Jayne Castel

Jayne Castel is a New Zealand-born author based in Edinburgh who writes historical romance and Celtic-inspired fantasy romance. Ruled by Shadows opens the Light and Darkness trilogy, followed by The Lost Swallow and Path of the Dark. The sequence combines epic fantasy, folklore, and romance in a world divided by rival powers. Castel's wider bibliography includes medieval Scottish settings, stories inspired by Pictish culture, and linked series such as The Brides of Skye, Stolen Highland Hearts, and The Warrior Brothers of Skye. Her own reading list distinguishes her historical romances from fantasy projects while showing how frequently she develops connected groups of characters across several books. Research into landscape, period detail, and Celtic mythology underpins both sides of that catalogue. Ruled by Shadows is therefore an early entry point into the fantasy strand of her work, establishing a trilogy whose later volumes continue the conflict while shifting attention among central relationships and political loyalties.