Pembroke Palace #6 Exclusive Pre-Order Discount at Kobo! Kobo It’s here at last!  From USA Today bestselling author Julianne MacLean: SEDUCED AT SUNSET, the Pembroke Palace series conclusion, is now available for pre-order exclusively at Kobo, and Kobo is offering the e-book for 50% off until March 30! And that’s not all – MARRIED BY MIDNIGHT, a novella in the Pembroke Palace series, is also available for FREE for a limited time. Pick up both titles and get started on the Pembroke Palace series today. SEDUCED AT SUNSET Sometimes the matchmaker finds a love of her own… Lady Charlotte Sinclair has long given up her dreams of happily ever after.  Years ago, a tragic accident claimed the life of her beloved fiancé, but somehow she found the strength to go on—as an independent woman with a secret double life that has earned her millions.  Lately, however, she has begun to yearn for something more… While setting out to play matchmaker for her mother, Lady Charlotte meets a rugged, handsome stranger who saves her from a thief in the street, but her heroic rescuer soon turns out to be more mysterious—and dangerously captivating—than any man she has ever known.  Swept away…

Shadows and Strongholds is largely set in a part of England very close to the Welsh border, in a beautiful county called Shropshire.  Much of the story takes place at Ludlow Castle which was once a great medieval fortress and still consists of substantial ruins today in the town centre.   It was begun in the late 11th century by the de Lacy family and continued to be built upon and maintained until the 16th century. The de Lacy family rebelled against the king and Ludlow castle was taken away from the male line and given  instead to a lady of the de Lacy bloodline called Sybilla Talbot.  King Henry I married her to one of his own men, Payn FitzJohn.  She bore  Payn two daughter, Cecily and Agnes. Payn was killed by Welsh raiders in 1137, leaving Sybilla a widow still of child-bearing age and in possession of a major Welsh border fortress.   At this time, old King Henry had died and the throne had been taken by his nephew, Stephen.  However, Henry’s daughter, Matilda also felt she had a right to the crown and set out to try and topple  Stephen from his throne.  The disinherited male de Lacy…