Hello and Welcome All!

Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Margaret Amatt author of Cutting It Neat For the Wedding.

Hi Margaret, thank you for agreeing to this interview. For those readers not familiar with you, would you please tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m a Scottish author of two series, The Scottish Island Escape Series, set on the Isle of Mull, and The Glenbriar Series, set in a fictional Scottish town.

I live in highland Perthshire with my family, and I’m a writing addict!

What do you do when you are not writing?

I spend my time with my family and also taking photographs and reading! I also love visiting Scottish islands and have bagged some new ones this year.

How did you choose the genre you write in?

I write romance and it was a very easy choice for me because these are the books I love to read. Bringing a couple together is such a wonderful journey. Stories that don’t have any romance usually miss the mark for me, or I find myself shipping characters and inventing my own romances for them!!

Years ago, when I was on a visit to the Isle of Mull, I was desperate to read a romance book set on the island. I couldn’t find any either in the bookstores or online, so I started coming up with my own ideas. These ideas later became my first series.

Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

I would say not one in particular. My favorite books have always been ones with pretty covers where I know I’ll find romance and happy endings. I think if I had to pick an author, then perhaps Veronica Henry was the first one I read that made me really think I could do this too!

Do you have any writing rituals?

Not exactly, but I do have very strict writing times. Monday and Tuesday are my writing days, when I’m not at my day job and I have the house to myself. These are the two days I binge write and don’t let anything get in the way!

So, what have you written?

Scottish Island Escapes Series

Escape to the beautiful Isle of Mull with ten standalone stories that can be read individually or in order. Those who want to follow the series will find the reading order below and you’ll bump into characters from previous and future books.

A Winter Haven
A Spring Retreat
A Summer Sanctuary
An Autumn Hideaway
A Christmas Bluff
A Flight of Fancy
A Hidden Gem
A Striking Result
A Perfect Discovery
A Festive Surprise

The Glenbriar Series

Set in north Perthshire, the gateway to the Scottish Highlands, these books are all standalone stories and can be enjoyed individually, though you may prefer to read them in order. They can also be read as a follow on to the Scottish Island Escapes series as some of the characters cross over!

New Beginnings in Glenbriar (A free short story to introduce the series)
Stolen Kisses at the Loch View Hotel
Just Friends at Thistle Lodge
Pitching Up at Heather Glen
Two’s Company at the Forest Light Show
Highland Fling on the Whisky Trail
Snowdown at the Old Schoolhouse
Starting Over at the Crafty Bee Barn
A Surprise Proposal in the Rose Garden
Cutting it Neat for the Wedding
A Classy Affair in the Country

Free Hugs & Old-Fashioned Kisses (A short story only available to Newsletter Subscribers)

Out of the Frame – a winning entry short ‘Fearie Tale’ written for a competition at Pitlochry Festival Theatre and performed in the auditorium.

Blogs

I have several blogs for both readers and authors.

My most popular one is: 500 Keywords for romance authors

Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to take part in this interview.

Cutting it Neat for the Wedding

Is the best man also Mr Wright?

Perpetually single Hayley McBride – hairdresser and hopeless romantic – is delighted when her brother asks her to help plan his wedding. Until that is, she’s forced to work with her brother’s best friend, Oliver Wright – a cold and aloof divorce lawyer and a man who’s always hated her.

Oliver has seen enough broken relationships to know love doesn’t last. Being his friend’s best man is just a formality. What is there to do other than ensure his friend’s younger sister, Hayley, doesn’t waste too much money on a one-day event?

But Hayley has a knack for making people smile, and Oliver has struggled for years to resist her. As they work together, he starts to wonder if he’s been living in denial.

Hayley keeps chipping away at his walls, and uncovering a different side to him, but can she risk her heart on such a committed cynic?

They must decide whether to take a chance on love or stick to being nothing more than Bridesmaid McBride and Mr Wright the best man.

Amazon * B&N

Margaret is a bestselling Scottish author and chocolate lover who has been writing stories for over twenty years (possibly more if you count her primary school efforts). Her early works will never see the light of day and are locked in dusty vaults on some old floppy disks. But after all those years of practise, Margaret released her first novel in 2021. It was the first of a ten-book series set on the gorgeous Scottish Isle of Mull.

Margaret is also the author of the acclaimed Glenbriar Series, based in the fictional Scottish town of Glenbriar. This is an on-going series with more books coming in 2024 and 2025.

The stories are unashamedly romantic but with lots of drama and an eclectic mix of characters. Each

book can be read as a standalone but followers of the series will enjoy catching up with the characters.