The journey from Balhaire to Crieff was tiresome, par­ticularly given that the roads were single track and many of them used so infrequently that the coachmen were forced to stop more than once to clear debris from their path. Every day for a week they bounced along to a mean inn, then woke up and started the day over again.

Contrary to her family’s wishes, Catriona’s bleak mood was not improved by the travel.

It seemed weeks had passed instead of days when at last the coach rolled onto the High Street at Crieff and came to a halt at the Red Sword and Shield Inn. It was midday, but Catriona was so weary she all but fell out of the coach and into the hands of the young Mackenzie coachman who caught her and set her upright.

“Here you are, then, Miss Mackenzie,” he said. “We’ll be back for you in a fortnight, perhaps three weeks, aye?”

In that moment, she didn’t care if they ever returned for her, because she could not fathom putting herself in that coach once more.

“There she is!” called a voice very familiar to her.

She turned about and smiled at her uncle Knox, who strode across the cobblestones to her, his coat flapping

in time to his gusto. “My dear, dear girl, you’ve come at last!”

Her beloved uncle met her with such verve and en­thusiasm that she was propelled a step or two backward, and her cap was knocked from her head. He wrapped her in a hearty embrace, smashing her face against his chest, then laid several kisses on her cheek before stand­ing back, holding her at arm’s length, admiring her as the coachmen tried to hand her the hat. “Still a beauty, my little one,” he said proudly.

Still? She supposed that now she was three and thirty, he was expecting her looks to have begun to fade away into spinsterhood. “It’s so good to see you, Uncle Knox,” she said. “You’ve no idea.”

Her uncle had grown a wee bit more corpulent since the last time she’d held him. What was it, a year or so ago? He’d come from England to visit his sister, Ca­triona’s mother—and to pay a call to Auntie Zelda at Kishorn. Aye, he was a wee bit rounder, but quite hand­some with his glittering pale green eyes and graying hair, which he’d bobbed with a black velvet ribbon. His coat was fine wool, and his waistcoat had been embroi­dered with gold thread that matched the embroidery along the center front of his coat. His neckcloth was snowy white and tied into an elaborate knot. Catriona felt quite plain in comparison.

Julia London’s TEMPTING THE LAIRD – Review & Excerpt Schedule:

June 27th

Devilishly Delicious Book Reviews – Excerpt

GhostPepperBabes/ Pimpers’ Dungeon – Excerpt

Tania’s Book Blog – Excerpt

June 28th

Becky on Books – Review & Excerpt

Reads All the Books – Review & Excerpt

June 29th

All about reading – Review & Excerpt

TBR Book Blog – Excerpt

June 30th

Reading Between the Wines Book Club – Excerpt

Sofia Loves Books – Review

July 1st

NightWolf  Book Blog – Excerpt

Vivi’s Messy Kitchen – Review

July 2nd

Bookishly Yours – Review & Excerpt

Jax’s Book Magic – Excerpt

July 3rd

Feel the Book – Excerpt

KatyaRath – Review & Excerpt

Romance Reviews and More – Review & Excerpt

July 4th

Books 2 Blog – Review & Excerpt

The Book Addict’s Reviews – Review & Excerpt

What Is That Book About – Excerpt

July 5th

Travels N Reads – Excerpt

Vagabonda Reads – Review & Excerpt

July 6th

3 degrees of fiction – Review & Excerpt

Canadian Book Addict – Review

My Nook, Books & More – Excerpt

About Julia London:

Julia London is the New York Times and USA TODAY best-selling author of more than thirty romantic fiction novels. She is the author of the popular Cabot Sisters historical romance series, including The Trouble with Honor, The Devil Takes a Bride, and The Scoundrel and the Debutante. She is also the author of several contemporary romances, including Homecoming Ranch, Return to Homecoming Ranch and The Perfect Homecoming. She has over 100,000+ Facebook followers, is the recipient of the RT Book Reviews for Best Historical Romance and a six-time finalist for the prestigious RITA award for excellence in romantic fiction. You can visit her website JuliaLondon.com. She lives in Austin, Texas.

 

EXCERPT: 

Kishorn Lodge, Scottish Highlands, 1755

There’d been a spirited debate among the Mackenzies of Balhaire over where to bury the remains of the ven­erable Griselda Mackenzie. Arran Mackenzie, her much beloved cousin, wanted her buried at the clan’s seat at Balhaire alongside two hundred years of Mackenzies. But Catriona, his youngest daughter—who had been as close to her “Auntie” Zelda as her own mother—wanted to bury her at Kishorn Lodge, where Griselda had lived most of her remarkable life.

In the end, a compromise was struck. Auntie Zelda was buried in the family crypt at Balhaire, but a fèillein her honor was held at Kishorn a month later. This arrangement satisfied Catriona, as it was the celebra­tion she wanted for a woman who had lived life very much on her own terms.

Unfortunately, the weather turned foul on the eve of her fèille. Kishorn was remote, far into the Highlands, reachable practically only by boat. Therefore, only the most immediate Mackenzie family was able to attend, rowing up from Balhaire, past the Mackenzie prop­erties of Arrandale and Auchenard, and across Loch Kishorn to the point where the loch met the river for which it was named.

There was scarcely anything or anyone this far into the Highlands. A village and prime hunting grounds had once graced the banks of the river, but they were long gone. A Mackenzie ancestor had built the lodge on the ruins of the village. Zelda, who had always pre­ferred her freedom to a confining marriage, and had been indulged by her father, had taken possession of the abandoned lodge as a young woman and had made it her home, lovingly repairing and adding to it over the years.

The only thing left of that ancient village was a crumbling abbey, built on a hilltop overlooking the river glen. It was small as abbeys went, and no one could say whose abbey it had been. Zelda had decided it was hers and had made half of the original structure habitable again. The other half—what had once been the sanctuary—was missing its walls, and only a few beams and arches remained of the roof. It served no useful purpose, other than to provide a wee bit of re­spite from the weather for the cows that wandered in from time to time.

If only they’d had a respite from the cold rain that continued to beat a steady rhythm against the paned windows on the day of the fèille.

Catriona was quite undone by it—she’d planned this event to rival all such celebrations for years to come. “I’m bloody well cross with God this day, that I am,” she said to the women gathered around the fire blazing in the hearth. They included her mother, the Lady of Balhaire, and Catriona’s sister, Vivienne. Also present were her sisters-in-law, Daisy, Bernadette and Lottie. “It rained the day we buried her, and here it rains again. She deserved better, she did,” Catriona said as she care­lessly held up her wineglass to be refilled.

“Zelda would not care a whit about rain, Cat,” her mother assured her. “She would care only that you car­ried on with the fèillein spite of it. Can’t you hear her laughing? She’d say, ‘Did you expect cherubs and blue­birds to herald my arrival? No, lass, heaven weeps when I knock at the door.’”

“Mamma,” Catriona said gravely, but she couldn’t help a small smile. Zelda would have indeed said some­thing like that.

“I miss that old crone,” her mother said fondly, and lifted her glass in solemn salute. “She was incomparable.”

That was high praise coming from Margot Macken­zie. She and Zelda had maintained a fraught relation­ship through the years, had never quite seen eye to eye for reasons Catriona still didn’t fully understand. She knew that Zelda couldn’t bring herself to forgive her mother for being English, which, to be fair, was a sin in the eyes of many Highlanders. But Zelda had also seemed determined to believe the absurd notion that Ca­triona’s mother was a spy, of all things. Once, Catriona had asked her father why Auntie Zelda said her mother was a spy, and he’d given her a strange look. “Some things are better left in the past, aye?” he’d said. “You canna believe everything Zelda says, lass.”

He had not, Catriona had noted, denied it.

About Julia London:

Julia London is the New York Times and USA TODAY best-selling author of more than thirty romantic fiction novels. She is the author of the popular Cabot Sisters historical romance series, including The Trouble with Honor, The Devil Takes a Bride, and The Scoundrel and the Debutante. She is also the author of several contemporary romances, including Homecoming Ranch, Return to Homecoming Ranch and The Perfect Homecoming. She has over 100,000+ Facebook followers, is the recipient of the RT Book Reviews for Best Historical Romance and a six-time finalist for the prestigious RITA award for excellence in romantic fiction. You can visit her website JuliaLondon.com. She lives in Austin, Texas.

The Reulag Balhaire was not in the business of saving other ships. It was generally considered unwise to ap­proach another ship unless one was prepared to have a hull shattered by cannon fire. But their curiosity was aroused. The burning ship was just a spot in the dis­tance now, so they’d set course for the starboard side of the smaller ship, a gun pointed at the forecastle in the event there was trouble.

Aulay watched the smaller ship slowly come into view, its outline muted against the darkening sky, the clouds weighing down on the masts. It wasn’t until they were almost on the ship that they could see it was listing.

Iain the Red was studying it as they approached. “No’ a fly boat, no,” he said. “A bilander.”

“A bilander!” Beaty blustered. “What nonsense!”

Whether a fly boat or bilander, neither were partic­ularly well suited for the open seas. “Is there a flag?” he asked.

“No.” Iain the Red paused, then laughed. “Look at them now, trying to lower the sail.” He laughed again with great amusement. “They look like children romping around a bloody maypole! Look at them trying to un­tangle those shroud lines, aye? They’re twisted up every which way—oof, there went one, down on his arse!”

The men gathered at the railing to watch, and laughed at the blundering of the crew on the other ship as they tried to free a sail from a broken mast with what looked like a lot of pushing and shoving. “Aye, give it over, Iain, let’s have a look,” one said, and they began to pass the spyglass around, all of them doubling over with mirth.

The spyglass came back around to Iain, but when he held it up, he stopped laughing. “Diah, de an diabhal?” he exclaimed and lowered the instrument, turning a wide-eyed look to Aulay.

“What, then?” Aulay asked, feeling a mild tick of alarm, imagining a gun pointed at them, or a pirate’s flag being raised.

“A lady,” Iain said, as if he’d never seen one.

A lady? It was not unheard of for one to be on the high seas; wives of captains sometimes sailed with them. If it were anyone else, a lady of importance, she’d not be sailing on a rickety boat like that.

“In a proper gown and everything,” Iain said, his voice full of awe.

Aulay didn’t know what a proper gown meant to Iain, so he motioned for the spyglass to have a look. He could scarcely make her out, but it was definitely a woman standing at the railing, holding a white flag that almost matched the color of the hair that whipped long and unbound about her face. There were a few men beside her, all of them clinging to the railing, all of them looking rather desperately in the direction of his ship.

Aulay instructed Beaty to maneuver closer, and when there was nothing but a small bit of sea between the two ships, the men’s frantic attention to the sail on the other ship was forgotten in favor of lowering a jolly boat down the hull. There was more chaotic shoving among them until four men scrambled down a rope ladder into the boat and began to row with abandon toward the ReulagBalhaire. The woman remained behind on the ship’s deck with a few men, including one that was the size of a small mountain, towering a head above all the others.

When the smaller boat reached them, one of the men grabbed on to the rope ladder to steady them, and one rose to standing, bracing his legs apart to keep his balance. “Madainnmhath,” he called up, and with an affected swirl of his hand, he bowed low. And very nearly tipped over the side when a swell caught him unawares.

“Scots, then,” Beaty said. “That’s something, at least.”

“We are in need of your help, kind sirs!” the man called up, having managed to right himself. “We’ve been set upon by pirates, aye?” He spoke with a strange cadence, as if he were a town crier delivering this news to a crowded venue.

The men did not carry swords or guns that Aulay could see. It seemed all they could do to keep the jolly from tipping too far to one side. “That ship flew the colors of the king,” he called down.

The spokesman looked startled. He squatted down to consult the other men in his small boat. A flurry of shaking heads and talking over one another ensued, until the man stood up again and said, “She flew no such flag when she fired, on me word, sir! She fired with no provocation from us!” He pressed his hand to his chest quite earnestly.

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About Julia London:

Julia London is the New York Times and USA TODAY best-selling author of more than thirty romantic fiction novels. She is the author of the popular Cabot Sisters historical romance series, including The Trouble with Honor, The Devil Takes a Bride, and The Scoundrel and the Debutante. She is also the author of several contemporary romances, including Homecoming Ranch, Return to Homecoming Ranch and The Perfect Homecoming. She has over 100,000+ Facebook followers, is the recipient of the RT Book Reviews for Best Historical Romance and a six-time finalist for the prestigious RITA award for excellence in romantic fiction. You can visit her website JuliaLondon.com. She lives in Austin, Texas.

“What do we do now?” asked Norval Livingstone.

Diah, but Lottie’s head hurt. She wished everyone would stop looking to her to solve everything. Could they not see she’d made a mess of things thus far? The terror and panic that had shot through her when Gilroy shouted they’d taken a shot to the bow and were taking on water had blinded her to all common sense. They didn’t know who attacked them, they didn’t know why and had only one gun on board to fight the larger ship, one they scarcely knew how to fire. But fire it they had, and the cannon shot had hit something explosive on the other ship and had sent flames shooting into the air. All quite by accident—she thought it nothing short of magical that they’d hit the ship at all. Just as quickly as it had come upon them, that ship turned about and fled toward Scotland.

She should have done what Gilroy advised once the fighting had ended and the other ship had fled. She should have agreed to let the crew draw straws to see who would accompany her and her father back to Scotland on the jolly boat, while the others tried to sail the listing ship back to shore. But then someone had shouted another ship was approaching, and her father had begged her not to turn back and Lottie had come up with an impetuous, foolish, dangerous plan that she prayed would save them all.

It was so absurd that she still couldn’t believe it had worked.

“Aye, well then, Gilroy, what do you see?” asked Duff MacGuire. He was the resident thespian of the Livingstone clan and had played the part of spokes­man on the jolly when the Mackenzie ship had come to their aid.

“It has begun to rain,” Gilroy said flatly. “And my ship has sunk.”

He turned his back to the porthole. There were lines on his face Lottie had never seen before. “We should no’ have sailed her,” he said morosely. “I said as much to Bernt, I did, but he convinced me ours was a noble endeavor. Diah, she’s gone now.”

“I’m so verra sorry, Gilroy,” Lottie muttered.

“I donna like it,” Drustan said, his voice full of panic. Lottie’s younger brother was rocking back and forth on his heels, but because he was so unusually large, he kept knocking into the table. She put her hand on his arm to calm him, but he was staring with hor­ror at their father, a bead of perspiration sliding down his temple. He was confused. But then again, poor Drustan was always confused. He’d been born with the cord wrapped round his neck and had very nearly died. He’d never been quite right.

Lottie’s mother had always said Drustan was spe­cial in ways unlike anyone else. “Mark me, that lad has a brilliance in him. We’ve just no’ discovered it yet.”

“Donna worry about Fader,” Lottie said to Drustan. “He’s quite strong. You know that he is. He’s sleeping now because Morven gave him a sleeping draught so that he might heal, aye? You and Mats go with Gilroy now. There’s much work to be done.” She looked to Gilroy for confirmation, but the man was studying his feet, lost in thought.

Mathais, Lottie’s brash and youngest brother, moved to her side, his chest puffed like a fat pigeon. He’d only recently turned fourteen years to Drustan’s twenty years and her twenty-three. He had the heart of a war­rior, but was still a child. He declared, “I’ll go, Lot. You need no’ send Drustan. He’ll only be in the way, he will.”

Lottie was too despondent to argue. “Aye, go,” she said, waving a hand at Mathais. “Take Drustan with you.”

Mathais rolled his eyes.

“Gilroy?”

“Hmm?” He glanced up.

“Should no’ someone sail the ship, then?” she asked gently.

His brow furrowed as if the thought had just oc­curred to him. “Do you mean to say no one is sail­ing her?”

“Well who would sail it, Gilroy?” Duff asked with exasperation.

“Bloody hell, have we all lost our minds?” Gilroy demanded sternly, and began to make his way out of the overstuffed cabin.

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Julia London’s DEVIL IN TARTAN – Review & Excerpt Tour Schedule:

February 12th

Behind Closed Doors Book Review – Review & Excerpt

Thoughts by Tash – Review & Excerpt

February 13th

My Nook, Books & More – Excerpt

Only One More Page – Review & Excerpt

February 14th

For The Love of Fictional Worlds – Review & Excerpt

Vagabonda Reads – Review

February 15th

Feel the Book – Excerpt

What I’m Reading – Review & Excerpt

February 16th

Miss Riki – Review & Excerpt

What Is That Book About – Excerpt

February 17th

Bookishly Yours – Review & Excerpt

Read more sleep less – Review & Excerpt

February 18th

A Book Nerd, a Bookseller and a Bibliophile – Review

Sofia Loves Books – Review & Excerpt

February 19th

Becky on Books – Review & Excerpt

Literary Gossip – Review & Excerpt

February 20th

Bookalicious Babes Blog – Review & Excerpt

Jen’s Reading Obsession – Excerpt

Reads All the Books – Review & Excerpt

February 21st

Book Magic – Under a spell with every page – Review

Jax’s Book Magic – Excerpt

Mom’s Secret Book Blog – Review & Excerpt

February 22nd

Booked All Night – Review & Excerpt

Devilishly Delicious Book Reviews – Review & Excerpt

Reading Between the Wines Book Club – Excerpt

February 23rd

Love Notes Book Blog – Review & Excerpt

Ramblings From This Chick – Excerpt

Susan’s Books I Like – Review & Excerpt

About Julia London:

Julia London is the New York Times and USA TODAY best-selling author of more than thirty romantic fiction novels. She is the author of the popular Cabot Sisters historical romance series, including The Trouble with Honor, The Devil Takes a Bride, and The Scoundrel and the Debutante. She is also the author of several contemporary romances, including Homecoming Ranch, Return to Homecoming Ranch and The Perfect Homecoming. She has over 100,000+ Facebook followers, is the recipient of the RT Book Reviews for Best Historical Romance and a six-time finalist for the prestigious RITA award for excellence in romantic fiction. You can visit her website JuliaLondon.com. She lives in Austin, Texas.

Fall in love with seven sexy and irresistible soldiers who find their courage and heart tested like never before in the battle for love! This multi-author collaborative series of contemporary romance novels is brought to you by bestselling authors Barbara Freethy, Roxanne St. Claire, Christie Ridgway, Lynn Raye Harris, Julia London, Cristin Harber and Samantha Chase. You won’t want to miss a single one!

Former Marine Jack Carter has left Afghanistan behind, but after a close encounter with a suicide bomber, he now battles a hidden enemy. Ashamed that he succumbs to heart-stopping panic attacks, he refuses to leave his house and makes excuses for failing to meet up with his best friends. He’s got the perfect set up—his job allows him to work from home, he hires out the dog walking and grocery shopping and he has subscribed to a meal delivery service that comes complete with a cook. Jack expected a lunch lady, but he gets Whitney. She’s bubbly, she’s way too chatty, and his dog loves her more than him. But he forgives her all of that because she’s sexy as hell and a bright spot in an otherwise lonely day.

Whitney Baldwin has been groomed to follow a long line of highly successful lawyers into an equally successful family law firm, but she’d rather bake a cake than read a tort. Her dream is to open her own patisserie. To say her father is disappointed in her career path is an understatement—if she can’t pull this off, she’ll have to head home with her tail between her legs. In a last bid to make her dream a reality Whitney accepts a job with Dinner Magic and lands an insanely handsome client in Jack Carter. His crazy good looks captivate her, but it’s something about his hyper-awareness of her combined with a vulnerability that is an irresistible recipe.

The smoldering attraction between Jack and Whitney quickly turns molten. But when he makes an important promise that he can’t keep, Whitney can’t fathom how this relationship is going to work. Will Jack ever be able to conquer his worst fears for true love?

Julia London is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including the popular Secrets of Hadley Green series, the Cabot Sisters series and The Highland Grooms historical romance series. She also wrote the Pine River and the Lake Haven contemporary romance series. She is a six time finalist for the prestigious RITA Award for excellence in romantic fiction, and RT Bookclub award recipient for Best Historical Romance for Dangerous Gentleman. She lives in Austin, Texas.

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