NOVELBOOKS, INC. RELEASES DEBUT HISTORICAL NOVEL THAT CAPTURES ESSENCE OF SCOTLAND

Book reviewers compare The Scottish Thistle, Cindy Vallar's debut novel about Scotland, to Diana Gabaldon's Outlander. David Cameron, President of Clan Cameron Association, Scotland, marvels that an American author captures the essence of Scotland in her story of Clan Cameron and the Rising of 1745.

Douglas, Massachusetts-NovelBooks, Inc. proudly presents The Scottish Thistle, the debut novel by Cindy Vallar. This historical novel, which is intertwined with a love story, chronicles the events of Scotland's Rising of 1745 as experienced by Sir Donald Cameron of Lochiel and Clan Cameron. The Scottish Thistle was a finalist in the Sime~Gen's Reader Choice Awards and received four stars from Romantic Times Magazine and five stars from Romance Novels Review.

The Scottish Thistle is the story of Rory MacGregor, a chieftain whose father arranged for her to wed a Cameron after she witnessed a brutal attack on her village as a child. That man is Duncan Cameron, foster son of and bodyguard to the chief of Clan Cameron, Sir Donald Cameron of Lochiel. Theirs is a tenuous alliance, endangered by the arrival of Bonnie Prince Charlie who comes to the Highlands to wage war against the usurper who sits on the British throne and by those Camerons who prefer traditional Highland life to the changes introduced by Sir Donald. Duty and honor dictate that Rory and Duncan answer the call to arms in different ways, yet separation and bloody rebellion strengthen the fragile threads that unite them.

"I wrote the opening scene while at a faculty meeting twelve years ago," said Cindy Vallar. "Once I completed the first draft of the novel, my husband arranged for us to travel to Scotland to visit sites important to Clan Cameron and the Rising of 1745. That trip allowed me to provide readers with a sense of time and place so they feel as if they are in eighteenth-century Scotland." After reading The Scottish Thistle, David Roderick Cameron, President of the Clan Cameron Association in Scotland, said, "I am very pleased to see a new historical novel involving Clan Cameron and its Chief the 'Gentle Lochiel' in the period of the '45 following the spirit of the Jacobite novels of an earlier woman writer, D. K. Broster. The characters of The Scottish Thistle are its strength and they speak in a blend of Scots and English with occasional Gaelic words to give some of the romance of Scotland. Indeed it seems to me the script is there for ready adaptation to a film or TV serial. I do not know how an American author chose to write on a Scottish historical theme in such a Scots way and I warmly congratulate Cindy Vallar."

The Scottish Thistle is available in trade paperback (ISBN 1-59105-034-0) and the following electronic book formats: PDF and HTML. Downloads (ISBN 1-59105-009-X) and paperback copies may be purchased directly from NovelBooks, Inc., as well as other online venues. Paperbacks may also be ordered through most bookstores.

Although The Scottish Thistle is Cindy Vallar's first novel, books have always played an important role in her life. Her mother instilled a love of reading in Mrs. Vallar at an early age. She graduated from the University of Maryland with a Master's Degree in Library Science. She worked as a school librarian for twenty years before her husband's transfer to Olathe, Kansas allowed her to retire to pursue a career in writing full-time. She writes a monthly history column on maritime piracy for Suite101.com, and is both an editor and copy editor for Wings Press, Ltd. She also reviews books for Historical Novels Review, Ivy Quill Reviews, Appraisal, and The Book Report. She is a member of EPIC (Electronically Published Internet Connection), EPPRO (The Electronically Published Professionals), The Historical Novel Society, Dalriada Celtic Heritage Trust, the Clan Cameron Association, and the Kansas Authors Club.

For more information or to arrange for an interview, contact Cindy Vallar at cindy@cindyvallar.com. For those seeking information about the publisher or bookstores interested in obtaining copies of The Scottish Thistle for sale, contact NovelBooks, Inc at publisher@novelbooksinc.com.
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