Blog Tour: Lachlan's Bride by Kathleen Harrington (Guest Post + Giveaway)

I'm pleased to welcome Kathleen Harrington and her book, Lachlan's Bride, the long-awaited follow-up to her Highland Lairds series.

She's currently on a book tour to promote her book. To visit her other stops, click here.

For this stop, Kathleen was so wonderful to share with us her favorite romantic couples, here's what she wrote:

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MY FIVE FAVORITE ROMANCE COUPLES

Everyone has their favorite romantic couples. I know I do! The hard part is whittling it down to just five. But here they are, in no particular order.

In Jane Austen's SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, two sisters yearn for love in spite of their sudden loss of fortune after their father's death. In this classic tale, my favorite couple isn't Elinor Dashwood and Edward Ferrars, Austen's hero and heroine. Theirs is a beautiful love story, true. But Elinor's passionate sister, Marianne, and the patient, steadfast Colonel Brandon have the more tender, heat-wrenching love story. Brandon adores Marianne from afar, believing he has no chance to win the younger girl away from the handsome, charming, but despicable, John Willoughby. Throughout Marianne's infatuation with Willoughby, Brandon remains deeply in love with her. He tries to protect Marianne from the scandal and heartbreak that the philandering cad brings down upon her. Only after Marianne sees Willoughby for who he really is, does she recognize the real worth of the man who's loved her from afar.

Another of my favorite couples comes not from a book, but a movie. In ROMANCING THE STONE, romance writer, Joan Wilder meets Jack Colton, a hunk who could have stepped right out of one of her books. But unlike her fictional heroes, Jack doesn't try to romance her until after he's learned about the treasure map she's carrying. My favorite scene is their slide down a muddy jungle slope to end up in the dirty water below---Joan between Jack's knees. You're not certain what Jack's true feelings are, until the last frame of the movie.

At the beginning of Tessa Dare's A NIGHT TO SURRENDER, Victor Bramwell, a lieutenant colonel in the British army, and Susanna Finch, spinster, appear to a have absolutely nothing in common. He's a cynical, no-nonsense "man's man." She's a bookish high-minded know-it-all. Add to that, the fact that they have opposing goals and are both stubborn as hell, and it's no surprise they butt heads every time they meet. What doesn't make sense to Bram, is that he can't keep his hands off Susanna, in spite of their differences. I love how the sparks fly whenever they're together!

In the PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, we witness the pathos of unrequited love. The fateful triangle of Christine, Raoul, and the disfigured Phantom tugs at your heartstrings. While you root for Christine and Raoul, at the same time, you feel tremendous sympathy for the poor soul condemned, through no fault of his own, to hide in the catacombs beneath the Opera House and worship Christine from afar.

Finally, I have to nominate Bella Swan and Edward Cullen from the TWILIGHT series as the most angst-ridden romantic couple on the screen or in print since ROMEO AND JULIET. Although Bella and Edward seem instantly attracted to each other, their courtship moves very slowly at first. Their relationship is filled with so many difficulties that must be overcome---the greatest, of course, being that he's a vampire and she's a mortal. I was fascinated by this pair of star-crossed lovers.

I'm presently working on the third book of the Highland Lairds Trilogy, with the tentative title of KEIR'S STORY. I'm looking forward with excitement to the release of LACHLAN'S BRIDE, an Avon Impulse, on April 30th.

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Thank you for sharing your list, Kathleen! Congratulations on the release of Lachlan's Bride!

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About the book:

Blurb:

He is Lachlan MacRath, laird and pirate. And he intends to be her lover…

Lady Francine Walsingham could not believe this fierce Highland warrior is to be her escort into Scotland. It is whispered that Lachlan MacRath has magical powers…how else do you explain why her countrymen call him the Sorcerer of the Seas? But trust him she must, for a treacherous plot is about to reveal all her secrets…and Francine has no choice but to act as his lover to keep her enemies at bay.

When Lachlan first sees Francine, the English beauty stirs his blood like no woman has ever before. As luck would have it, they must now play the besotted couple so he can protect her ….and Lachlan is determined to use all his seductive prowess to properly woo her into his bed.

Excerpt:

PROLOGUE
May 1496
The Cheviot Hills
The Border between England and Scotland

Stretched flat on the blood-soaked ground, Lachlan MacRath gazed up at the cloudless morning sky and listened to the exhausted moans of the wounded.

The dead and the dying lay scattered across the lush spring grass. Overhead the faint rays of dawn broke above the hilltops, as the buttercups and bluebells dipped and swayed in the soft breeze. The gruesome corpses were sprawled amidst the wildflowers, their vacant eyes staring upward to the heavens, the stumps of their severed arms and legs still oozing blood and gore. Dented helmets, broken swords, axes, and pikes gave mute testimony to the ferocity of the combatants. Here and there, a loyal destrier, trained to war, grazed calmly alongside its fallen master.

Following close upon daylight, the scavengers would come creeping, ready to strip the bodies of anything worth a shilling: armor, dirks, boots, belts. If they were Scotsmen, he'd be in luck. If not, he'd soon be dead. There wasn't a blessed thing he could do but wait. He was pinned beneath his dead horse, and all efforts to free himself during the night had proven fruitless.

In the fierce, running battle of the evening before, the warriors on horseback had left behind all who'd fallen. Galloping across the open, rolling countryside, Scots and English had fought savagely, till it was too dark to tell friend from foe. There was no way of knowing the outcome of the battle, for victory had been determined miles away.

Hell, it was Lachlan's own damn fault. He'd come on the foray into England with King James for a lark. After delivering four new canons to the castle at Roxburgh, along with the Flemish master gunners to fire them, he'd decided not to return to his ship immediately as planned. The uneventful crossing on the Sea Hawk from the Low Countries to Edinburgh, followed by the tedious journey to the fortress, with the big guns pulled by teams of oxen, had left him eager for a bit of adventure.

When he'd learned that the king was leading a small force into Northumberland to retrieve cattle raided by Sassenach outlaws, the temptation to join them had been too great to resist. There was nothing like a hand-to-hand skirmish with his ancient foe to get a man's blood pumping through his veins.

But Lord Dacre, Warden of the Marches, had surprised the Scots with a much larger, well-armed force of his own, and what should have been a carefree rout turned into deadly combat.

A plea for help interrupted Lachlan's brooding thoughts. Not far away, a wounded English soldier, who'd cried out in pain during the night, raised himself up on one elbow.

"Lychester! Over here, sir! It's Will Jeffries!"

Lachlan watched from beneath slit lids as another Sassenach came into view. Attired in the splendid armor of the nobility, the newcomer rode a large, caparisoned black horse. He'd clearly come looking for someone, for he held the reins of a smaller chestnut, its saddle empty and waiting.

"Here I am, Marquess," the young man named Jeffries called weakly. He lifted one hand in a trembling wave as the marquess of Lychester drew near to his countryman. Dismounting, he approached the wounded soldier.

"Thank God," Jeffries said with a hoarse groan. "I've taken a sword blade in my thigh. The cut's been oozing steadily. I was afraid I wouldn't make it through the night."

Lychester didn't say a word. He came to stand behind the injured man, knelt down on one knee, and raised his fallen comrade to a seated position. Grabbing a hank of his yellow hair, the marquess jerked the fair head back and deftly slashed the exposed throat from ear to ear. Then he calmly wiped his blade on the youth's doublet, lifted him up in his arms, and threw the body face down over the chestnut's back.

The English nobleman glanced around, checking, no doubt, to see if there'd been a witness to the cold-blooded execution. Lachlan held his breath and remained motionless, his lids lowered over his eyes. Apparently satisfied, the marquess mounted, grabbed the reins of the second horse and rode away.

Lachlan slowly exhaled.

Sonofabitch.

He knew the English were a bloodthirsty race. But he hadn't thought that included the murder of a helpless patriot on a deserted battlefield.

What kind of bastard did such a traitorous thing?

Loved the excerpt? Buy the book!

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About the author:

KATHLEEN HARRINGTON, winner of the Colorado Romance Writers’ Award of Excellence, has touched the hearts of readers across the country with her sparkling tales of high adventure and unending love. Her historical romances have been finalists for the Romance Writers of America’s RITA, The Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Awards, the Virginia Romance Writers’ HOLT Medallion, and the Phoenix Desert Rose Golden Quill. Her fabulous heroes have garnered the KISS (Knight in Shining Silver) Award. She lives in Southern California.

Author Links
Website: http://www.kathleenharringtonbooks.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kathleensbooks/
               @kathleensbooks