Tarah Scott's Blog, page 2
July 29, 2013
My Highland Lord embodied everything there is to love about historical romance novels
I have to admit it has been a while since I have read a historical
romance and I wasn't sure if I would really enjoy this book, but this
book made me remember just how enjoyable historical romances could be. I
LOVED this book. It had everything I could have asked for: a strong
heroine, a glorious hero, mystery, love scenes, action, and
unpredictable plot twists.
It is set in nineteenth century Britain, a time period I know nothing
about to be honest (I majored in English, not history), but because of
the excellent writing it didn't matter. I was given all of the
information I needed to understand the story right off the bat. Scott
took an actual event, the Cato Street Conspiracy (a plot to assassinate
the king's Cabinet) which took place almost two decades before the
events of the book, and made a fictional story out of what happened
after. The story is told in third person and includes documents written
by different characters in the story. The documents were especially
interesting in that they help push the story forward and also give a
great feel for the time period of the story.
As far as characters go I loved Phoebe Wallington, the heroine of the
piece, so much. She is tough, strong-willed, and refuses to take crap
from anyone. She is an heiress whose father was accused of treason. She
takes matters into her own hands and works to find the truth only to be
kidnapped. If this book took place in modern day the fact that she takes
matters into her own hands wouldn't be that big of a deal, but due to
the time period (a time when women didn't have many rights) it says a
great deal about her character. I also loved the hero/kidnapper, Kiernan
MacGregor (the Marquess of Ashlund), who was honorable, sexy, funny,
and pretty much everything else you could want in a male lead. The two
had such great chemistry and I loved watching them interact. The best
scenes between then were the funnier, more playful ones.
The dialogue in this book was impeccable and made me love the love story
between Phoebe and Kiernan all the more. This book was quick-paced and
full of action, romance, and suspense. It is well written and
beautifully timed and organized. It definitely embodied everything there
is to love about historical romance novels. And on top of that it took
root in real events, making it more realistic and interesting. This is a
must read for any lover of historical romance or historical fiction in
general.
Book Cracker Caroline
July 27, 2013
Sweeping scenery and colorful locals truly draw you into this freshly spun tale of culture clash and espionage.
Tarah
Scott weaves an almost mythical love letter to the highlands in, "My
Highland Lord." Opening with the bedside scene of a dying man, the
reader is instantly transported into a darkly buried conspiracy of old
England.
Hilarity
ensues when Phoebe is mistaken for "Heddy," mistress to a noble
Scottish lord, after an English dinner party by a snarky highwayman. The
brutish highlander claims to be working on behalf of the Scottish lord
but quickly seems to fall head over kilt with "Heddy." Witty banter and a
plump dose of tension boils between these two. And true to the best
kinds of historical romances, "Heddy" and the "highwayman" quickly
uncover they are both neither what they appear and so much more than
they seem.
Scott's
command of character and plot keeps this epic saga from becoming too
drawn out or convoluted. Part of the entertainment comes from cases of
mistaken identity, and partly from the love/hate relationship between
Phoebe and her highwayman. Sweeping scenery and colorful locals truly
draw you into this freshly spun tale of culture clash and espionage. All
the while, the mystery surrounding the estate of the Marquess, where
Phoebe is held captive, keeps the reader desperate to discover the
truth. A thoroughly enticing tale, "My Highland Lord" encases all of
your favorite period romances and turns them on their head, offering
something special and rare to the romantic at heart.
Silver Wood Sketches
July 19, 2013
Books to Go Now Christmas in July
Happy July and welcome to Books to Go Now's Christmas in July.
Along with all the wonderful prizes you'll find on the blogs, Books to go Now is giving away a $100 or
$25 Amazon Gift Card. Eligibility requires that visitors comment on
this post and include their name and email address. The more blogs you
visit and comment upon, the greater your chances to win.
My favorite memory of Christmas goes way back in time to when I was seven years old. By this time, I was having serious doubts as to the exitence of such a miraculous being like Santa Clause, despite my parents' insistence that Santa was, indeed, real. As that Christmas eve approached, they took us kids out for an early dinner. When we arrived back home, we found presents galore under the previously present-free tree. Of course, it never crossed my mind that our parents had coluded with the neighbors to get those presents in place, which was a good thing because the innocent awe and wonder I felt was a rare thing, even at such a young age, and I've never quite forgotten that wonderful feeling.
For this stop on your hop through the blogs, I'm giving away a digital copy of my latest Scottish historical.
London Heiress kidnapped by the Marquess of Ashlund, read the headlines. Yet no one tried to save her.
Phoebe
Wallington was seven years old when a mass assassination attempt rocked
Regency England. Her father was the only accused traitor to elude
capture. Now as a grown woman and a British spy, she is no closer to
learning what really happened that day.
Phoebe's quest for the
truth takes a sudden turn when she's kidnapped by suspected traitor
Kiernan MacGregor, the Marquess of Ashlund. However, Kiernan may not
live long enough to stand trial. Someone wants him dead…and Phoebe
stands in the killer's way. Kiernan knows only one thing will keep her
out of the killer's reach. Marriage to the Marquess of Ashlund
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July 15, 2013
My Highland Lord Free on Amazon
My Highland Lord, first in the Highland Lord series, is free on Amazon Monday, July 15 thru Friday, July 19.
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1ayKh2I
Aamzon UK: http://amzn.to/138PLXU
July 8, 2013
Close Encounters of the Wicked Kind Scavenger Hunt
Hey, hey, hey! The dog days of summer are just around the corner and I'm here to heat up those days just a little bit more.
here is your scavenger hunt
question for my blog:
No worries. The answer follows.
Use of the chamber pot, along with hot tea and cakes, revived Phoebe. She set her cup of tea on the tray and glanced at the armoire where Mrs. Grayson said her cloak hung. Any hope of discovering if her reticule was there with the cloak was dashed by the presence of her highwayman. Phoebe studied the scoundrel. He rested, once again, eyes closed, head reclining on the high back of the chair.
“I didn't think to ask your name,” she murmured.
“Kiernan MacGregor, at your service." The sound of his voice startled her. He opened his eyes and sat up. “How's your head?”
“Better.”
“That was a foolish move, Heddy.”
Phoebe opened her mouth, but the intensity in his gaze stopped the retort. She took a deep breath. “I did it because I wish to avoid the scandal of being away for days with a strange man.”
Surprise melted into a cool look. “A man you know will do, though?”
Her response was forestalled by a knock at the door.
“Come in,” Kiernan instructed.
The door opened and Mather stepped inside. “Dr. Connor here to see the lady, sir.” Mather stepped aside and a small, gray haired man entered the room.
Kiernan came to his feet. He strode forward, hand extended. Dr. Connor grasped one side of the gold-rimmed glasses he wore and set them farther back on the bridge of his nose. He switched the black bag he carried from his right hand to the left and grasped Kiernan’s hand in a warm greeting.
“Good to see you, Connor,” Kiernan said.
“How are you, lad?” the doctor asked. “Mather, here, tells me you're not taking care of yourself as ye ought.”
Kiernan laughed. A deep rich laugh, Phoebe grudgingly noticed, that filled the room and settled deep inside the heart of the listener.
“Mather, long ago, appointed himself my mother,” he said, giving him a stern look.
Mather bowed and backed out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Dr. Connor frowned. “You look as if you could use a rest.”
“Soon, Connor, soon. But first,” Kiernan motioned to Phoebe, “you have a more pressing patient.”
The doctor approached. He sat down on the bed beside her and, setting the black bag on the floor, eyed Phoebe. “A nasty fall, my dear.” He placed a hand on her forehead, tipping her head back slightly. “Let me have a look.” He leaned in closer and studied the gash on her forehead, then said with a glance at Kiernan, “Have you a candle?”
Kiernan looked around the room, then strode to the small secretary in the alcove. He picked up the candle sitting there, and hurried to the fire and lit it.
“Put it on the nightstand,” the doctor said as Kiernan approached.
Kiernan placed the candle beside Phoebe's tea cup on the tray and Dr. Connor placed a thumb on her right eyelid and gently pulled the lid up as he tilted her head toward the candle light. He studied the eye for a moment, did the same with the left eye, then released her.
“How is your sight?” he asked.
“Fine now,” she replied. “When I first awoke, it was blurry.”
He nodded, then reached into his black bag and pulled out a stethoscope. Phoebe grasped the end of the stethoscope and examined it much as he had her head.
She looked at him. “A binaural stethoscope. Where did you find one?”
His face lit with surprise. “You're familiar with this instrument?”
“Indeed I am.” She fingered one of the tubes. “The article in the London Gazette was most informative.”
“You read that article? That came into print in eighteen twenty-nine.”
Phoebe thought for a moment. “August twelfth, I believe.” She looked from the incredulous doctor to Kiernan, who regarded her with a tilt of his head. “A woman can read as well as a man,” she said.
“Aye,” Dr. Connor agreed, pulling her attention back to him. “That she can. That-she-can.”
“How did you come by it?” she asked. “I didn’t think they were in use.”
“You’re correct. But I have a friend who knows the inventor.”
Phoebe’s gaze followed when he looked at Kiernan.
“You know Nicholas Comins?” she demanded of Kiernan.
“Not I, Miss Ballingham, my father.”
“Now, if you don't mind,” Dr. Connor pried the stethoscope from her hands, “I will finish."
The poking and prodding came to an end twenty minutes later with Dr. Connor’s instructions that Phoebe was not to move from her bed, and that her head was to remain elevated. “You took a nasty blow,” he admonished. “You’re lucky it didn't crack your skull wide open.”
“Is that any indication of how hard the head is?” Kiernan asked.
Dr. Connor chuckled. “It has more to do with luck. But it wasn't very wise.” He looked pointedly at Phoebe.
“You would have done the same had this—this—”
“This what?” Kiernan inquired.
“This man,” she retorted. “If he had kidnapped you, you would have done the same.”
“Kidnapped?” Dr. Connor’s attention riveted onto Kiernan.
Kiernan shrugged. “The fall addled her brains.”
“Kiernan,” the doctor began.
“You remember Lord Stoneleigh?” Kiernan cut in.
“Aye.”
“Miss Ballingham is his special guest.”
Comprehension lit the doctor’s eyes and Phoebe knew Lord Stoneleigh's reputation as a womanizer had preceded him even here, in the wilds of Scotland.
The doctor snapped his bag closed and rose. “Remember,” he said in a stern voice, “you're not to get out of that bed today. I'll see you tomorrow.” He started for the door.
“Doctor,” Phoebe cried.
He turned. “Yes, Miss Ballingham?”
“You aren’t going to leave me here?”
“You can't be moved, young lady,” he replied in a kindly, but firm voice. He looked at Kiernan. “Inform Lord Stoneleigh she isn't to be moved until I give permission.”
“I'll see to it, Connor. Thank you for coming.”
Phoebe watched, mouth agape, as Kiernan escorted him to the door. Dr. Connor exited, and Mather entered.
“I am returning to Edinburgh the moment I recover,” Phoebe burst out.
“Don't excite yourself,” Kiernan said.
“Cease this foolishness,” she snapped.
“I'm not the one who jumped from a moving carriage,” he replied.
“I am not Heddy, I tell you."
“Who might you be, then? Cleopatra?”
Phoebe stiffened. I will seek recompense for this, Heddy, she telepathed. “For a man who thinks so little of the lady, you are going to a great deal of trouble to keep her in your company.”
A smile twitched one corner of his mouth. “A man has a right to change his opinion.”
Phoebe cut her gaze to Mather. “Sir, do you write?”
“Aye, Miss.”
“Fine. Be so good as to fetch paper and pen.”
“Miss?”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” She shook her head in exasperation. Her vision blurred and she pressed the fingers of her right hand to her temple.
“Heddy?” Kiernan demanded.
“You are to write a letter for me,” she ordered Mather.
Mather looked at his master.
“Do you intend to inform your other…er, friends that you are no longer at their disposal?” Kiernan asked.
“Never mind, Mather,” Phoebe said. “I will not require your help after all.”
Kiernan made a tsking sound. “You're going to keep the poor fellows hanging?”
“All I need from you, Mather,” she went on, “is an address.”
“An address?”
“Yes. One I am sure you have.”
“I know very few addresses,” Mather hedged.
“I'm in need of only one address. I must—no, it is my duty—” she pinned him with a hard look “—your duty, as well, to inform this person’s father of his dishonorable actions.”
Mather paled and satisfaction surged through her.
Kiernan took the two steps to her bed and squatted down face level with her. “Miss Ballingham, I have been far more honorable than I would have preferred. I assure you, my father would agree.”
Phoebe blinked, aware of a frustrated heat rising to her cheeks. Her head began to pound. “Please leave,” she rubbed her temples. “I require privacy.”
“Mather,” Kiernan said, rising, “fetch the chamber pot.”
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July 6, 2013
Tarah Scott's Books on Goodreads.
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Tarah Scott's books on Goodreads
An Improper Wife
reviews: 22
ratings: 66 (avg rating 4.12)
Labyrinth
reviews: 22
ratings: 42 (avg rating 4.02)
A Knight of Passion
reviews: 9
ratings: 36 (avg rating 3.92)
My Highland Love (Highland Lords, #1)
reviews: 20
ratings: 43 (avg rating 4.26)
Lord Keeper
reviews: 8
ratings: 38 (avg rating 4.18)
Hawk and the Cougar on sale $3.05
She’s sure he’s too young for her-he knows she’s exactly what he needs. A
case of mistaken identity sends them on a run for their lives through
the Arizona desert, where their need for each other is all they have.
Forty-four
year old Liz Williams intends to put a stop to the affair between her
daughter and her daughter’s archaeology professor.
But she’s
unprepared for the six-foot-three, thirty-two year old Native American
man who turns out to be Professor Thornton Hawkins-and the men who try
to kill him.
Now on sale at Total E-Bound for $3.05
June 26, 2013
The sexual chemistry was off the charts-My Highland Lord
I
absolutely love Highlander romance novels. I love the time period, the
politics, and the kilted heroes. I liked My Highland Lord, but it was
not my typical Highlander romance read. It was more of historical
fiction.
My Highland Lord is the story of Phoebe Wallington and
Kiernan MacGregor. It has everything you could want in a good historical
read. Great setting, shady politics, sexual tension, kidnapping, a
damsel in distress, and a hunky hero.
Kiernan (loved the name)
is the Marquess of Ashlund. He is arrogant, sexy, funny, and sweet. Your
probably thinking arrogant and sweet. How? Well, you will have to read
My Highland Lord to find out. I will tell you that Kiernan's arrogance
is what I liked most about him.
Phoebe is not your average
historical romance heroine. She is feisty and very independent. I asked
myself more that once, what would have happened to a woman like her in
the 1800's. It was cute in the book, but in reality she would have found
herself in even more danger.
When these two meet, you know you
are in for one heck of a read. The sexual chemistry was off the charts.
Even kidnapping could not cool the fire between Phoebe and Kiernan.
My Highland Lord was fast paced; it was full of intrigue and humor. I
would definitely recommend it to those of you who like Historical
Romance. Rate My Romance Reviews
Sweet, romantic, sad but happy all in one--My Highland Love
Love
Highland Stories, this one was very sweet, romantic, sad but happy all
in one. Elise was married to a nightmare of a man that killed her
daughter and also her brother who tried to protect her. Elise tried to
protect her brother and happened to kill her husband in return. She
doesn't regret her actions but will always look over her shoulder. She
ends up in the Scottish highlands where she runs into Marcus a sexy as
sin, muscled highlander that has his sites on her. I loved Marcus's
character. Marcus can't believe this American beauty in front of him,
he can't help but want her. These two characters I couldn't help but
root for their happiness but the twists and turns, the kidnappings, the
lies and the truths all make this story amazing. Great story that I
highly recommend.4.5 stars. Up All Night, Read All Day
