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Win An Exclusive Blackthorn Prize Bundle

I am taking a deep breath before I say this…

Here we go, Team Blackthorn… the LAST EVER Blackthorn giveaway!

A week ago yesterday, Blood Broken was published. I can’t thank you enough for your incredible response to it so far. I’ve been deeply moved by your feedback not just to the finale, but the whole series. I know many of you have found it extremely tough saying goodbye – me too! But I’m saving that until my final Blackthorn post. Before then, I promised you a very special giveaway…

THE FINAL GIVEAWAY

I have a one-off prize bundle that will go to ONE lucky winner. Included in this one-off prize is:

  • A SIGNED ‘BLACKTHORN SERIES’ FABRIC BANNER
  • A SIGNED PAPERBACK of BLOOD BROKEN
  • A LIMITED-EDITION VIAL CONTAINING A GENUINE PIECE OF BLACKTHORN from my garden, accompanied by a SIGNED CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENCITY
  • A SIGNED MAGAZINE INTERVIEW FROM MY FIRST-EVER BOOK SIGNING at RARE London last year
  • A BLACKTHORN MUG featuring our four Blackthorn heroes
  • A BLACKTHORN BOOKMARK featuring all eight book covers
  • A SIGNED BLACKTHORN POSTCARD featuring all eight book covers
  • A SIGNED BLOOD BROKEN POSTCARD
  • A SIGNED BLACKTHORN LOGO POSTCARD
  • A BLACKTHORN LOGO STICKER

AND as well as all of these, I’m going to include three treats from my Blackthorn spin-off series as part of the bundle too:

  • A SIGNED PAPERBACK of HAVEN, the first standalone book in my Lowtown series
  • A SIGNED HAVEN POSTCARD
  • A HAVEN BOOKMARK

That makes 14 prizes in one!

There will also be THREE RUNNER-UP PRIZES of signed Blood Broken postcards together with Blackthorn bookmarks.

I hope that’s tempted you enough to play! It’s now or never!

TO ENTER:

All you have to do to enter is answer this question:

WHAT’S YOUR MOST MEMORABLE SCENE FROM THE BLACKTHORN SERIES?

I usually say only one entry per person but, as it’s our last giveaway, I’ll let you enter up to THREE times (each will count as a separate entry). 😃 Hopefully that’ll help if you’re struggling to pick just one – oh, and you can triple your odds of winning! 😉

THE RULES:

> The competition is open NOW and you have until MIDNIGHT (GMT) on SUNDAY 2nd JUNE to enter.

> All entries will be allocated a number and the first prize winner and three runners-up will be selected using an online number generator. The winners will be announced in this post on Monday 3rd June. 

> For your entry/entries to be valid you must either:

THE FINER DETAILS:

> Winners will need to claim their prize within seven days of the announcement, so please check to see if you have won.

> There are no restrictions on where I will post, so everyone can enter.

> As with all giveaways, I won’t respond to any of the entries.

Have fun making your decisions – and best of luck! 🍀

Linds xxx

***

LAST EVER BLACKTHORN GIVEAWAY WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT! 

After allocating every valid entry a number and using a random number generator, I am thrilled to announce the winners of my last ever Blackthorn giveaway are:

FIRST PRIZE: Blackthorn Bundle of 14 prizes

CHRISTINE GRIGGS (Facebook entrant)

RUNNER-UP PRIZES: SIGNED BLOOD BROKEN POSTCARD AND BOOKMARK

MONICALEE LEE (Facebook entrant)

AUBREY SARFATI (Facebook entrant)

MARIE SHEEHAN (email entrant)

Huge congratulations!! Please message/email me with your address and I will send your prizes to you asap.

Thank you SO much to everyone who joined in with this final giveaway. Reading your favourite moments has been fantastic. I’ll share a few in my last ever Blackthorn blog post. 😃

And thank you to every single person who has supported my Blackthorn giveaways over the past few years. I’ve only run them because you’re amazingly interactive. Thank you for embracing them all with such a huge sense of fun and enthusiasm. I truly am incredibly lucky to have readers who are so willing to join in, you’ve made each one of them so worthwhile. ❤️

(Psst… and this may have been my last Blackthorn giveaway but there will be more to come with my new books. 😉 #JustSaying)

I also want to say a MASSIVE thank you to each of you who has been in touch to let me know what you thought of Blood Broken. The feedback has been phenomenal – far beyond what I could have hoped for. I cannot even begin to tell you how much it means to me. I haven’t caught up with everyone yet, but I will. And to everyone who has left a review already, I deeply appreciate your time and effort. 🤗

Enjoy the rest of your week, Team Blackthorn – and I’ll be back in due course with that final Blackthorn post!

Linds xxx

Signed Blood Broken Giveaway!

Oooooohhhh!!! Look who has landed on my doorstep! 😍 I might have crumpled one with my hugging. 🤗 Well, it is the last ever one. 😭

Would you like one? 

I have one signed paperback AND five glossy Blood Broken postcards as runner-up prizes to give away.

So if you’re ready to sink your teeth into final 500 pages of our Blackthorn journey, just tell me:

WHERE IN THE WORLD WILL YOU BE WHEN YOU READ BLACKTHORN’S FINALE?

I’ll close the competition at midday (GMT) on Saturday 18th May and announce the winners by midnight on the same day.

As always, you can enter via the comments below, email me or leave your answer on the relevant post on my Facebook page.

Good luck, everyone!! 🍀

***

GIVEAWAY WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT! 

After allocating every valid entrant a number and using a random number generator, I am thrilled to announce the winners of my giveaway are:

FIRST PRIZE: SIGNED PAPERBACK OF BLOOD BROKEN 

Katie Alexander from Kansas City, Missouri (Facebook entrant)

RUNNER-UP PRIZES: SIGNED BLOOD BROKEN POSTCARD 

Tjasa from Slovenia (email entrant)

Mary Fricano from Buffalo, New York (Facebook entrant)

Kirsty Gibson-Rolfe from Reading, UK (Facebook entrant)

Emma Causer from Wolverhampton, UK (Facebook entrant)

Marie from London, UK (blog/website entrant)

Huge congratulations!! 🎉 Please message/email me with your address and I will send your prize to you. 🎁

Thank you to everyone who joined in, I really appreciate your support. ❤️ If you’re disappointed not to have won, let me reassure you it’s not over yet! Not only will Blood Broken be yours in two days time, I have a HUGE giveaway coming next week that die-hard Blackthorn fans are not going to want to miss. Do keep a look out for it!!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

xxx

8 Things You May Not Know About Blackthorn

A week today, the final Blackthorn book will be yours. Yay! 🎉

As there are eight books in the series, here’s a brief trip down memory lane with 8 things you may not know about Blackthorn:

1. I first came up with the idea for Blackthorn back in 1996 after getting lost one night after moving to a new city 300 miles away from home. This September will mark its twenty-third anniversary.

2. All the Blackthorn couples started out in short stories when I was constructing the overarching plot of the series. They all had to work hard to make their place in the final cut.

3. Originally there were only going to be six Blackthorn books. Jask and Phia were never going to be lead characters, despite being integral to the overarching plot. The editor who worked on the first two books thought Jask deserved a book of his own though, hence Blood Torn being slotted in before Blood Deep. And why was Jask never going to be a leading man? Because I’m terrified of werewolves/lycans and never thought I’d be able to write one convincingly as a romantic hero! Jask has since become one of the favourites of the series. 😍

4. I was discovered by my publisher through a writing competition. Blood Roses made it into the final in 2010 and Blood Shadows in 2011 after being voted for by readers and editors. I was offered a contract for the first three books in 2012.

5. I was approached by Bookouture (Blackthorn’s publisher) on Friday 13th. Spooky…

6. Blackthorn’s covers were changed in 2014 ready for the launch of Blood Torn. They originally had a much more traditionally Gothic feel but Bookouture decided to give them a more contemporary urban edge. The original covers were red, black and white to reflect the design of my website at the time. I chose red, black and white because, in folklore, these are the three colours associated with the Blackthorn plant.

7. Blood Shadows was optioned for a film by Hollywood studios Relativity Media but lost out to a split vote.

8. By the time you finish Blood Broken, if you have read all eight Blackthorn books you would have read almost a MILLION WORDS! I hope it’s flown by for you as much as it has for me. 😁📕📗📘📙📚📖

 

Blood Broken Update!

FINALLY!!!! I hope it’s the news you’ve been waiting for…

Look out NEXT WEDNESDAY (6th March) between 4.30 and 5 pm UK time. We’re going to be revealing Blood Broken’s cover, its publication date AND it’s going to be available for pre-order too! I can’t wait!!!

And as it’s the last book in the series, we’re going to be announcing it in a very special way. You’ll want your volume turned up for this one. 😉

I hope to see you then!

Linds xxx

Haven’s in Bookshops in the U.S. and Canada!

As well as being on its second print run, HAVEN is not only in bookshops in the U.K., Australia and New Zealand but, as of TODAY, it’s in bookshops in the U.S. and Canada too!!

It’s tough enough to get on bookshelves here in the U.K. so I’m absolutely over the moon about this. A MASSIVE thank you to Piatkus Fiction for making this happen.

And a humongous thank you to my lovely readers for buying HAVEN and leaving those all-important reviews that lead to things like this happening for me. I appreciate your support SO much.

Xxx

P.S. It’ll be another month until the paperbacks are available on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca but you can pre-order now:

Amazon.com: http://a.co/3ze24Xr

Amazon.ca: http://a.co/aegHCtD

A Week Until I Meet My Readers!

I’m SO excited!! A week today I’ll be at The Olympia in London for my first ever book signing. I can’t wait!

RARE is the UK’s largest romance signing event and afterparty. 1500 tickets were sold in less than 24 hours, with attendees coming from 39 countries to see over 100 of the bestselling authors in the genre. I’m absolutely thrilled to be a part of it.

Attendees are already well underway with their preparations, and it’s flattering to see my books amongst some of the other authors they’re planning to meet on the day. Thank you to everyone who is coming to see me. I can’t wait to meet you! I’m hoping to be well and truly hugged out by the end of it all. Thank you for all your support coming through on Facebook already. I’ll share some pictures when I’m back. 

I’m also over the moon to say Piatkus have informed me HAVEN is already on its second paperback print run. Thank you so much to all of my readers who continue to support me in my new venture. ❤️ 

Wishing My Readers a Merry Christmas 🎄

I’m getting in early this year! I usually leave this post until a couple of days before Christmas. As I’m currently locked in Blackthorn though, I’m worried about losing track of time. It’s strange to think it was 2012 when I last worked over Christmas and New Year on Caleb and Leila’s story, ready to introduce them to you. Now, exactly five years later, I’m back full circle with them – this time to bring the Blackthorn story to an end.

Of course they should have been with you by now but, yes, I’m having closure issues! I know some of my readers are getting impatient (in a good way) but hopefully my slight delay means you have more Blackthorn to look forward to in 2018. At least it’s not over just yet!

Until then I want to offer my heartfelt thanks to all of my fantastic readers who have been a part of my 2017. Whether you have supported me via social media, email or by reviewing my books, you have made a HUGE difference as always. Being able to bring you my Lowtown series is proof of that, let alone having one of my books in bookshops for the very first time too with HAVEN. Thank you, Piatkus! Keep your eyes peeled and you might see Nate on a shelf somewhere near you. He’s already been spotted in a bookshop in Australia! If you find him, do let me know. I’m going to track him down for myself here in the UK…

Have a wonderful Christmas and I wish everyone health, happiness and hope in 2018 – oh, and tonnes of wonderful new books to read too! Thank you so much for being there.

Take care, and have fun!

xxx

Flash Giveaway! Win a Blackthorn Paperback!

Whilst working on our Blackthorn finale as well as the first book in my new Lowtown series, I’ve had some wonderfully encouraging and inspiring feedback from my readers recently.

So, to say thank you for your support, I decided to run a flash giveaway to give you the chance to win a signed Blackthorn paperback of your choice.

HOW TO ENTER

You know how I love to keep giveaways as quick and easy as possible so, inspired by some of the comments above, all you have to do to enter is tell me:

What is it about Blackthorn that keeps you coming back for more?

And, for the first time ever, you can submit an entry both here on my blog as well as on my Facebook page to double your chances of winning!

THE PRIZES

There are TWO paperbacks up for grabs – and the two winners can pick which one they want*.

Whether you want to start your Blackthorn paperback collection, fill a gap, or complete your series so far or, if your collection is already complete, win one for a family member, a friend or even as a prize for your own blog or book club, the choice is yours.

*I’m afraid advanced copies of Blood Broken are not included in this giveaway. We’ll be having a special giveaway for that nearer the time.

THE RULES

  • The giveaway is open NOW and will close at midnight GMT on Friday 24th March, so be quick!
  • Only two entries per person please – one here and one on my Facebook page is the max.
  • All entries will be assigned a number and the two winners will be selected using a random number generator.
  • The winners will be announced on this post as well as on the related Facebook post on Saturday 25th March.
  • Winners will need to check if they have won and contact me to claim their prizes by midnight Wednesday 29th March for your books to be ordered. We can sort out the finer details then.

ADDITIONAL INFO:

  • As with all my giveaways, prizes will be posted anywhere.
  • Proof of postage will be retained but prizes lost once out of my hands cannot be replaced.
  • And as with all giveaways, I will refrain from responding to comments. If you have any queries though, feel free to email or message me.

Good luck, everyone! <3

*

GIVEAWAY WINNERS ANNOUNCED

HUGE congratulations to….

Claire Palmer

and

Kimmie Lew

You have both won a signed Blackthorn paperback of your choice! Please either email me or message me via Facebook and we will sort the details.

Thank you, as always, to everyone who joined in. Your comments were incredible. I am so relieved I didn’t have to choose a winner based on those! And, of course, commiserations to anyone disappointed not to win. Rest assured, we’ll have plenty more giveaways to come.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone! xxx

Meet Me in London

I’ve been asked many times, over the last couple of years in particular, when I’m going to participate in a book-signing event. Well, it’s finally going to happen!

To mark the end of BLACKTHORN and the beginning of my brand new LOWTOWN series, I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be attending RARE18 at The Olympia in London on 24th February 2018. This will be my first public appearance and the first opportunity I’ve had to meet some of my readers – and I cannot wait.

If you’ve never heard of RARE (Romance Author & Reader Events), it’s an incredible event reaching increasing popularity since it began in 2014. It’s been hosted in Edinburgh and Montreal, is based in Berlin this year, and will be hosted in London and Rome in 2018. It’s your chance to meet a whole host of amazing romance authors across the full spectrum of the genre from contemporary to fantasy to suspense.

Tickets are going on sale on Saturday 4th March at 3 p.m. UK time. Don’t delay once the tickets become available as there are over 1,000 confirmed attendees already. If you’d like to find out more before then, you can join RARE 18 London‘s Facebook group where they are announcing authors who are attending. For those not on social media, I’ll update the end of this post once I have further news.

So, if you’d like the chance say hello and have your books, audiobooks, notebooks, giveaway prizes you may have won in the past, or anything else signed by me, I’d love to see you there.

My new publisher, Piatkus, is very kindly planning on providing some LOWTOWN stash and hopefully I’ll have one or two BLACKTHORN treats too. 🙂

On top of all of that, I’ve discovered that it won’t just be authors and readers attending. I jokingly put a teaser out on my Facebook page earlier in the week that I was going to be participating in a signing event and that Kane, Caleb, Jask and Eden would be joining me – but in 2D only. Now I’ve heard that some cover models really are going to attend! So, who knows, maybe* one of our Blackthorn boys will appear after all.

Form an orderly queue…

xxx

*Don’t hold me to it being one of our boys. I genuinely have no idea which models are coming!

*UPDATE AS OF 4th MARCH*

This event is now sold out.

A Grimm Day

I make no secret of the fact I love fairy tales. I’ve written a post previously about how, with them having been embedded in my psyche since childhood, I don’t doubt their background influence on Blackthorn. Fairy tales were the PNR equivalent when I was a child. Wolves, witches, treachery, romance, magic, a struggle for survival, the battle between good and evil set against mystical and often dark and threatening settings, it’s no wonder the world I’ve created contains those elements.

grimm

Above: My collection of fairy tales

As well as loving fairy tales, I also have a passion for visiting National Trust properties. Whether absorbing their internal grandeur or exploring their beautifully maintained grounds (or wandering off into the depths of the woods), I can’t visit these places enough when taking a break from writing. So when I heard Killerton were hosting a celebration of Grimm’s Fairy Tales over the Christmas and New Year period, it became top priority for a day out. I was so enthralled by what I found, I thought I’d share a few pics (and some annotations) from the day. I hope my fellow fairy tale fans out there enjoy them!

house-external

The stunning exterior of Killerton House in Exeter: the perfect magical setting to host a celebration of some of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Although the sun had broken through in these photos, it had been a frosty morning when we set off for our visit, adding to the enchantment of the place on our arrival (needless to say I’m a huge Narnia fan too 🙂 ).

internal-stairs

A glimpse of Killerton’s internal staircase, light being cast through the glass dome above. It might be familiar to those of you who have read Blood Torn:

“Ascending the stairs alongside him, her attention was drawn to the opaque glass dome that crowned the ceiling…”

Blood Torn, chpt 2. 

elves-and-rapunzel

The first stop was The Elves and the Shoemaker display. Later I had a peek inside Rapunzel‘s tower which included a full-size figure of the lady herself, her posture emanating her loneliness. Is it any wonder Eden refers to Jessie as ‘Rapunzel’ in Blood Deep?

sleeping-beauty

The story of Sleeping Beauty spanned two rooms. The first room displayed the spinning wheel and poison whilst Sleeping Beauty slept a few feet away. The neighbouring room celebrated her wedding to the Prince who, if interpretations are correct, rescued her after fighting his way through a Blackthorn hedge. 😉

klibrary

Hmm, I wonder which vampire came to mind with this library…?

red-riding-hood

If you’ve read my previous posts, you’ll know I have a long-standing fear of werewolves (which convinced me I’d never be able to write a lycan hero), so I really could have done without wandering down a lengthy corridor before nearly jumping out of my skin when faced with this growling fella! Jask I can handle, Little Red Riding Hood‘s nemesis, not so much!

hanzel-and-gretal

This had to be my favourite display of all, which is why I left it until last. The story of Hansel and Gretel both terrified and fascinated me as a child. So even at forty-two, I had a little shiver as I glimpsed firstly at the child prison before taking a closer look at the baking tray… to see human fingers ready for cooking! It’s no wonder our Caleb despises serryns so much!

I can’t wait to see what Killerton will come up with next year! 🙂

And before I go, I’d like to give my thanks and a huge shout-out to Big Little Sister Blog who listed Blood Instinct and Blood Bound amongst her favourite books of 2016! Yay!!!

big-little-sister-blog

As well as My Bookworm Blogger who is so excited (and maybe a little sad?) about 2017 bringing Blackthorn’s finale that she’s given the entire series a shout-out on her blog today.

my-bookworm-blogger-jan-17

Thank you so very much, Michelle and Stephanie. <3

I’ll be back with some news very soon. And, of course, a very happy New Year to you all, Team Blackthorn! Let’s make 2017 a great one! <3