Free From Today! Black Diamonds on Kindle!

From today, my historical romance novel, Black Diamonds is being offered free on Kindle [for the next five days!] Black Diamonds is the first book in the 'Seasons of Change' series. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

Download it here:

UK:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Diamonds-Seasons-Change-Book-ebook/dp/B00ZOW4IK2

US:  http://www.amazon.com/Black-Diamonds-Seasons-Change-Book-ebook/dp/B00ZOW4IK2

A tale of passion and compassion and most of all, one woman's brave heart.

Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, 1865. When Lily Jenkin begins her first day working for the Morgans at their corner shop in the little village of Abercanaid, she has no idea of the calamity that lies ahead of that fateful day.

It is a day of tragedy at the Gethin Coal Pit that brings her into contact with the new handsome, chapel minister, Evan Davies, for the first time.

Although a dark cloud of death passes over the village, Lily and Evan draw close to one another as they help the villagers deal with the tragedy, forming a bond which could lead to love. However, there is a gossiping old crone in the village who will do her best to cause trouble for the pair by hook or by crook.

Lily has the opportunity to escape the valley of the shadow of death to make a new home for herself in Great Salt Lake, America. Will she take the chance to go to ‘Zion’, following her Mormon relatives, and more importantly, will Evan, a Welsh Baptist minister, go with her?

The Seasons of Change Series:

1. Black Diamonds
2. White Roses
3. Blue Skies
4. Red Poppies

Sunday's Novel Exerpt: Return to Winter [Celtic Heart Book # 2]

Find novel excerpt here:
http://askdavid.com/preview/13055

When Stephanie Baynham returns home from Italy to Wales, there's someone waiting at the airport for her. Someone she isn't expecting to see in a million years, fashion designer, Dylan Pryce-Jones. He's the man she ran out on months ago on the afternoon of Matt and Sandy's wedding after they'd made love for the first time, so he's expecting answers!

Dylan has bought a castle where he holds wedding receptions and having nowhere else to stay, he takes Stephanie there, where she begins to work for him. Unfortunately, someone is scaring her half to death, she finds the words, 'You're dead!" scrawled on her mirror and fears for her life.

Who would want to see her dead? And will things that started out so well with Dylan at Matt and Sandy's wedding, ever become revived once again? Or is it all over between the pair of former lovers?

This book is a follow up to the novel, It Happened One Summer. and the second in the 'Celtic Heart' series of books.

Saturday's Book Excerpt: It Happened One Summer [Celtic Heart Series book #1]

Read book excerpt here:

http://askdavid.com/preview/13054

When Sandy Perkins runs into an awkward customer where she works as a manageress, in a charity shop in small Welsh town, she becomes annoyed. The 'customer' later reveals himself to her as new area manager, Matt Walker. The reason Sandy is so angry is because her emotions are all over the place after losing her fiancé in a motorbike accident a few months previously. She's still grieving the loss. Having just returned from a spell of working for a children's charity overseas, Matt has no idea of this of course and when he discovers this, he plans on making it up to her.

The charity they work for is in trouble and might be forced to close down soon if someone doesn't come up with a good idea to raise funds! Added to this, is the fact that Sandy has a stalker and she has no idea who that person is...makes for a roller coaster of a ride for her, particularly as she finds herself falling for the very man she should resent at the same time. Her life is in danger though, and Matt does everything he can to protect her from the evil stalker.

I first published this book ten years ago to raise funds for a charity I worked for at the time. It was my first book and one I'm extremely proud of as my contribution by writing, publishing and selling this novel, helped to put a few bricks into the new building for the charity, which is still going strong today.

Friday's Book Excerpt: Watching You

Read book excerpt here: http://askdavid.com/preview/13025

 This story is a twist on a Cinderella tale but this time it's a tale that's in reverse. Here the heroine goes from Riches to Rags! I had great fun writing this book as I also explored the villain's point of view.

When Angeline Hamilton's father dies, she is shocked to discover she is about to lose her family home. It's been purchased by a local wealthy businessman, Sebastian Tremaine, who she begins to detest. The talk is that Angeline's father had lost most of the family wealth as he had incurred gambling debts, which shocks her. However she has no idea that someone is out there lurking, watching and waiting. He wishes to destroy Angeline forever.



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Reviews:

• "Watching You is a heart wrenching romance filled with passion, forgiveness, intrigue and murder..." — Erotic Horizons

• "I was unable to put it down-suspense tantalised all the way through the book and it is only at the end when the true culprit is unmasked!" — Amazon Reviewer

Thursday's Book Excerpt: The Sicilian's Proposition

Read excerpt here: http://askdavid.com/preview/13026

Joanne Smith is a renowned journalist for Life Today magazine. Her latest assignment is to interview Dante Alphonso. He is trying to get positive publicity for his pet charity, an organization that grants wishes to dying children. What he didn't plan on was to be attracted to the beautiful Joanne. He invites her to go to Sicily with him at his expense to visit his vineyards and see the other parts of his life. He even takes along one of the magazine's photographers. Things start to get hot and spicy between Dante and Joanne as he shows her the beautiful things the island has to offer. Then Dante is betrayed and he places the blame on Joanne. Can their relationship ever recover?

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Reviews:

• "This is a very emotional book that will leave haunting memories well after the story is finished!" — Ind'tale Magazine

• "This story is also very emotional and touching with everything that happens. The emotions that they feel are expressed beautifully." — Long and Short Reviews

Wednesday's Excerpt:Blue Skies [Seasons of Change book # 3]

Wednesday's Excerpt: Blue Skies [Seasons of Change book # 3]

Read excerpt here:

http://askdavid.com/preview/13022

This is the third book in the Seasons of Change series of Novels and like the other two novels: Black Diamonds and White Roses, it's set primarily in Merthyr Tydfil but part of the book is also set in Llanbadarn Fawr, Cardigan, which is where my grandfather's Evans family originated from.

Rebecca Jenkin is a young nurse who works at the Merthyr General Hospital, where she meets the arrogant Doctor Daniel. They don't hit it off at first but gradually she grows to like him and he asks to take her for an evening out at The Temperance Hall.

Life at home becomes difficult when a secret is discovered about Rebecca's father that shakes the family to their very core.

After changing wards, Rebecca comes into contact with Doctor Mansell Owen, an older married man whose wife has a severe mental illness bordering on hysteria, following the birth of their last child. Mansell asks Rebecca if she will accompany his wife to Llanbadarn Fawr so she can stay with her aunt and uncle at their farm, so she will get complete rest and fresh air.

However, after being spurned by Daniel, Rebecca begins to fall for the kindly doctor at the same time someone in Cardigan falls for her. What will she do?

Tuesday's Excerpt: White Roses [Seasons of Change] book # 2

Tuesday's excerpt can be viewed here: http://askdavid.com/preview/13021

This book is a follow up to 'Black Diamonds' and is the second in the 'Seasons of Change' series of historical romance novels, primarily set in Wales. I enjoyed researching for this book so much. The historical settings are real but the characters and story are fictional. The action takes place in both Merthyr and London.

This is the story of Kathleen O'Hara, a young Irish woman who marries a Welsh man named, Dafydd Jenkin. Kathleen yearns to sing on the stage but her headstrong husband opposes her, he's just landed a job as a policeman with the Glamorgan Constabulary and his career means everything to him.

However, after singing locally at the Temperance Hall, Merthyr Tydfil, the bright lights of London beckon Kathleen. People are saying she has the 'Voice of an Angel', she now has the chance to better herself after a surprise visit from a London Agent.

Will Kathleen give up the love of her life to seek a love anew on the London stage? Or will she stay put and carry on with everyday life in Merthyr Tydfil to please her husband?

Mondays excerpt: Black Diamonds [Season of Change book #1]

Monday's Excerpt: Black Diamonds [Seasons of Change book #1] can be read here:
http://askdavid.com/preview/12294

I'm very interested in local history and wrote Black Diamonds after discovering something interesting in my own family history. A skeleton if you like. I'd never realised before but one of my ancestors from my home town was a pioneer Mormon who emigrated to Great Salt Lake in 1871 and who had opposition from other family members, one of whom was his wife as she refused to follow him to 'Zion', so he left her behind and remarried bigamously there, and had further children.

Life was much better for him in Utah with the clean open spaces and fresh air, unlike the dirty grey industrial town he left behind.

Preachers like Dan Jones who made many converts in Merthyr Tydfil often encouraged people to move to Utah. The Church was keen to utilise the mining skills of the Welsh Brethren in Salt Lake City. But the 'Saint's who preached on the streets of Merthyr were stoned and treated badly.

I realise how brave my ancestor, William Harman, was as he was offered the chance to be sole beneficiary in the will of rich Uncle Edmund Harman if he chose to renounce his religion. But instead he chose his faith and Utah, his 'Zion'.

The population of Merthyr had exploded due to the iron works at Cyfarthfa, Dowlais and Plymouth. What had once been a small farming community became a heaving metropolis where Iron was king and coal its Queen.

It got me wondering what life would have been like in Merthyr Tydfil at that time.

During that sort of time period there was also a coal mining explosion at Gethin Pit which killed 34 men and boys in Abercanaid, Merthyr Tydfil. It happened just before Christmas of 1865, and this got me wondering what life in the village would have been like after that.

How would people cope during such a tragedy?

I began to write and research and discovered some amazing facts. Although this is a work of fiction, it's set around real life events that actually happened in the town.

The protagonist is Lily Jenkin, a spirited young woman, who has just begun working at the local shop when she discovers both her twin brothers have been involved in the explosion. She fears for their safety and it's while she's waiting to hear the news that she encounters handsome minister, Evan Davies. They join forces to do what they can for the injured and their families in the village.

It's a tale of passion and compassion and most of all one woman's brave heart.

Lest We Forget

Lest we forget the 60,000 British soldiers injured on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 20,000 of whom died. We can't comprehend these days that amount of fatalities in just one day.

This is something I'm writing about currently in 'Red Poppies'. Reading personal accounts from the men themselves and watching documentaries where family members describe what happened to their fathers, husbands and sons, brings it all home.

 "Adele’s father, the eminent Doctor Mansell Owen, shook his head sadly and announced, “This should be the war to end all wars. Germany and Austria-Hungary took a gamble that went badly wrong. 1914 saw a premeditated war of combat and conquest. It’s a conflict they thought would be sorted out by now, but instead it’s taken a savage loss of life...” Red Poppies - Lynette Rees.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35963387