Mairead MacKenzie can’t get married without revealing her secret and no man will wed her once he knows.

  Plain in comparison to her siblings and extremely reserved, Mairead has been called “MacKenzie’s Mouse” since she was a child. No one knows the reason for her timidity and she would just as soon keep it that way. When her parents arrange a betrothal to Laird Tadhg Matheson she is horrified. She only sees one way to prevent an old secret from becoming a new scandal.

  Tadhg Matheson admires and respects the MacKenzies. While an alliance with them through marriage to Mairead would be in his clan’s best interest, he knows Laird MacKenzie seeks a closer alliance with another clan. When Tadhg learns of her terrible shyness and her youngest brother’s fears about her, Tadhg offers for her anyway.

  Secrets always have a way of revealing themselves. With Tadhg’s unconditional love, can Mairead find the strength and courage she needs to handle the consequences when they do?

  Highland Intrigue

  The third book in the Duncurra Series, available as e-book, audiobook and paperback. An Inspirational Version is also available which has been edited to remove explicit intimate scenes.

  Lady Gillian MacLennan's clan needs a leader, but the last person on earth she wants as their laird is Fingal Maclan. She can neither forgive nor forget that his mother killed her father, and, by doing so, created Clan MacLennan’s current desperate circumstances.

  King David knows a weak clan, without a laird, can change quickly from a simple annoyance to a dangerous liability, and he cannot ignore the turmoil. The MacIan’s owe him a great debt, so when he makes Fingal MacIan laird of clan MacLennan and requires that he marry Lady Gillian, Fingal is in no position to refuse.

  In spite of the challenge, Fingal is confident he can rebuild her clan, ease her heartache and win her affection. However, just as love awakens, the power struggle takes a deadly turn. Can he protect her from the unknown long enough to uncover the plot against them? Or will all be lost, destroying the happiness they seek in each other’s arms?

  Other titles published by Duncurra LLC

  New York Times Bestselling Author

  Kathryn Lynn Davis

  Highland Awakening

  Can the transforming power of magic help two people on a perilous journey create a miracle—even when one of them doesn’t believe?

  Since she lost her brother and nearly her father, Esmé Rose fears the world beyond her family and her garden. But one year when winter clings overlong, a dream begins to haunt her, forcing her to take a journey and face a challenge more difficult than she could ever imagine.

  Magnus MacLeod is a skilled healer, always curious to know more. He, too, is called by a dream he doesn’t quite believe in, despite its physical effects on him. He and Esmé travel a treacherous road that takes them to a magical place. There they must put aside their feelings for one another—and their difference in beliefs—long enough to make a miracle.

  Sing to Me of Dreams

  One woman’s journey of discovery…through all the mysteries of the human heart.

  As a child, Saylah held the magic and wisdom of her Salish Indian people. But when tragedy ravages the Salish, she must leave them for the world of the Ivys – an English/Scottish family whose traditions are as strange to her as her spirit world is to them. The Ivys have come to fertile British Columbia in search of paradise, but the secrets and mysteries surrounding them are overwhelming – until Saylah comes to help them understand the darkness holding them back.

  Frustrated Julian Ivy, in whom sophistication and fury entwine, is drawn to Saylah's healing strength and disquieting beauty. Through sorrow and elation, the two discover the fullness of love...but no one can resolve for her the contradictions of her birthright. Following the songs of her heritage, she will finally make the most wrenching choice of all...

  Coming in January 2017, the long awaited sequel, Weave for Me a Dream.

  Lily Baldwin

  Jack: A Scottish Outlaw

  Freedom is not won…it is stolen

  Jack MacVie and his brother are thieves, robbing English nobles on the road north into Scotland. They’re about to attack the Redesdale carriage when another band of villains, after more than Lady Redesdale’s coin, sweeps down and steals their prize. Despite his hatred for the English, Jack’s conscience forces him to kidnap the lady to save her life.

  In the aftermath of the Berwick massacre, Lady Isabella Redesdale’s world is shattered. Her mother is dead, her father lost to grief, and she’s risking it all, journeying north into war-torn Scotland to be with her sister.

  Although they come from different worlds, Jack and Isabella are more alike than they first realize. They both crave freedom from war and despair, but in a world where kings reign and birth dictates one’s station, freedom is not won, it is stolen.

  Quinn: A Scottish Outlaw

  He is an outlaw…And the only man she can trust.

  Quinn MacVie is in pursuit of a prize, but it is unlike any plunder he has stolen before. He seeks neither gold nor jewels, but something infinitely more valuable—Lady Catarina Ravensworth. Sent by the lady’s sister, who fears Catarina is in danger, Quinn’s mission is to steal the lady away from Ravensworth castle. But nothing there is as Quinn expected.

  Lady Catarina has been accused of a horrific crime and is forced to run or face a fate worse than death.

  But she is not alone.

  Thief and Scottish rebel, Quinn MacVie, is at her side. With a price on her head, they must disappear into the wilds of the Scottish Highlands where the only thing greater than the danger following at their heels is the desire burning in their hearts.

  Coming December 2016 – Rory: A Scottish Outlaw

  Ford Murphy

  Taking the Town

  Lissadown, Ireland 1986.

  A ruthless, violent criminal gang has held the small midlands town in its grip for too long.

  Innocents have been maimed, raped, killed.

  Law enforcement is paralyzed.

  Finn Lane has had enough. A newcomer to Lissadown and an expert MMA fighter, Finn can’t be intimidated. Keeping his head down and minding his own business is not an option. The gang may think they own the town and everyone in it but those days are coming to an end.

  He will have vengeance…

  Stephanie Joyce Cole

  Compass North

  Can you ever run away from your own life?

  Reeling from the shock of a suddenly shattered marriage, Meredith flees as far from her home in Florida as she can get without a passport: to Alaska.

  After a freak accident leaves her presumed dead, she stumbles into a new identity and a new life in a quirky small town. Her friendship with a fiery and temperamental artist and her growing worry for her elderly, cranky landlady pull at the fabric of her carefully guarded secret. When a romance with a local fisherman unexpectedly blossoms, Meredith struggles to find a way to meld her past and present so that she can move into the future she craves. But someone is looking for her, someone who will threaten Meredith's dream of a reinvented life.

  MJ Platt

  Somewhere Montana

  Can Callum “Mac” Maclain make Sage Burnett believe in his love for her and

  save her from her stalker?

  Escaping from a stalker, Sage Burnett crashes her plane on a mountain, part of the ranch owned by the man who rejected her eight years ago. She still loves him and prays he isn't around because she dreads facing him to only have him reject her again.

  Callum "Mac" MacLain, the ranch owner, a Marine home on medical leave rescues her from the mountain. He persuades her to stay until she heals. He
realizes he is still in love with her. Can he save her from her stalker and convince her his love is real?