Easter Hop Fun!!!

Hoppy Easter and a Joyful Spring!

It's time for the grown-ups to have some fun — and treats! — too! Find your new favorite historical romance author while hopping through the internet.

Download some free stories,
add some delicious romance to your TBR,
win new books at every stop, and
find all 30 eggs and you could win a $150 gift card!

More details and the signup sheet available on Facebook or Heather's website.

Welcome! I'm Christy and I write fairy tale romance and Regency romance.

Scroll down to learn which Irish fairy tale heroine you are and win one of my fairy tale retellings!

Everyone who submits will get a free bonus story (based on your answers) , and everyone is entered in the drawing for one of my paperback books (your choice).

Easter in Ancient & Medieval Ireland

In my Castle in Kilkenny series, Maura received a dilapidated Irish castle in her divorce settlement. One night, horned women arrive... Maura slips into Heroic Ireland and has to rescue her new friend — and get back home. The Romantic Fairy Tales are each stand-alone, traditional fairy tale retellings.

Hannah and her boyfriend slip back into Medieval Ireland, where they have to outwit both the Fae and the English. In this period, Easter in Ireland was a contrast in the solemn and absurd.

For the first five weeks of Lent, the Irish would deny themselves any meat, eating only pickled herring and a bit of milk. For Holy Week, their fast became even more strict, eating only dry bread, potatoes with salt, and black tea. Then on Good Friday, the people did not eat, kept silence between noon and 3, and women wore their hair down in mourning.

Speaking of hair, they believed that hair cut during Lent would never grow back again — however, trimming hair and fingernails on Good Friday would prevent headache for the rest of the year.

By Holy Saturday, everyone was thoroughly tired of pickled fish, and the butchers were looking forward to business picking up again, so they led parades of "The Whipping of the Herring." Someone would tie a fish to a rope or stick and parade through town, and everyone would whip the herring into pieces, and throw the battered fish into a river at the end of the procession!

Nathaniel Grogan's Whipping the Herring out of Town – A Scene of Cork (circa 1800).
Image: Crawford Art Gallery Collection

What a dramatic way to end six weeks of fasting and deprivation — it's a far cry from pastel eggs and colored baskets!

All of my fairy tales are richly informed by history and folklore. They're full of found family, strong female protagonists, and endings that are more than a sugar rush.

Here's my egg! But don't forget your free story, and enter to win...

Which Irish fairy tale heroine are YOU?

Take this fun quiz and enter to win a copy of any of my books! One grand prize winner will get to pick out any of my paperback books for a reading adventure that's more than a sugar rush. Everyone will receive a free bonus story, customized to your fairy tale answer!

In order to complete your entry and get your results, you're also signing up for my newsletter, the Sheltie Gazette. If you find out that my style isn't for you, you can unsubscribe at any time. I look forward to getting to know you! And now....

Which Irish fairy tale heroine are you?

All these other historical romance authors also have prizes for you today!

The egg matching worksheet is here:

Egg Matching Worksheet (for grand prize)

Hop around to all these authors to match the eggs to the authors and win prizes on each site.

Historical Author Easter Egg Hunt Hop- April 1-5