Guest Blog: My Dark Highlander by Nancy Lee Badger

My Dark Highlander
Kilted Athletes Through Time
Book 2
Nancy Lee Badger

Genre:  Scottish Time Travel romance
Publisher: Nancy Lee Badger
Date of Publication: Nov. 1, 2014
Number of pages:  330
Cover Artist: Nancy Lee Badger

Book Description:

Plucked from her timeline, and stranded in 1603 Scotland, veterinarian Jenny Morgan is eager to get home before someone discovers her secret ability. Reading auras is a curse, and the rainbow of auras surrounding the villagers at the Highland festival is more than she can bear.

Aided by a powerful witch, she returns to New England. She will miss the North Sea, and the man who stole her heart during one dark night, but danger follows her home.

Laird Gavin Sinclair is pulled in too many directions; a missing brother, a murderous father, and a dark-eyed beauty he spent one sin-filled night protecting. When Jenny returns to the future with a witch and another man, danger follows her. Gavin must set aside his obligations, use his sorcery to follow her forward in time, and protect her.

Before returning home, jealousy and lust ravage his dark soul, but his heart lightens when Jenny helps him fight every evil. 

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MRP would like to extend a very warm welcome to Nancy Lee Badger, today's guest blogger and author of My Dark Highlander. Enjoy!

When Kisses Taste Like Scottish Shortbread

Scottish Shortbread cookies are tasty, rich, and easy to make. Whenever I attend a Scottish Highland games or festival, I search for these yummy hunks of flour, butter, and sugar mixed with vanilla, almond flavoring, or maple syrup. Shortbread has a long history as an easy sweet made with easy-to-find ingredients, and cooks have baked them since the twelfth-century.

Even hundreds of years later, not much has changed, nor have the Highlands of Scotland. For quite some time only wealthy people such as Mary, Queen of Scots, could afford to make shortbread, and others baked it only at Christmas, Hogmanay (New Years), weddings, and other special occasions.

With a crumbly texture, for years shortbread was baked at a low temperature, such as beside a banked peat fire in a crofter’s hut or behind the stables in a beehive oven. Cooked in various shapes, such as a pizza cut into wedges, you can also find it in bricks and rounds. It molds easily, and tastes great. When I bake them, I add chocolate-chips.

This classic Scottish dessert has gone through several changes throughout history, but the basic flavor is different from any other cookie I have ever tasted. In my latest release, My Dark Highlander, I mention the treat several times along with my characters because my story takes place at modern-day Highland games and a festival back in 1603 Scotland.  

Here is an excerpt from My Dark Highlander

“Trust me, laird.”

“I hope I doono’ come to regret this.”

When the brownie’s warm fingers closed around Gavin’s hand, now free of blood, the air shimmered. A shiver coursed through him, and his body grew light as air. Intense illumination made his eyes clamp shut. His skin crawled, because the sensations were oddly familiar.

“Here we are, my laird. Open yer eyes, and go find yer woman.” Jaden-Tog pointed to an army of large tents holding court beside a huge three-story edifice. Thunderous applause filled the air at intervals, and the sounds, roars, and smells stirred his recollection of a recent event, back in Scotland. The aroma of roasted meat and fresh-baked Scottish shortbread tempered the odor of cow and sheep dung. “A Highland festival?”

Jaden-Tog chuckled, and released Gavin’s hand. “Aye, the 21st century version. ‘Tis no’ much different. However, I believe she headed that way. See?”

Gavin’s gaze followed the direction of the brownie’s finger, which pointed away from the crowds and tents. Taking a chance, he strode along the gravel trail, toward the odd metal carriages that he had noticed near Jenny’s home, while the brownie kept pace.

Had only a fortnight passed since he last traveled to this time in search of his betrothed? As he increased his pace, an object on the ground, in the middle of a trail ahead, caught his attention.

“A doeskin slipper!”

“Aye, ‘tis the footwear yer Jenny was wearing. Can ye no’ sense her, laird?”

Gavin glared at the little man, then closed his eyes. Using his sorcery-aided senses, he searched for the truth. He was too new at magic to sense her, but Jenny’s fragrance invaded his nose, proving she had passed by this way.

On the distant edge of the lot, and farther along the trail, a low hillock muted the sounds of rushing water, beyond. “Is that the same water I fell in?”

“Nay, my laird. ‘Tis a large river, and--”

“A scream! ‘Twas a woman’s cry for help, I swear it.” He felt in his heart, that the voice belonged to Jenny. 

Thank you so much for joining us today, Nancy. We really enjoyed the visit. Good luck and great sales with My Dark Highlander. 

About the Author:

Award-winning author Nancy Lee Badger loves chocolate-chip shortbread and wool plaids wrapped around the trim waist of a Scottish Highlander. Her stories tempt you with the clang of broadswords, and the sound of bagpipes in the air. After growing up in Huntington, New York, and raising two handsome sons in New Hampshire, she moved to North Carolina where she writes full-time. Nancy is a member of Romance Writers of America, Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, Fantasy-Futuristic & Paranormal Romance Writers, Triangle Area Freelancers, and the Celtic Heart Romance Writers.

Author Links:
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