Piper Paid

by Cyn Hadyn

Rebel Ink Press

Paranormal Romance, Paranormal Romance: Time Travel

December 10, 2014

ISBN-10: 1940315700

ISBN-13: 9781940315706

Available in: e-Book, Trade Size (reprint)

Piper Paid
by Cyn Hadyn

It was to be a working vacation and a childhood dream come true. Alana MacLeod from Dunedin, Florida would learn how to use herbs to treat common ailments and, in lieu of course cost, would teach her Scottish instructor how to forage for and use edible plants in her cooking.

Alana’s dream was to open her own business offering an unusual combination of herbal remedies, edible weeds, acupuncture and different styles of massage, but her renowned plastic surgeon father thought it New Age twaddle and refused to support her financially. Not unlike her stubborn MacLeod ancestors, Alana wouldn’t take no for an answer and followed her beloved grandfather’s example by joining the Marine Corps and serving two tours in Afghanistan to pay for the unusual classes she needed to open shop in Dunedin.

One of her first stops when she reached Scotland was to honor her grandfather’s memory by visiting the site of the famous Battle of Culloden and walk the moor where on April 16, 1746, the British forces of King George II destroyed the power of the Scottish clans. She and her grandfather had war-gamed the battle from the time she was able to understand strategy and tactics and, as she walked the terrain, she could almost feel the agony the clans must’ve experienced at such a major defeat.

Once she left mainland Scotland for the Isle of Skye and the home of the renowned herbalist Annie MacCrimmon, her time in Skye flew by until she had but two last lessons to learn. The first of which was, never, ever summon a fairy as a lark because you wouldn’t care at all for the results. Especially if you found yourself sent back to 1745 and given the task of saving a MacArthur piper’s life as payment for the fairy’s debt of honor.

The second hard lesson learned was never put a ring you’ve just dug up in a patch of four leaf clover on your left ring finger. One, you wouldn’t be able to get it off again and, two, you’d find yourself wed by clan custom to a MacArthur piper. If she did manage to save Alasdair MacArthur’s life, the fairy had promised to send her back to her own century, but she’d been so flummoxed by the beautiful creature’s appearance, she’d forgotten to ask what would threaten the piper’s life so she could save him and, more importantly, what would happen if she failed.

Alana is forced to call upon her knowledge of foraging and herbal remedies, her Marine Corps training and her MacLeod stubbornness to fit into eighteenth century Skye. Although the fairy hadn’t given her a deadline, Alana had set one for herself. She’d convinced the MacArthur piper to handfast with her rather than an actual marriage, and so she would move heaven, hell and a certain fairy to see her mission was completed within a year and a day. But time was running out, and curse that tricky fairy, it was looking like the life threatening event Alasdair MacArthur needed saving from was the battle that would occur on Drumossie Moor on 16 April 1746.

Originally published August 2014 in eBook format.



Cyn Hadyn's Bio

Cyn Hadyn, a career historian with Hungarian/Viking nomadic roots, goes balmy in Florida and has delusions of writing. How’s that for a current biography? Yeah, sounds silly but it’s true. I’m a transplanted Yankee living way south of the Mason-Dixon Line and enjoying the feeling of thin blood, sand, sun, and palm trees. I’ve sworn off snow, bare trees, brown grass, and real Italian food. Uh, not so much the Italian food. Still would sacrifice a small digit for authentic Italian cuisine a la Philly, Trenton, or New York.

Before settling down to write full time in the land of ’bless your heart, and y’all’, I was a Special Operations (US Army and US Marines) military historian/archivist. Now I collect a retirement check and write paranormal/historical romance. I guess my service with Army and Marine Special Operations left an indelible impression on my writing, because my characters, both male and female, are distinctly Spec Ops in their outlook. They leave no man behind, color outside the lines, and are very, very lethal. If you Google Cyn Hadyn, you’ll find my books range from paranormal to historical. I’ve also pushed the envelope a little by including Erotica and BDSM. Which brings me to my latest book, OFF TRACK, published by Decadent Publishing under the pseudonym C. L. Hadyn.

Another book about to appear under the name Cyn Hadyn is NULL SANCTION, published in eBook format by Rebel Ink. NULL SANCTION is a paranormal romance that gives a nod to my Hungarian roots. Although I haven’t included any distantly related vampires, there are one or two werewolves you might find interesting.

If you have a taste for the paranormal or historical romance, I would love to hear from you via Facebook.com/Cyn Hadyn or cynhadyn.com.