Welcome to the 2026 Easter Egg hunt! I know you're here to collect eggs, so here we go. Be sure and leave a comment with your email address below to be entered into my personal giveaway (a signed copy of The Highlander's Welsh Bride for a US winner, Amazon gift card outside the US).

  Carys' and Birk's story is a favorite of mine.
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  He’s a stubborn Highland laird who needs a wife.
  She’s a fugitive Welsh princess facing the gallows.
  Can he convince her marriage is the better bargain?

  Carys
  Carys Wen, Princess of Wales, once fought beside her husband in the struggle for   Welsh independence. Now widowed and hunted, she has fled north with nothing but   grief and a desperate hope to disappear. All she wants is peace—and a place far from     the English king who shattered her homeland and destroyed her family.

 Birk
 Birk MacLean has been ordered to take a bride. But the delicate lasses paraded before him promise little more than fragile tempers and selfish ambitions. Birk needs a woman of strength—someone capable of standing beside him and helping lead one of the most powerful clans in Western Scotland. Perhaps a woman like the fierce Welsh prisoner sitting in his dungeon… arrested for poaching MacLean deer.

The Highlander’s Welsh Bride is an epic tale of honor, betrayal, passion, and the healing power of love. Along the way you’ll meet a mischievous corgi puppy named Tegan, a sweet little girl who hasn’t spoken since her mother died, pirates, and more adventure than will let you sleep at night.

If you love sweeping historical romance with strong heroines and vivid settings, you’ll love this unforgettable story from the Hardy Heroines series by Cathy & DD MacRae.

To buy it now, click on this link for this tale of love and honor at Amazon: Click Here 

If you'd like to read an excerpt from The Highlander's Welsh Bride, read on. Carys has been persuaded to marry Birk, and he has decided she should change to fit his idea of a wife. At the beginning of this scene, she has killed a man whose men had been preying on the MacLean people and lands for a number of months, and she wishes to question the single person who has survived the fight. Birk has other ideas.

“I will handle this.” He growled low, for her ears only.
“Have I not earned the right to question him?”
“’Tis man’s work.” He glared at her, attempted to stare her into submission.
“So was killing this blackguard’s leader, but I killed him and two others without a man’s assistance,” she shot back.
Gripping her sword’s hilt, shoving it deep into its sheath lest she bury it in someone’s chest, Carys stormed from the room, ignoring Birk’s bark of command to return.
I will not be cosseted. I will protect what is mine, and his opinion of what is proper can go hang!
She choked back a sob. I am responsible for the attack by the pirates. They came after me. ’Twas me they sought to punish.
Anguish overrode her better instincts, keeping her from answering Birk’s orders.
Death follows ye.
But I will fight for what is mine. My children. My family. My honor.
Footsteps pounded the stone behind her as she grabbed the doorframe and whirled about, landing nearly level with Birk’s startled face. He stepped to one side, clearing the doorway. His glower returned, eyes dark, red spots of rage on his high cheek bones.
“Do ye have any idea . . .?”
“I have many ideas,” she snarled.
“Ye are my wife, and I willnae . . ..”
“Ye willnae?” she mocked. “I have had my fill of what ye will and will not allow.” She advanced, forcing him into the yard. Stunned looks followed them, and she straightened abruptly. “Follow me.”
Her march to the area between the stables and the high wall surrounding the castle settled her anger, forcing her into a place of quiet focus, her fury on full simmer. She faced Birk, hands flexing over the sword still at her belt.
He towered over her, using his height in an attempt to intimidate her.
“A woman shouldnae be responsible for leading a rout of pirates.”
She tossed her head, undaunted. “And yet, here I am. I have routed my share of them, and care not if ye do not like it.”
Birk growled. “Nae. I dinnae.”
“What did ye think ye’d get when ye married me, Birk MacLean? A warrior woman who would become a submissive simpleton who turned to needlework once I said my vows?” She shook her head at his foolishness. “I thought ye possessed a keener wit than that. Mayhap I err.”
“I expect ye to do as ye’re told—as any good soldier!” he shouted.
Carys’s laugh rolled bitterly. “What do ye fear? That I will be injured and cheat ye of an heir? ’Tis easily remedied. Another wife shouldn’t be so difficult to find.” She shrugged. “Or, mayhap ye are uncomfortable around a woman who speaks her mind—and has the skills to back up her words?”
“Ye are fearless—and foolish. A woman cannae fight against a man and win.”
Carys stepped slowly to the side, loosening her shoulders as she circled him. “Have I not proven myself? Were Colin Dubh and his followers not evidence enough?”
Birk frowned, clearly not pleased with the memory she stirred.
“Or the pirates who attacked the Seabhag? Mayhap the thieves at port when Hywel and I first signed aboard Captain Ferguson’s ship? Or Longshank’s soldiers who invaded my country and killed my family?”
She continued her steps, watching him move, angling first forward then back, forcing him to avoid her advance.
Birk braced his feet in the dirt. “Ye cannae win against me. Put away yer anger and come inside.”
“Ye doubt me? Then meet me with steel.”

Hmm. What is Birk to do?

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