My #Book WON Best Romantic Suspense of 2018! #Ghosts #Romance #Paranormal #amreading

"I clung to my tablet...
Kathryn Knight has mastered the art of
Paranormal Romantic Suspense,
and it's a must-read!"
~ N.N. Light's Book Heaven
5 + stars

I got such a WONDERFUL Christmas gift this year...my latest novel, The Haunting of Hillwood Farm, was chosen as Best Romantic Suspense of 2018 at a very prolific review site, N.N. Light's Book Heaven.  Throughout the year, 1,500 books were reviewed, and a selection of 15 made it to the Finals, separated by genres.  Just making the cut as one of the finalists in Romantic Suspense was thrilling.  But then I got the news that I won, which was even more exciting!  The list of all the winning titles can be found here.

The Haunting of Hillwood Farm was originally published November of 2018 as part of a Romantic Suspense collection entitled Love Under Fire.  This box set hit the USA TODAY Bestseller list at #44 on release week!  It's a limited edition set, so you can still get the entire collection of 21 stories, including The Haunting of Hillwood Farm, for just a few more days...the set will no longer be available after 12/31.  You can find the Love Under Fire set on Amazon here.

But a few days later, on 1/4, The Haunting of Hillwood Farm will be live on its own, and you can pre-order the title if you're interested now!  At the moment, it's only available on Amazon, and it will also be a Kindle Unlimited selection for members of KU to read for free.  Print edition will be coming soon as well!

If you enjoy spooky ghost mysteries mixed with romance, Pre-order The Haunting of Hillwood Farm on Amazon here and you'll automatically receive your copy of this USA TODAY Bestselling, award-winning story on January 4th!  In the meantime, I have several other novels that combine these elements, such as Gull Harbor, Silver Lake, and Haunted Souls.  

Thanks for stopping by and happy reading and Happy New Year!

My favorite way to de-stress!

The History of St. Nick ~ Merry #Christmas #ChristmasEve Santa Claus

Saint Nicholas

The writer in me loves crafting posts about the origins of our holidays and the reasons we celebrate in certain ways or fear certain dates. Some of my most popular posts have been on the Origin of Halloween, Finding Easter's Date, The Number 13, and Origins of Superstitions.

While most people are familiar with the story of Jesus's birth in Bethlehem, many are unaware of how a 4th century Bishop influenced the legend of Santa Claus.

Saint Nicholas, or Nikolaos of Myra, was a bishop in an ancient town in Lycia--now Demre, in the Antalya Province of Turkey. One of his most well-known deeds involved giving unexpected gifts, one of which landed in a stocking.  In the story, Nicholas wanted to help three young girls, whose father had no money for their dowries.  At that point in history, such a fate would result in a life of prostitution. Not wanting to embarrass the poor father, Nicholas threw bags of gold coins through the windows.  In one version of the tale, the father laid in wait to discover who was doing this...and so instead of throwing the third bag through the window, Nicholas dropped it down the chimney, and it landed in a stocking hung to dry by the fire.

Sinterklaas rides
a white horse

The Dutch figure of Sinterklass is based upon Saint Nick, and he more resembles the white-bearded man in red we're all familiar with. In turn, our Santa Claus is derived from Sinterklass, and it's widely believed that he was introduced to North America around the time of the Revolutionary War, by inhabitants of New York City, which was once New Amsterdam, a Dutch colony.

Of course, many other sources have combined to shape both the modern-day image of Santa Claus and the various legends and traditions which have evolved (decorating trees, sleighs pulled by reindeer, winter feasts and festivals, etc.).  Those will be topics for another day and another blog!

The holidays can be such a busy time, and I'm hoping my blog readers who celebrate Christmas have some time to relax and enjoy the magic of the season.  And if you need a book to help you de-stress, check out one of my novels - each one is filled with romance, mystery, and suspense - something for everyone! Also perfect as a last-minute gift, since all you need to send someone a Kindle copy is an email address. Each one is less that the price of a card!

GULL HARBOR - A dangerous ghost and an ex-boyfriend await psychic medium Claire Linden in Cape Cod's Gull Harbor (a #1 Amazon and #1 Barnes + Noble Bestseller)

DANGEROUS CURRENTS - Book Store Recommended Read ~ One fateful night tore them apart...will they get a second chance before a killer strikes? 

THE HAUNTING OF HILLWOOD FARM RONE AWARD WINNER in Paranormal at InD'Tale Magazine and the BEST ROMANTIC SUSPENSE of 2018 at N.N. Light's Book Heaven Reviews!  This edge-of-your seat ghost mystery + romance is also available on audio!

HAUNTED SOULS - Steamy military romance mixed with spooky suspense - named one of the Top 3 Books of 2016 at Read Freely!

SILVER LAKE - A haunting, an old flame, and secrets from the past (a #1 Amazon Bestseller)

DIVINE FALL - Romance, Revenge, and a Rogue Fallen Angel (award-winning Young Adult - this one is suitable for ages 13+)

Treat yourself to hours of entertainment and relaxation!

Huge #Giveaway! #Books, Jewelry, #Giftcards, #Wine Glass + more! #amreading #Kindle

Last month, our Love Under Fire Romantic Thrillers Box Set released, hitting the USA Today Bestseller List at #44!  This is a limited edition set, and the 21-book collection is only available until Dec. 31.  Our big tagline giveaway, with a prize from each of the 21 authors, is still open until Christmas, so if you have not entered, there's still time!

I love this bracelet!

When the set comes down, the individual books will be available, but no longer bundled together at one low price.  My title in the set, The Haunting of Hillwood Farm, just WON Best Romantic Suspense of 2018 at N.N. Light's Book Heaven review site!  I am still over the moon about this news, since the site reviewed 1,500 books over the year, and only 15 were chosen as the favorites.  

The Haunting of Hillwood Farm is my
title in the Love Under Fire Box Set ~
and the winner of Best Romantic Suspense
of 2018 at N.N. Light's Book Heaven!

We're donating half the Love Under Fire profits to Pets for Vets, so this has been an exciting project with an opportunity to support a great charity.  I'm looking forward to presenting them with a big check in 2019!

Now, to the GIVEAWAY!  Here's what's up for grabs and how to enter:
(note--all books are e-books unless otherwise noted)

1.  A copy of the entire Love Under Fire Romantic Thrillers Box Set (21 novels and novellas)

2.  A copy of #1 Kindle and #1 Nook Bestseller Gull Harbor ~ from Kathryn Knight

3.  A gorgeous charm bracelet with all the Love Under Fire book covers ~ from Suzanne Jenkins

4.  A book light and a copy of Deadly Lies ~ from Christine Patchell

5.  A copy of the Lynx books box set ~ from Fiona Quinn

6.  A $10 Amazon gift card ~ from Inge-Lise Goss

7.  A copy of Summer Girl ~ from Linda Watkins

8.  A fun wine glass ~ from Stephanie Tullis

9.  A copy of Fighting for Anna ~ from Pamela Fagan Hutchins

10.  An exclusive Love Under Fire water bottle  ~ from Anna Celeste Burke

11.  A copy of Between the Shadows ~ from Casi McLean

12.  A copy of Twisted ~ from Uvi Poznansky

13.  A surprise package! ~ from Valerie J. Clarizio

14.  A copy of The Fine Art of Deception ~ from Alyssa Richards

15.  A book memory bracelet ~ from Tamara Ferguson

16.  A copy of Beachcomber Investigations books box set ~ from Stephanie Queen

17.  A copy of Dusgadh: The Essence of Life ~ from Margaret Daly

18.  A copy of Crescent City Chronicles ~ from Judith Lucci

19.  A copy of Trouble in Glamour Town ~ from S.R. Mallery

20.  A copy of Just for the Birds ~ from Jinx Schwartz

21.  A copy of Walker Texas Wife ~ from K.M. Hodge

22.  A copy of Murder on the Brewster Flats ~ from Aaron Paul Lazar

Whew, that's a lot!  How to enter?  Visit the tagline contest page HERE, check out the Love Under Fire novels' taglines, and comment which 3 you like best.  That's it!

You can also still grab your copy of Love Under Fire as a bundle, or read it free if you have a KU membership, here.

Want to receive my newsletter with info on giveaways, my new releases, and other book deals?  Sign up here.  Thanks for stopping by!

My happy place!

The Haunting of Hillwood Farm is a Finalist! #RomanticSuspense Awards #Books

I love this cover so much!

ETA:  The Haunting of Hillwood Farm *WON* Best Romantic Suspense of 2018...with 1500 books reviewed at this fabulous site over the year, this is such a thrill!

I'm over the moon that my latest novel, The Haunting of Hillwood Farm, is one of just three finalists for the 2018 annual Book Awards at N.N. Light's Book Heaven Reviews.  With a year's worth of great reads to choose from, to have my romance/ghost mystery make the top 3 is thrilling!  This book is currently included in the USA TODAY Bestselling Box Set Love Under Fire, a collection of 21 Romantic Suspense Thrillers.  The box set is a limited edition, so in 2019, The Haunting of Hillwood Farm will be published as a separate title.  Maybe the blurb will include "Winner"...we'll find out tomorrow!  Fingers crossed.

The list of all the Finalists can be found here.  The Love Under Fire set can be found here on Amazon...half the profits from the set go to Pets for Vets, so it's a great cause if you want to grab your copy before it disappears!  For more of my titles, including other award-winners and #1 Amazon and Barnes and Noble Bestsellers, check out the tabs above on this blog, or visit my author page on Amazon here.

Thanks for coming by and please cross your fingers for me! 

Woo hoo!  What a fabulous holiday gift!

"A gripping story w/ plot twists and turns" Ghosts + #Romance #amreading #Book Review

It's always a thrill to hear a fellow author enjoyed your book!  Love this review left on BookBub for Gull Harbor, so I'm sharing it here!  Authors and editorial reviewers tend to leave more detailed reviews, since authors enjoy writing and editorial bloggers are doing their job...but we writers truly appreciate hearing someone liked a story even in a quick one-liner.  It's what keeps us going.  Writers often say they "write for themselves", and that was part of what started me on this journey with Silver Lake.  I had the plot in my head, I knew the characters intimately, scenes and dialog constantly ran through my mind, and in the end, my husband pushed me into trying.  I decided to see if I could do it, and I knew if I could get a publisher to contract my novel, I'd be fulfilling a lifelong dream.  

But even with that first book, my mantra was: "if one person contacts me to tell me they loved the story, I'll be happy" (and my friends and relatives, as much as I love them, didn't count for this).  And it happened.  The book didn't exactly go viral, but I did hear from a lot of readers and reviewers.  And eventually Amazon bought the rights to the book from my small publisher, and it got wider readership as a result of their marketing.  Truly a dream come true.

Nothing makes me happier than finding a great book that I can't put down.  I love racing through housework at night so I can snuggle under a blanket and read.  Even better is finding a book that's SO good I say "the dishes will still be there tomorrow" and keep turning the pages because I simply can't stop.  So now that I have readers asking for new stories, I write first and foremost for them.  Because writing is hard.  It's rewarding, to be sure, and a wonderful creative outlet, but writing a novel is not easy, and it takes precious time away from other things.  The majority of us don't make significant money in the process.  But as long as I have story ideas and readers asking for more, I'll try to keep at it, and hope my muse doesn't disappear completely!

I've gotten carried away writing here, as usual.  Please check out the review below, I hope anyone who enjoys some steamy romance with a spooky ghost mystery will give Gull Harbor a try!  It's a #1 Amazon and B&N Bestseller, and it's now available as an audiobook as well.  Thanks for stopping by! 

Gull Harbor is a gripping story with several plot twists and turns.  Claire, a former law student turned psychic, accepts a job to investigate an old mansion in a small Cape Cod town.  The experience turns out to be as much of a layered look into her own past as it is into the haunting of an empty house.  The last person she expects to meet in a town where all the locals know each other is the love of her life, Max, who walked out on her a few years earlier.  Claire never expected to see him again but now, being in such close proximity, all the questions, anger, and mixture of feelings she had for him have returned.

The ghost story and the renewed relationship of Claire and Max progress simultaneously and weave back and forth.  There is one other story though that neither Claire nor Max bargained on.  That is the one that puts Claire's life in danger, one that the ghost was trying to tell her about, and one that explains the dark secret of the mansion. 

~ Cynthia Collins, author of The Unicorn Tree

#Book Signing in #Mashpee! #CapeCod Holiday Fair Cape Cod

The holiday season is a busy one for small business owners, and I will be at several events this month with my novels...a signed book makes a great gift!  This Saturday, Dec. the 8th, I'll be at an Open House and Holiday Bizarre in Mashpee.

The gym where I work (my day job, lol) is hosting this event from 11:00 - 3:00, and while it's a women's gym, this event is open to ALL, men shopping for gifts, non-members, etc., so come on by if you're in the area!  The Fit Co. is at 302 Main St. in Mashpee (Rt. 130).

I'll have my book table set up, and I can sign and personalize copies of any of my novels--a great and thoughtful gift, for yourself (we all deserve to de-stress during the holidays, and what better way than shutting the outside world down, putting your feet up, and getting lost in a page-turning story?) or for the readers on your list.  Two of my romance/ghost stories are set on Cape Cod (GULL HARBOR is set in the Wellfleet area, HAUNTED SOULS in Barnstable Village), which is a nice local tie-in, and Gull Harbor is both a #1 Amazon Bestseller and a #1 Barnes and Noble Bestseller!  My latest romantic suspense novel, DANGEROUS CURRENTS, will be available as well, and that is also set on Cape Cod, in a fictional representation of Mashpee.

Ahhh....bliss!  The best thing about reading is that you can't
think about anything else while you're doing it!  The only
multi-tasking needed is putting up your feet and sipping a beverage!

And if you're shopping for a younger reader, I do have one Young Adult book, DIVINE FALL...a traditional paranormal romance filled with forbidden love and supernatural secrets, appropriate for ages 13 and up.

Oak Blush

Another one of our gym employees also has another business (Cape Cod Nail Company) and she'll be setting up a table as well, raffling off packages and offering specials.  Her company is unique in that she will travel to YOU for group events (bridal parties, ladies night out, etc.).  And she recently started her own line of nail polish, which makes a perfect stocking stuffer!  The logo on the bottle features the familiar outline of the Cape, and the names are plays on our local spots and sayings ("Oak Blush" instead of Oak Bluffs, "We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat", a nod to Jaws being filmed here on Martha's Vineyard as well as the recent influx of great white sharks in our waters!) 

We'll have other vendors as well (jewelry, clothing, etc.), food and drink, membership specials, salon, facial, and massage specials, gift certificates, and raffles, with proceeds going to Toy for Tots.  Hope to see you there! 

Visit Cape Cod in Dangerous Currents and get lost in a
steamy second-chance romance filled with secrets and suspense!