Spotlight & Giveaway: You’ve Got Plaid by Eliza Knight

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Eliza Knight to HJ!

Hi Eliza and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, You’ve Got Plaid!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

You’ve Got Plaid is the third book in my Prince Charlie’s Angels series. Each of the books in the series has heroines who are based off of real like female Jacobite rebels. In You’ve Got Plaid you will find Fiona MacBean’s story to have a flavor of the lives of Flora Macdonald, Barbara Strachan, Anne Leith, and the countless unnamed women who risked their lives to deliver messages to their male Jacobite counterparts, mixed in with a generous helping of my imagination.

Our hero, Brogan Grant, is a Jacobite soldier and the illegitimate son of the Grant Chief. Brogan and Fiona have their first encounter on the road, where he thinks she might be a spy for redcoats. Later, after he fights savagely on the battlefield, and barely escapes capture, he comes across what he thinks is another spy—a very bonny lass disguised as a lad, who happens to be the daughter of his clan’s enemy—and the same woman he suspected of being a spy before. He admires her bravery, but he knows what can happen to a woman alone in a war-ravaged land. Despite his hesitations at her trustworthiness, he is determined to get her to safety, even if it might mean his own defeat. Sigh, what a hero!

Fiona however, wants no part of getting to safety. She’s known as the Phantom in the Highlands, a rebel messenger. She is determined to do her part to ensure there is a Scottish king. Disguised as a healer, she delivers coded messages to rebels throughout the Highlands. There’s no way she’s going to let this striking Highlander impeded her mission!

Left with little choice, Brogan agrees to join her mission if she agrees to return home after. Fiona half-heartedly agrees, if only to see if she can convince him to change his mind. They work together and risk everything to save the life of Bonnie Prince Charlie himself—and adopt an adorable dog along the way. These two might just figure out that they need each other, maybe even LOVE each other.
 

Please share your favorite quote from the book

“Sometimes even the strongest of women needs someone to lean on.”

I love this line in the book because I think it speaks to women on so many levels, and not just when it comes to a man—even though Brogan is the one to say it to Fiona. I chose the language here carefully, saying “someone” rather than being specific, because I think it’s a healthy reminder for us all that we don’t HAVE to do everything, be everything. No matter how strong we are, we can ALL lean on someone when we need to. It’s something I struggle with a lot, because I want to do all the things!
 

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• Fiona carries a weapon in her hair, and also in her specialized belt!
• I had a detailed map and travelogue of where the prince landed, the battles he took part in and the ensuing run. It was A LOT and I had to cull most of it down for the sake of the book. But there were several really fun parts I was able to fictionalize for the book—the stay in the cave, and the lantern/boat scene!
• The hound in the book, Milla, is based off of two real dogs—her name and looks are from writer/read Jena Lang’s adorable dog who won a dog naming contest, and her personality is from my own sweet pup Merida.

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

I want my readers to take away an impression of hope and love, and that when you set your mind to something, anything is possible. This series is based during a time fraught with violence, and given the massacre of the Battle of Culloden, and knowing that the rebels did not win, it is hard to put a hopeful spin on the tale. But I think I’ve done that. The heroines of each book are based off of real people who survived. My heroes are fictionalized, though their stories are like so many of the brave men during the time. My characters are an example of survival, of love and friendship. My hope is that readers will follow their romantic journey, their quest for survival, their determination to see their goals met, and be satisfied in the end with the very happily ever after. After all, my favorite thing about a historical romance is the rich history, the drama and adventure, and of course falling in love.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A paperback copy of You’ve Got Plaid by Eliza Knight

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What is something you’ve done lately JUST for you?

 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

Excerpt from You’ve Got Plaid:

Dòchas Keep
Scottish Highlands
April 1746
“Dinna leave the castle,” Ian MacBean, interim chief of the clan, demanded from the bailey, armed to the teeth for battle.

Fiona MacBean stared hard at her brother, taking in the way his lips were pressed so tight they were nearly white. His red hair, the same fiery color as her own, was tucked beneath his feathered cap which was set at a jaunty angle, softening the hard lines of his face and the determined furrow of his brow.

Fiona tossed her hair back with a slight shake of her head. There was no way in hell she was staying in the castle when there was vital information to be gathered and intelligence to be shared. Hell, the reason Ian was even headed off to war was because of her, which made her feel doubly guilty.
Ian’s departure and subsequent insistence she stay home were rooted in a message she’d delivered several months prior to her brother Gus. It’d informed them that their baby sister Leanna’s betrothed had hightailed it to the eastern shores of America with the dowry Gus had so graciously imparted on him early. A hefty amount of coin they couldn’t afford to lose. Bastard.
The news was so mortifying to their clan that they’d kept it mostly secret, telling those who needed to know that Gus had escorted Leanna at the summons of her betrothed so the two of them might settle somewhere in Maryland, rather than that she and Gus were chasing him down. Which meant that Ian was now in charge of everyone in their clan—­including her.

“Fiona, I mean it. Gus entrusted your safety and that of the clan to me while he’s gone.”

Ian didn’t understand. He never had. And he’d spent entirely too much time looking up to Gus for answers rather than forming any of his own. Her work as a spy courier was as integral to their support of Prince Charlie as his work on the battlefield.

A shiver of fear raced down her spine. Her only consolation about Ian going to war was that he’d be with Jenny Mackintosh, Laird of Clan Mackintosh and charmingly named the Colonel by Bonnie Prince Charlie after she’d raised arms and her men succeeded in warding off the redcoats who wanted to take the prince’s head.

It wasn’t that Ian wasn’t skilled at fighting. If anything, he was a damned beast on the field, but Fiona would feel better knowing he was with people she trusted, not some fools that might turn tail and run when the going got tough.

“Fiona?” Ian let go of his horse’s reins and marched toward her. Too late, she realized how much she’d been in her own head rather than paying attention to her brother.

He reached her, pressing his hands to her shoulders, his deep-­green eyes piercing into hers. “Please, for the love of all things holy, bloody well stay here. I canna have ye running about the countryside when I’m preoccupied with war.”

“I’ve already been running about the countryside, and ye know it.”

Fiona knew how to protect herself. Had made it her business to learn to fight against men bigger than her, so she’d not be made a victim. She was well versed in the use of daggers and knew which spots to hit to fell a man. The pins in her hair were also sturdy and sharp enough to inflict damage. More often than not, she could be found with daggers hidden horizontally in the layered leather of her belt, as well as in her boots. One could never be too prepared.

“Aye, but at least then I could come to your aid if ye need me.” He pressed his lips together, and the recollection of how close they’d come to being attacked by dragoons over the years sat heavy between them. “I canna save ye if I’m in a bloody battle.”

She didn’t need saving, but she wasn’t about to make him worry about her while he had dragoon pistols pointed at him. Better to placate her brother now and apologize later.

“Aye, fine, Ian. I’ll stay put. But ye better come back, else I’ll be angrier than a stuck pig that ye made me rot in this keep while ye went away to have all the fun.”

Ian sighed with great relief and rolled his eyes. “I’ll come back, I promise.”

“Good. Because if ye die, I swear I’ll kill ye all over again.”

Ian laughed at the line the four siblings had been repeating to one another since their first encounter with dragoons in the woods so long ago.

“Until we meet again, wee sister.”

“I’m older than ye.” Fiona slugged him in the chest, not hard enough to hurt.

Ian grinned. “But ye’re still smaller.” He danced backward away from her, out of reach of her swinging hands.

“I’ll spare ye the energy now, because we both know the Colonel is going to run ye ragged, but when ye return, Brother, we’re going to spar.”

Ian pointed at her and nodded. “Ye can count on it.”

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Brogan Grant, a Jacobite soldier and bastard son of the Chief, fought savagely on the battlefield and barely escaped capture. On the run for his life, Brogan comes across what he thinks is a spy—a very bonny lass disguised as a lad, who happens to be the daughter of his clan’s enemy. He admires her bravery, but he knows what can happen to a woman alone in a war-ravaged land.

Lady Fiona MacBean is determined to do her part to ensure there is a Scottish king. Disguised as a healer, she delivers coded messages to rebels throughout the Highlands. There’s only one thing impeding her mission—a striking Highlander who’s determined to send her home.

Unfortunately, Fiona will not be deterred, no matter what the sexy Scot says. Left with little choice, Brogan agrees to join her mission if she agrees to return home when it’s over. Now the two must work together and risk everything to save the life of Bonnie Prince Charlie himself. If only their hearts weren’t at risk as well…

Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | BAM |
 
 

Meet the Author:

ELIZA KNIGHT is an award-winning and USA Today bestselling author of over fifty sizzling historical romances. While not reading, writing, or researching for her latest book, she chases after her three children. In her spare time (if there is such a thing…) she likes daydreaming, wine-tasting, traveling, hiking, staring at the stars, watching movies, shopping, and visiting with family and friends.