Without a doubt it was the taming of Quinton Cameron.
Oops…sorry, had to duck and run there because that big, highland earl didn’t take too kindly to me announcing that he’d been tamed. Now Deirdre found it rather amusing. The curse of being a writer is that your characters are always with you and not always at the end of their story.
HIGHLAND HEAT was a fun book to write. But it was also stressful. Both Deidre and Quinton were hard nuts to crack. They’d both loved and lost, through bitter betrayal. The sort which leaves a painful scar across the heart. More importantly, neither wanted to trust their tender affections to another again. Those are points I often find myself pondering when I write a historical—trust and affection. These people lived vastly different lives than we do today. Marriage was a business first. A matter for level headed consideration and not because women were chattel. That was certainly part of it, but think about it for a moment… You have a daughter and the average life span is less than fifty. There are few good employment professions for women so that leaves you knowing you will not be around to help her and wanting to know she’s in a secure position (warm, well-fed, protected). In the case of Deirdre, she was the first born daughter of a laird. Marriage might secure peace for the clan, while many might look on wedding for that reason as cold hearted, I could see the argument from the other side. Could you turn your back on ensuring the people around you didn’t have to fend off attacks?
So the reasoning of the time was to wait until you married to fall in love. Something Deirdre failed to do. She was young and impressionable and believed the first tender words whispered in her ear at a spring festival. When that man turned out to be a villain, she ended up in a convent but still confident in her choice. Quinton was tossed over for a more titled man by the woman who’d stolen his heart.
Bringing these two together was fun. They were both rock solid but needing to learn to trust again. Deirdre refused to bend to the earl and Quinton didn’t know how to cast off his title and return to being just a man. He’d been using his position as a shield and I had to find a way to get him to lower that defense. Deirdre wouldn’t accept him any other way either. If she’d only craved position out of her life, she would have wed the man her father contracted her to and never allowed anyone to sway her with honey coated words. But her heart needed more. That was the quality Quinton found impossible to ignore, her willingness to seek out emotional satisfaction before all the essentials of life. To ignore his title in favor of his heart.
We all have hopes and goals and dreams but my grandmother used to tell me that the only things you truly own are your friendships and faith. Highland Heat was written with those truths in mind. I’m thinking a little more about these facts as I look at the devastation in Japan …What do you have when your house is ripped off the surface of the planet in mere seconds? You have your friends and, hopefully, your family, you have your faith in making tomorrow just as bright as you assumed it would be before the disaster struck because of the talents and skills you have inside you. You have the power to become a part of the tea effort to rebuild and when I write my books… I try to make that spirit shine through. Thanks for having me over to blog today! Remember, you have the power to make someone smile today…. use it without mercy!
HIGHLAND HEAT BY MARY WINE – IN STORES MARCH 2011
Ruined, Betrayed and Banished…
As brave as she is impulsive, Deirdre Chattan’s tendency to follow her heart and not her head has finally tarnished her reputation beyond repair. But when powerful Highland Laird Quinton Cameron finds her, he doesn’t care about her past—it’s her future he’s about to change.
But It’s Never Too Late for Redemption…
From the moment Quinton sets eyes on Deirdre Chattan, rational thought vanishes. For in her eyes he sees a fiery spirit that matches his own, and he’ll be damned if he’ll let such a wild Scottish rose wither under the weight of a nun’s habit…
With nothing to lose, Deirdre and Quinton band together to protect king and country. But what they accomplish alone is nothing compared to what they can build with their passion for each other…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mary Wine is a multi-published author in romantic suspense, fantasy and western romance; now her interest in historical reenactment and costuming has inspired her to turn her pen to historical romance. She lives with her husband and sons in southern California, where the whole family enjoys participating in historical reenactments. For more information, please visit http://www.marywine.com.
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