Spotlight & Giveaway: Lord Scot by Jade Lee

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Jade Lee to HJ!

Hi Jade and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Lord Scot!

 
Hello, lovely readers!
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Lord Loughton is a Scottish nobleman who has come to London looking for a wealthy wife. He picks the eccentric Lady Clara for his bride and begins his courtship. But Clara will never, ever, ever leave London to live in Scotland. Is he crazy? Why would she do that? And yet, he persists. The courtship takes them through a fake séance, a graveyard ghost hunt, an evening betrayal, and all manner of feisty banter until they finally lay all their cards on the table and strike an uneasy bargain. You’ll be surprised by the ending, but it will be worth every mishap along the way.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

Horses thundered past Lord Loughton as he wandered along Rotton Row. His quarry, Lady Clara, was further ahead on a bench in Hyde Park. Her bonnet tilted askew as she gestured with a hard slash of her hand to a severely dressed gentleman sitting with her.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

Clara and Liam appear in Lord Ares. They provide fantastic comic relief and timely complications to that book, but I never intended to give them their own story. Then my agent read Lord Ares and said, “What are you talking about? I need that story now!” My editor said the same thing. My publisher did, too, and she immediately began talking to me about how to publish their story. I was reluctant because I didn’t think I could sustain the comedy through a full novel, but they insisted I should try. In the end, I let Clara and Liam decide by blocking out a few scenes. That’s not final draft writing. It’s a kind of outlining that gives me an idea where the book will go. Those scenes led to a few more, then a few more. Pretty soon, I had a full book and Lord Scot was born. (Incidentally, that’s exactly how Lady Scot is going too which is the next book in the series!)

Please tell us a little about the characters in your book. As you wrote your protagonist was there anything about them that surprised you?

First of all, random fact: Lady Clara’s name came from Clara Oswald from Doctor Who. No particular reason; it’s just who I pictured. The woman started as a typical bluestocking, but she grew into someone I really admired. Imagine being a well-educated woman with no power to change the ills in society except in tiny ways. Imagine how frustrating that would be. And then she’s given the chance to make all the changes she wants. She can force everyone to learn how to read, bargain with them to create basic hygiene, and even renovate their castle home to bring in plumbing. All of that is offered to her on the condition she moves to Scotland which is the very last place she wants to go. I felt like I was being offered that challenge, and boy was it fun to imagine.

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would you use for the audition of the main characters and why?

There’s a scene where Clara is pretending to be the Ghost Bride of MacDhubhthaich (and yes, I purposely made that unpronounceable. Clara calls it the Bride of MacD-whatever.) She puts all her dubious acting talents into wailing and moaning as a good dead bride might while Liam tries to catch her and keep her from all the people shoving drinks into her hand. He also knows she’s been betrayed, and there’s a sinister purpose behind the playacting. Lots of levels there. It’s a fun scene!

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

I want it to be a fun read. Books are getting shorter these days, but this one is old school. It’s the kind that you can get lost in for a slow build love story with full worldbuilding. It’s not just about Clara and Liam, but also the castle society and a future for the clan. I really enjoyed creating that world, and I hope everyone wants to hang out there for a while longer. I certainly do!
Anybody remember Ann McCaffrey’s Harper Hall trilogy? That’s the kind of world feel I was trying for only with hot Scotsmen instead of dragons.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

I’m working on Lord Scot’s sequel, Lady Scot. It will be released in the spring. The woman Liam was supposed to marry has had it with all Scotsmen and is heading to London to find her fortune. Little does she know, she’s being followed by a determined gentleman from another clan. He’s not going to give her up to the English just yet!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Winner’s choice of a print or eBook copy of LORD ARES, the book that first introduces Clara and Liam.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What’s your favorite part about Scottish historicals? Do you think Regency era Scotsmen are just as sexy as the traditional Scots romances set 100 years earlier?

 
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Excerpt from Lord Scot:

“It’s a masquerade, Lady Clara, and this is what the favored lady always wears.” She arched a brow at her. “You wouldn’t want to embarrass the MacCleal, would you? It’s expected. I was to do it this year, but Liam would have none of it. You’re the ranking guest, he said. It was to be your honor and him to be the groom.”
Clara frowned. “Liam—Lord Loughton wants me to do this?”
“Of course, he does!” the lady snapped, clearly impatient. “You wouldn’t think I’d give this up easily, would you? It’s usually my part!” The outrage in her face was clear, but then she abruptly softened. “It’s tradition, you see. The ghost lady comes in, she spies her groom dead on the floor and collapses from her grief.”
“It’s a play, then? I thought it was a masquerade.”
“Ack, it’s both, don’t you see? He’ll come rescue you, tell you it was all a mistake and then take you to bed. Bride and groom, happy as it should’a been. And we all celebrate as if it were a wedding feast!”
Clara wasn’t so sure she wanted this. “If it was to be your part—”
“Stop it! I won’t be disobeying my laird, and neither should you.”
She had run out of objections, especially as Deirdre began to weave leaves and branches into her hair, her fingers deft. Clara tried to stop her, but the girl whispered into her ear.
“It’s all right,” she said. “It’s supposed to be this way.”
Clara turned. “But this is your dress.”
Deirdre shook her head. “If it gets damaged, I’m sure the laird will repay me.”
“You can be sure of it!” Lady Beitidh declared.
That was enough to convince Clara, especially since she meant to give the girl some coins herself.
Before long, it was time to go back. By that time, Deirdre’s little brother and sister had joined them. The two children stood naked from behind a tree to watch the commotion. They said nothing, and Clara wanted to give them something. A toy, maybe. Food and clothes at a minimum. But she had none of that with her now and pointing them out might embarrass Deirdre. So she said nothing while Lady Beitidh hustled them back to the donkey cart. It would be dark by the time they returned to the castle, but Lady Beitidh assured her that was the plan.
She was to make a grand entrance at the masquerade. Everyone was waiting for it. She couldn’t disappoint them now, could she?
And since the lady kept talking with barely a breath between sentences, Clara agreed to the plan. She sat on the cart bench and studied everything that went past. She’d known that Lord Loughton’s clan was poor, but here indeed was proof that his people were hurting. One bad harvest would be devastating. No wonder he wanted his whiskey to become the drink of kings. It would go a long way to filling his coffers, though not quickly enough by the look of things.
By the time they made it back to the castle, the games were all done. She guessed from the noise that the food had been consumed and the dancing was well underway. People were sprawled everywhere on the grounds with a center area filled with merrymakers. Clara didn’t know the folk dance they performed, but there was a great deal of jumping and clapping. She smiled at the sight of some young men trying, with mixed results, to perform an acrobatic leap-kick maneuver.
“But no one else is in costume,” she said as she realized most were still in whatever they’d worn throughout the day.
“You dinna think the regular folks would put money into fancy dress, now did you? But look ahead there. That’s the Laird, and he’s wearing his clan tartan, isn’t he?”
Sure he was, but that wasn’t the same as dressing up as a ghost and wandering through the party. Meanwhile, Lady Beitidh pulled the cart to the side and grabbed a lantern from where it was hanging off a nearby stall and shoved it into her hand.
“Now wave this about and cry, Where’s me husband? Where’s me husband?”
“But no one else is dressed—”
Deirdre caught her arm and pulled her close enough to whisper. “It’s for the best, mum. You’ll see. Everybody will like it.”
She wanted to argue. She felt extremely uncomfortable, especially since the drink from the afternoon had worn off, but she wasn’t given the chance to object. The moment she descended from the cart, Lady Beitidh started bellowing.
“Look! Look! It’s the MacDhubhthaich bride, come to find her husband.” Then she pushed Clara forward.
“Ack, it’s the bride!” bellowed one of the nearby men.
“The MacDhubhthaich bride!” cried another.
“Drink, lass. We’ll find him for ye.”
A flagon was pushed into her hand as everyone around urged her to drink.
“It’s what turns the tale,” said Lady Beitidh. “She drinks, we cheer, and then she finds her man.” She pushed the drink toward Clara’s lips. “Don’t ruin it fer them! This is the reason for the festival, and it was given to you!”
This is why she liked to research things ahead of time. She didn’t know anything about the customs in this part of the world, and she didn’t like having a role when she had no idea what she was to do. Damnation, her home parish still talked about the time she tripped while dancing around the maypole when she was eight.
But there was no help for it now, especially with everyone cheering her on so joyously. So when the next flagon was pushed into her hand, she took a healthy drink. And the next. And the next. It steadied her nerves—if not her feet—and allowed her to cry out as if she truly were a lost bride.
“Where is my husband?” she asked. “I am the bride of… of…” She couldn’t begin to say the word. Fortunately, everyone else could.
“The MacDhubhthaich bride!”
“Over here! Over here!”
When they’d climbed off the cart, it hadn’t seemed too far to the center of the merrymaking. But now that she was walking through the people—many of whom kept trying to get her to drink—she was turned around and pulled in different directions. The pathway seemed five times as long, and when she arrived in the center clearing, the chanting had become a battering of sound.
“The groom! The groom!”
She looked around, trying to get her bearings. Deirdre was no where to be seen, but Lady Beitidh had moved to the MacCleal laird’s side. Liam’s father was a big man with a booming voice and—right now—a full grin.
“Welcome, MacDhubhthaich bride!” he bellowed. “Your groom awaits.”
“He does?” Clara asked. “I thought he was dead.”
“Not dead. Your kiss revives him.”
Two men had hold of her. She supposed they were helping her along—she’d been passed from one to another all the way up here—but she found her footing and steadied herself in the center of the clearing. She shook the men off, elbowing one of them when he would not step away.
Damnation. The gown she wore was in tatters. She would definitely have to buy Deirdre another. Meanwhile, she held up her lantern and slowly turned a full circle. Flushed and happy faces surrounded her. Men toasted her with their drink and women smiled slyly at her. So many people all seeing to applaud her role in tonight’s festivities.
She took a breath. Might as well do it for all she was worth.
“Aieeee!” she cried in her best attempt at a ghostly wail. “I have arrived too late at my beloved’s castle. They are all killed.”
A roar of denial followed her statement. Then Lady Beitidh cried, “There he is! Your groom is here!”
She looked where the lady pointed and saw Lord Loughton pushed forward. His expression was dark, and his gaze landed hard on the laird.
“Father!” he snapped. “This is not the way to win a woman.”
“It’s the Scottish way!” the man bellowed, to which a chorus of men roared their approval.
“Clara!” someone bellowed, and it sounded like Aaron, but try as she might, Clara could not find him. Too many people crowded around.
“Clara,” Lord Loughton said as he stepped closer. “Don’t…word…”
She peered at him where he was struggling through the crowd. Lord, her head was starting to swim. Whatever he’d just said was lost amidst the sound of his clan cheering.
“I’m the…the MacDub…something bride.”
Lady Beitidh nodded happily as she coaxed Clara on. “Say, you’re here to wed the MacCleal.”
“Right,” Clara said. “I’m here to wed.” Then she shook her head. “But I’m a ghost right? I die because I find you dead.”
“But he’s here now,” the lady said. “Kiss him and declare yourself wed.”
Clara looked at the crowd. Of course. That’s what they all wanted to see. A kiss between bride and groom was the end of the tale. She could see that Liam was none too pleased to be in the center of this, but it was only harmless fun. She would not be the reason this festival was bad. She would play her part.
So when Liam finally closed the space between them, Clara went willingly. Thankfully, he caught her around the waist and kept her upright. Good heavens, just how much had she drunk? Her legs were like wet paper.
“Careful, Clara,” he said against her ear. “I’ve got you.”
She set her head against his shoulder to steady herself. All she needed to do was say the words, and it would be done. She could go inside and rest. Maybe even get some bread to settle her stomach. She just had to finish it.
She reached up and touched his face, investing all her strength in saying the words Beitidh had told her.
“My groom,” she cried.
He caught her hand and pulled it back from his face. His other arm pressed her tight to his body, steadying her against him. “Clara, don’t say anything—” he began, but she wouldn’t be stopped now. It’s what the crowd wanted. And she never minded kissing him anyway.
She used her free hand to grab his broad shoulder and jerked herself high enough to press her mouth to his. It was a perfunctory kiss. He had not helped her do it, being more occupied in keeping her from falling, but she managed the feat. Finally. Their lips had touched enough that it probably worked for the play, though she thought Liam could have made a better show of it.
Then she allowed herself to fall backwards some and cry, “My lord lives!”
The crowd cheers, but the MacCleal’s voice boomed over it. “You are wed then? To my son?”
Loughton’s arm tightened around her. His face was a hard mask of fury at his father. “Don’t answer—”
“Yes!” she cried. “We are wed.”
She felt Liam’s sigh as if it went through his whole body. She frowned, not understanding his reaction. Had she done a bad job?
Meanwhile, the laird clapped his hands. “It is done!”
“Clara!” That was definitely Aaron, but she could not see over Loughton’s shoulder enough to find her brother.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Lord Laughton needs a strong wife to help him corral his wild Scottish relations. Of course, he may be the wildest of them all, or so thinks Lady Clara. The last thing she wants is to leave her beloved London for the highlands. She certainly won’t do it for a man who laughs when she’s trying to anger him, teases when he ought to be terrified, and kisses her when she’s not at all ready to marry anyone.

But a Scotsman must have his bride, so he brings her to the highlands on a ghost hunt because Lady Clara loves nothing more than a true haunting. What she finds instead of eerie doings is a family made stronger by their oddities. She has a place here if she’s strong enough to claim it.

And a man who will fight by her side if she’s bold enough to embrace a wild Scottish ride.

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Meet the Author:

A USA Today Bestseller, JADE LEE has been scripting love stories since she first picked up a set of paper dolls. Ball gowns and rakish lords caught her attention early (thank you Georgette Heyer), and her fascination with historical romance began. Author of more than 30 regency romances, Jade has a gift for creating a lively world, witty dialogue, and hot, sexy humor. Jade also writes contemporary and paranormal romance as Kathy Lyons. Together, they’ve won several industry awards, including the Prism—Best of the Best, Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice, and Fresh Fiction’s Steamiest Read. Even though Kathy (and Jade) have written over 60 romance novels, she’s just getting started.
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