Scottish Short Stories

Andrew Lang (1844-1912) was a poet, novelist, and literary critic. He created the enchanting world of fairyland inhabited by characters like the snow-queen, the mermaid's son, ogres, dwarfs, monsters, magicians, and giants. The Pink Fairy Book contains 41 tales from Africa, Japan, Scandinavia, and Europe. They range from familiar stories like "The Snow-Queen" and "The Fir-Tree" to the obscure tales of the Tanuki. This collection contains stories like "The Cats' Elopement", The "Princess in the Chest", "Snowflake", and more....

Previous edition--#4, Amazon free love/romance! (Scotland, 1766) Edgar, Laird MacReiver, had never regretted his decision to wed Isobel, daughter of Clan Kilburn’s laird…until she bit his tongue and drank his blood. Will bondage and discipline tame the wild child of the infamous vampire clan? Or are some women impossible to tame? (short story; previously published as Bridling His Vampire by Ellora's Cave) WHAT OTHERS THOUGHT OF PREVIOUS EDITIONS Five stars..."engaging Scottish tale..." --Author Phylis Ann Warady (Amazon.com) Four stars... "A nice refreshing read...just enough sexy bits....

Split into five sections - Reading, Being, Seeing, Feeling, and Remembering - Changing My Mind finds Zadie Smith casting an acute eye over material both personal and cultural. This engaging collection of essays, some published here for the first time, reveals Smith as a passionate and precise essayist, equally at home in the world of great books and bad movies, family and philosophy, British comedians, and Italian divas. Changing My Mind is journalism at its most expansive, intelligent, and funny - a gift to readers and writers both.

Glasgow's finest feline sleuth, Leger McInnes, returns and this time he tackles his most disturbing case yet! His friend Winter is traumatised and unable to speak following the horrific experience of witnessing a murder. Leger vows to track down the murderer and find closure for Winter. This will not be an easy task for Leger. With Winter unable to help, despite knowing exactly what occurred and his sidekick Ginger incarcerated while she is in season, Leger struggles to piece together the events of the night of the murder. He seeks comfort from Samara, the pretty new Persian housecat who ...

Terry Pratchett has earned a place in the hearts of listeners the world over with his best-selling Discworld series - but in recent years he has become equally well-known and respected as an outspoken campaigner for causes including Alzheimer's research and animal rights. A Slip of the Keyboard brings together for the first time the finest examples of Pratchett's nonfiction writing, both serious and surreal: from musings on mushrooms to what it means to be a writer (and why banana daiquiris are so important).

Now that Amber has been located, it's time to bring her home. The residents of Creamery Crescent and Livingstone Avenue gather together at the Goldsworthy home to hold a surprise welcome home party for Amber. However, the guest of honour has not arrived. Flooding in Kilmarnock has meant that Nicole and Peter couldn't reach her and they are left devastated when Amber's new human refuses to meet them to hand her over. However, in the middle of the night, Amber mysteriously turns up at her old home, with apparently no recollection of how she got there and who was responsible for bringing her ...

Leger's family are taking a trip to a tiny Scottish island and he is looking forward to spending the summer with Annabella, Hugh and Bob. But when he discovers he is to stay in Glasgow with Annabella's niece, Carole, while the rest of the family go on their trip he is outraged. Leger hears there has been a murder on the island and knows he has to somehow travel with them and assist in finding the killer. What he didn't count on was meeting a fellow cat sleuth on the island as well as a clowder of unfriendly gossips. The island way of life proves to be very different from Glasgow. Can he ...

You might think that with Scotland locked down and nobody able to get in or out of their homes that there would be no crimes to solve. Leger certainly did, until one happened under his own roof. There are currently six humans staying in his home, including Annabella. As they all have chronic health conditions and require to "shield" they have gathered together to form a bubble with their pets and live together so they don't get lonely. Then Leger notices that £2,000 that Annabella had foolishly hidden in her bedroom has vanished. Nobody has come or gone from the house, so one of the guests...

In present-day Scotland, not everyone is who they appear to be. Shifters have been hiding in plain sight for generations. But the status quo is no longer sustainable. More and more bears are breaking the rules and pairing up outside their species. Continue your affair with the Scottish Werebears with the last three books in the series; A New Beginning, A Painful Dilemma, and A Second Chance.

A gripping collection of over 50 of the greatest short stories written by great British writers. 1."The Missing Years" by Barry Pain, 2. "His Brother's Keeper" by W. W. Jacobs, 3. "A Madman's Manuscript" by Charles Dickens, 4. "The House of Cobwebs" by Barry Pain, 5. "Old Fags" by Stacy Aumonier, 6. "A Long-Ago Affair" by John Galsworthy, 7. "August Heat" by W. F. Harvey, 8. "The Dabblers" by W. F. Harvey, 9. "Rose Rose" by Barry Pain

April Fools' Day has arrived and Leger can't help himself from playing tricks. With his new-found reading skills, as basic as they are, he manages fool Ginger's human, John, into believing he is a psychic cat who can predict the winner of dog races. Thinking Leger is the key to untold riches, John takes Leger's signs and signals seriously and plans to gamble with Leger's help. However, a trip to the local pub, and the slot machine there sheds light on the shady dealings of of the pub's owner.

Leger and his family have been unsettled for a few weeks. He is particularly worried about Annabella, especially when she starts talking about no longer being here. She tries to settle her anxious mind by treating herself to some new jewels, but just a few hours after purchasing them, someone steals them. Leger has his suspicions about who the culprit is, but unmasking them will risk the newfound closeness he has developed with his mother. Forced to make a choice between his loyalty to his human mother and his feline one, Leger finds that the decision is taken out of his hands.

The festive season should be a time for generosity and goodwill, but in Glasgow, Leger finds that is not the case. His human companion's attempt to raise funds for a CT scanner for a local hospital has been thwarted by a callous thief who has stolen decorations from her seasonal garden display. Now Leger resolves to mend Annabella's broken heart by finding the thief. With Ginger nursing her newborn kittens, Isabella confusing him with erratic behaviour and Bob more interested in Hugh's discarded slipper than helping solve this mystery, Leger's only clue comes from an unexpected source - a ...

The second of the Leger Hotel Mysteries Series sees an unexpected visitor with a massive grudge against Leger arrive - his son, August. Confused when August first arrives at the hotel, Leger asks how the young tomcat made the journey from Glasgow. He learns that August travelled with Verity, the sister of the man who attacked Hugh almost two years ago. Unaware who Verity is, Annabella and Hugh give her a job at the hotel but alarm bells ring when the young girl falls victim to one crime after another. Leger suspects she is conning her trusting employers and friends out of money. August is ...

It's the start of a new year, full of possibilities and potential, but Annabella is stuck at home with flu and Leger is happy to sleep on her lap while she recovers - but when he finds two crimes are committed within minutes of each other, his detective instincts kick in. While Hugh braves blizzard conditions to help out at the scene of a hit and run, Leger finds an elderly man has been beaten and left for dead. Wondering if the two crimes could be linked, Leger struggles to piece the events of that day together and is hindered by meddling humans, freezing conditions and the disappearance ...

When shipwrecked Viking Iver awakens on a beach, he is astonished to find that he has been well cared for by Audra, who is the first woman ever to show him kindness. He never expects to lose his heart to the gentle-spirited Englishwoman, but as he soon learns, life is full of pleasant surprises. Taken by a Viking is a steamy M/F, first time, short story.

Alive with anecdote, this is a further wonderful companion for anyone who enjoys Scotland's heritage and tales of its gaunt and shadowy ruins.

Now settled in his new home as a hotel cat on a tiny Scottish island, Leger is searching for activities to keep him busy. As always, his mind turns to sleuthing... At a Burns Supper hosted by Tony, the hotel's manager, in honour of the Lithuanian girls he has employed to work for him, the mystery of three recent thefts is apparently solved when two of the stolen wallets turn up in one of the girl's bags. However, Leger is not convinced that the accused, Emilija, is guilty and using his feline instincts, sets about searching for the true culprit to clear Emilija's name.

The neighbours of Glasgow's Creamery Crescent are taking a festive break. Of course, no trip would be complete without their pets so Leger and his closest friends travel north to enjoy the Christmas period in a secluded cottage in the Highlands. The celebratory mood changes when Nicole Goldsworthy witnesses a man and woman burying a body in a shallow grave. The murderers attempt to knock her down in their car but with help from her animal friends, old and new, Nicole survives the hit and run. The situation is complicated further by the arrival of Poppy, who followed the group from Glasgow ...

Leger's lifestyle has finally caught up with him and he is now living in hiding in the highlands with Annabella and Nicole. Life in the wilderness has many benefits but Leger finds it difficult to adjust to his new, temporary home and gets lost one evening. When he is rescued by a kindly American lady and her son and returned home by them, he is filled with gratitude. The visiting Americans invite their new Scottish friends for Thanksgiving dinner the following day, but Annabella has a bad feeling about this woman. Leger decides to throw himself into the celebrations until he accidentally ...