Spotlight & Giveaway: The Highlander’s Return by Lynsay Sands

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Lynsay Sands to HJ!

Hi Lynsay and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Highlander’s Return!

 
Hello Sara. Hi Everyone!
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Graeme Gunn has been working as a warrior for hire for over a decade now and has been thinking it’s time to get out of mercenary work. When he finds out his older brother, William, is missing, he joins the search party which eventually finds Williams remains. Now he must return to Gunn castle as the new clan chieftain. He expects to find William’s widow fainting and keening at the news of her husband’s death. Instead, he finds her tending a belligerent soldier three times her size, and handling him with a tenacity, determination and decisiveness seldom seen in the ladies he’s ever met. And he’s gobsmacked, and more than a little smitten.

Annella MacKay rues the day she ever married William Gunn after he up and left her on their wedding night! But after six years of running Gunn castle on her own, she’s elated to hear William has passed because it means she’s finally free. Only problem is William’s brother, Graeme Gunn, is the new clan chieftain and he refuses to let her leave as he needs help settling into the role. The more time they spend together, the more attracted to him she becomes and the more passionate their interactions. But she really doesn’t want to give up the newfound freedom widowhood has given her.

On top of everything else, Graeme and Annella must steer through the turbulence created by a clash of wills and a hidden threat that seeks to destroy them both.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

“Aye. Somewhere I can talk to me sister alone to give her the news,” he explained and then added, “’Twill be embarrassing for Annella later does she faint or begin in keenin’ over the loss in front o’ everyone as she’s like to do when I tell her. So ’tis best to do it away from all.”
******
“Damn me, Raynard! Ye’re making me head ache with yer bellowing. Do you no’ stop it, I swear I’ll knock ye silly!”
******
“Oh aye, if ye do no’ mind the dozen or so couples indulging themselves under the trees, in the tall grasses and hidden in the bushes.” When he glanced at her sharply, she explained, “’Tis a popular spot for young Gunns to get up to houghmagandie.”
This time it was Payton who stopped walking. Spinning on her with amazement, he cried, “Nay!”
“Aye,” Annella assured him. “Although, sometimes they’re actually in the trees rather than under them.”
“In the trees?” Payton echoed with disbelief.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• Payton MacKay was so unkempt and dirty that his own sister, Annella, didn’t recognize him after six years of being away at Gunn
• Over the last six months while they’d been searching and then making arrangements for William’s body to be transported back to Gunn, Payton was telling Graeme and his men how sweet, kind and delicate his sister Annella was… and then they walk in on Lady Annella shouting at a belligerent soldier she was mending, then smashing a pot across said soldier’s head to knock him out when he refused to cooperate.
• Annella had been running Gunn castle the last six years, ever since her husband William took off with a lightskirt. And in that time, she built their sparse coffers back up to a reasonable level and got the castle running smoothly.
•  Lady Annella is the one who stops an all-out war with a friendly neighboring clan because Graeme wouldn’t heed her advice. It’s a great humbling moment for the warrior.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Graeme was not looking forward to meeting Payton’s sweet, kind and delicate sister, especially if she was going to be an emotional mess upon hearing of her husband’s, his brother’s, early demise. But he’s arrested on the spot by the lady he sees shouting back at a belligerent soldier she’s treating. And then when she proceeds to knock out the uncooperative soldier herself with a pot… Well, he’s well and truly smitten.

Lady Annella was not taken with Graeme at first. In fact, she was more irritated with the man than anything else because as clan chieftain he refused to let her leave Gunn castle under the pretext that he wanted her to help him settle in as laird.
She starts to change her mind and soften her heart towards him the night he accompanies her back to the keep after she looked in on their blacksmith. He brought her dinner, and they spent a good amount of time getting to know one other and she appreciated his honesty. That’s the first time she sees him in a different light, not just the brother of her deceased husband but as a man. And their first kiss sealed the deal for her.
 

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

This scene had me laughing uncontrollably… I could practically see the incredulity on Annella’s brother, Payton’s face as he tried to understand how that was even possible. And for her part Annella just stated it in such a matter-of-fact manner. But then when she admits it was an unsuccessful attempt because the couple almost landed on her when they fell out of said tree, that was the icing on the cake.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously when Payton’s expression became pained. “We are leaving today or tomorrow, are we no’?”
Her brother’s response was to clasp her arm firmly and urge her to move more quickly. “We really should wait until we are somewhere more private to speak. Mayhap the gardens.”
Annella immediately dug in her heels and forced them both to a halt. Her expression was accusatory as she turned on him. “The last time you wanted to talk to me in private, it was because you thought ye had bad news to give me.”
Payton’s mouth tightened with irritation. “You were always a stubborn cuss, sister. Why can you no’—just this once—allow me to take ye somewhere private to discuss matters?”
Annella snorted at the suggestion. “There is nowhere private at Gunn.”
“Ye’re wrong.” Payton sounded smug. “Graeme says there’s a flower garden behind the vegetable gardens that would give us privacy.”
Annella gave a derisive laugh at the suggestion, and when he began to urge her along again, said, “Oh aye, if ye do no’ mind the dozen or so couples indulging themselves under the trees, in the tall grasses and hidden in the bushes.” When he glanced at her sharply, she explained, “’Tis a popular spot for young Gunns to get up to houghmagandie.”
This time it was Payton who stopped walking. Spinning on her with amazement, he cried, “Nay!”
“Aye,” Annella assured him. “Although, sometimes they’re actually in the trees rather than under them.”
“In the trees?” Payton echoed with disbelief.
“That’s right.” She turned and started to walk again, forcing him to continue as well. “Although, I only know of one couple who’s done that,” she told him and then pursed her lips and corrected, “At least there’s only one couple I caught at it.” She shrugged. “And since I spotted the young male of the couple in question at practice in the courtyard just now, I suppose we’d be safe from that. Mayhap,” she added with a little uncertainty, and then pointed out, “I mean, just because I only caught one couple at it, that does no’ mean there are not others I have no’ caught.”
“In trees,” Peyton muttered, his expression a cross between amazement and horror. “How the devil did they do it without falling out o’ the tree?”
“They didn’t. Or at least they did no’ the time I caught them. That’s how I caught them. They fell out of the tree, and just missed landing on top o’ me.”
“Good God,” Payton muttered.

Readers should read this book….

The best reason is you’re just going to have fun. There’s a lot of humor in this story, even the fact that my characters met in the strangest of ways, over the death of Lady Annella’s runaway husband, was surprisingly comical.
(I will say that my characters were fully in charge of this story… I just tried to keep up with them and write it down!)

Also, the chemistry between the heroine, Annella MacKay, and Graeme Gunn is palpable even though Annella becomes exceptionally irritated with the man for a good portion of the story. (And with due cause, I might add.)
 

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I’ve just finished the edits on the next book in the Argeneau series tentatively called “One Last Bite”, but that’s not a definite as we’re still throwing names around. This story is about one of Basil’s sons, Crispinus, and newcomer to the Argeneau scene, Abril Newman. This romance is full of mystery, nerve racking moments, and of course humor and is set to come out sometime in early 2025.

And I’m currently in the middle of writing the next Argeneau after that one, which takes place in a retirement community. Alerted to a potential problem due to the skyrocketing death rate, enforcers Nicholas, Donny and our favorite Spanish pirate, Vasco, have been sent to investigate this unusual increase. (And yes, I am having a whole lot of fun with this story!)
 
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Two signed copies of The Highlander’s Return!

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: If your spouse, whom you barely knew assuming yours was an arranged marriage like Annella MacKay’s, up and left you on your wedding night and you hadn’t heard anything from them in over 6 years… Would you be upset or relieved to hear he/she was dead?

 
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Excerpt from The Highlander’s Return:

It was four men she didn’t recognize. All were big and strapping with at least a week’s worth of dust and dirt coating their long hair, clothes, and even their skin.
Guests then, she thought, and only then recalled Lady Gunn saying something about expecting her cousins at some point. Annella couldn’t recall when exactly Lady Gunn had said they would arrive, but had thought she had weeks yet to prepare. It seemed not, however. This must be the cousins, freshly arrived from what she guessed had been a long journey. No doubt weary, hungry and in need of drink, food, a bath and a bed in that order. She approached the table, mentally running through where to house the men even as she offered a welcoming smile.
“Welcome, gentlemen, I’m—”
“Annella,” the nearest of the four men said as they all got to their feet.
“Aye,” she said with surprise, but supposed she shouldn’t be. The cousins would have heard of her marriage to William Gunn six years ago. “And ye’re the cousins Lady Gunn mentioned were coming to—”
“Annella,” the man said again, his tone this time more than a little exasperated. “’Tis I.”
She paused at that, her mouth closing on the words that she hadn’t got to say as she peered at the man. Under closer inspection, he did look familiar around the eyes. But between the dirt and dust coating his skin and the bushy beard and moustache covering the better part of his face, she just couldn’t—
“It looks like yer sister does no’ recognize ye,” one of the other men said with amusement. He was the shortest of the four, but only by an inch or two, and as big as the others when it came to wide shoulders and muscled arms. His hair appeared to be darker than the others’, although honestly, it might have just been dirtier. She couldn’t tell. The only things not dust or dirt covered were his eyes, which were a brown so dark they were almost black.
“And here we’ve heard nought these last six months, but how close ye and yer sisters were while growin’ up, MacKay,” another of the men, added. This one had his long hair pulled back into a ponytail, and his beard braided. She couldn’t tell at all what color his hair was, but his beard appeared to be lighter than the hair on his head and his eyes were blue. That was all Annella noticed before his words made it through her weary mind. MacKay? She looked at the man who had first spoken with fresh eyes.
It had been six years since Annella had seen her brother, Payton. He’d been nineteen then, tall, strong and proud, but he was stronger now, his chest and arms nearly twice the size they used to be. In fact, he was as big as their father now. Good heavens!
“Payton!” she squealed, launching herself at her brother. She heard his muttered curse as he stumbled backward under her impact, but he caught her and managed to stay upright. His arms closed around her briefly, before he just as quickly began to urge her away.
“Nay, Nella, I’m filthy from the journey and will get muck and dust all over ye,” he protested.
Annella gave a snort of laughter at that as he set her away. “Then ’twill go well with the blood and other muck already on me gown.”
Payton wrinkled his nose at her words, his gaze sliding over her gown, which really had very little blood or anything else on it.
“What are ye doing here?” Annella asked finally, pulling his gaze back to her face.
“I—” He paused, frowned and then took her arm and said, “We should go to the gardens and—”
“Nay.” Annella tugged her arm from his grasp when he tried to urge her away from the table. Frowning with concern now, she asked, “What’s happened?”
Payton glanced around with a scowl, and then muttered, “We really should talk in private, Nella. I have grim tidings and—”
Her eyes widened with dismay. “Grim tidings? What kind of—? No one has died, have they?” she interrupted herself to ask with alarm.
The way Payton’s mouth compressed suggested she had guessed right.
“Da?” she asked, her voice weak. Her father was an amazing warrior, strong and skilled, but even the strong and skilled could take an unlucky blow.
“Nay,” Payton said quickly, reaching for her arm again. “Come, we—”
“Ma?” she asked with horror, stepping back from him to avoid his hand.
“Nay, mither is fine,” he assured her soothingly, but that merely increased her horror.
“No’ wee Kenna,” she begged. “She’s so young. No’ e’en wed yet. She—”
“Our sister is fine,” Payton said firmly.
Annella sagged where she stood, relief rolling over her like a warm breeze. Her parents and siblings were the most important people in her life. That they were all alive and well was wondrous. In fact, she couldn’t really think of anyone else who— “Cousin Jo!”
“Nay,” Payton said, beginning to sound impatient. “Annella, I really must insist ye come outside and—”
“Just tell me who the devil died, Payton,” she snapped impatiently. “I’ve been up all night tending to one person or another, am exhausted and cranky, and ye’re just making me—”
“’Tis William,” he shot out, his shoulders straightening and chin lifting as if bracing himself for something.
Annella stared at him blankly. “William who?”
“William Gunn,” Payton said quietly, sympathy filling his face at first. But when she continued to stare at him blankly, some of that sympathy slipped away and he prompted in a soft, grim voice, “Yer husband.”
Annella blinked at those words. Her husband? Her husband, William Gunn, was dead? For a moment, her mind was completely silent, and then a small burble of laughter slipped from her lips and she punched her brother in the arm in the same way she had when they were children. “For heaven’s sake, Payton! You scared me silly with yer nonsense about grim tidings and someone dying. Why, this news is no grim at all. Good Lord.”
Grabbing him by the ears, she pulled his head down until it was even with hers and bussed him on the cheek with a noisy, sloppy kiss. Still holding him by the ears, she then pulled back and said, “That’s because I love and have missed ye.” She gave him another wet one on his other cheek, and then pulled back to add, “And that’s for bringing me such grand good news.”
She added a quick peck to the tip of his nose when she saw the mingled shock and dismay on his face, then released him with a chuckle and said, “Thank ye, brother.”
Payton stared at her briefly, his eyes wide with horror, and then growled, “Annella MacKay Gunn. How could you say such things about your husband? What kind o’ wife thinks her husband’s death is grand good news?”
Annella’s eyes narrowed at the accusation in his tone. Propping her hands on her hips, she growled right back, “What kind of husband marries a lass, dumps her in what is to be their shared chamber, and then flees the keep in the middle o’ the night to go on a ‘pilgrimage’ that lasts six years?”
Payton looked uncomfortable, but muttered, “Lots of men go on pilgrimages to the holy lands.”
“Since my husband took the village light-skirts with him, I somehow doubt there was anything holy about his pilgrimage,” Annella said sarcastically and then glanced over the three men behind—and apparently with—her brother. The shorter one and the one with the ponytail were looking shocked and glancing worriedly from her to the last man, who was staring at her hard. He was the tallest of the four of them, having perhaps an inch on her brother. He also had just a touch more muscle than her brother too. Not much, barely even noticeable really, but she was noticing. She was also noticing that while he was as dusty and dirt covered as the others from travel, it was doing nothing to hide the fact that he was an incredibly handsome man. Who was starting to frown, she saw, and Annella turned back to her brother, one eyebrow cocked in question.
Payton sighed unhappily. “Sister, meet Graeme Gunn, William’s brother.”
Annella’s eyes widened slightly as those words snapped through her. Damn. The second son, born between William and Dauid. The warrior. She felt a brief bite of regret for speaking so plainly about her husband, this man’s brother, but there was really nothing to do about it now. She couldn’t, and even wouldn’t, take back her words. Each one had been true, so she merely gave him a solemn nod, and murmured, “My condolences, m’laird.” She didn’t wait to see his reaction, but simply headed for the stairs, saying, “I’ll go pack.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

A bold warrior who never expected to marry meets his match in a fiery young widow in this latest installment of New York Times bestselling author Lynsay Sands’s Highland Brides series, perfect for fans of Outlander.

Graeme Gunn is a warrior through and through. A second son, he left home years ago to battle his way through Scotland as a mercenary. But with his brother William’s death, Graeme is forced to return to his clan—which now includes William’s grieving widow, Annella Mackay. And Graeme is stunned to find that the beautiful, determined woman at the keep is nothing like the meek lass he remembers from William’s wedding years ago…

Annella Mackay once had hopes for a loving marriage, a dream that shattered when her husband abandoned her. Hiding her pain, she embraced the roles of both laird and lady of the Gunn clan with spirit. But with William’s death, she finally has a chance at a new dream, and she won’t let anything deter her plans. Not even Graeme, no matter how strong her attraction to the strong-willed warrior, or how much she enjoys his kisses…

It’s an explosion of passion and clash of wills from the start, especially when Graeme decides to stay and claim his title. And when the threat of a hidden enemy rears its head, Graeme and Annella realize that in fighting for their home they might also be fighting for their love.
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Meet the Author:

My name is Lynsay Sands and I’m the author of the Argeneau series and many hysterical historicals (as my readers tend to call them). I have written over seventy books and twelve anthologies, which probably tells you I really enjoy writing. I consider myself very lucky to have been able to make a career out of it.
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