Cover Reveal & Giveaway: Highlander Avenged by Laurin Wittig

Highlander Avenged 

(Guardians of the Targe Series, bk #2)

by Laurin Wittig

Blurb:

Although the English king tried to wrest it away, the Highland Targe—ancient relic and protector of Scottish lands—still lies safely in the hands of clan MacAlpin. But for how long?

Jeanette MacAlpin trained her entire life to become the next Guardian of the Targe, but that duty has now fallen to her cousin Rowan—a duty Rowan can’t seem to master. Fearful for her clan’s future, Jeanette seeks the solace of a sacred wellspring, and there encounters tawny-skinned Highland warrior Malcolm MacKenzie.

Wounded in battle, Malcolm is desperate to regain the use of his sword arm and strikes a deal with Jeanette. In return for her skills as a healer, Malcolm will advise the MacAlpins in their resistance against the English. And when he can once again swing a blade, he’ll return to the ranks of the Scottish army to fulfill his duty as a soldier.

But as passion grows between the golden warrior and the fair-haired healer, duty collides with love. Will they follow their hearts, or will clan loyalties keep them forever apart?

Release Date: 

June 24, 2014

Pre-order At 

   

Excerpt

Jeanette looked about her to get her bearings and realized that she was very near the one place that had always been peaceful, had always reinforced her sense of calm—the sacred wellspring where she used to watch her mother make offerings and prayers to the power of the Targe.

She quickened her pace up the rocky trail and soon made it to the top of the path, where it turned left around the shoulder of the ben. She stepped onto an almost imperceptible track to the right that she knew wrapped around a large moss-covered stone outcropping. Anticipation had her rushing down the track. She came round the last curve, hopped over the water that escaped down the ben, and skidded to a stop in the small cleared area just outside the cave.

It took a moment for her to understand what she saw there.

A man knelt in profile next to the pool of water. A shaft of sunshine cut through the shadows, turning his bare torso golden, and picking out strands of almost-white-blond hair on his head. He stopped, just as he was about to pour water over his right arm, and looked over his shoulder at her. He smiled and it was dazzling.

Jeanette blinked, and blinked again, as she started considering what she should do. Here was a stranger. Should she run or stand her ground? She slowly let her hand settle over her sgian dhu, her small knife.

“Are you mute, then, lass?”

His voice, deep and laced with humor, shocked her out of her thoughts. She couldn’t help but watch as he reached for the tunic lying by his feet, and pulled it over his sun-kissed skin before rising and facing her, grinning at her now. His shirt stuck to his wet skin, drawing her attention to his chest and rippled stomach, drawing her eye—

She gasped and snapped her gaze back up to meet his. He didn’t look English, with his shoulder-length dark blond hair, braided at the temples, and his well-faded plaid that he wore with ease. But neither had Nicholas, their new chief, looked English when first he came among them. Yet, somehow, Jeanette had always known Nicholas was an honorable man and that had proved true. She couldn’t say exactly why, but she had the same sense about this man.

And then she remembered what her mum had always told her: “You are a fine judge of character, my sweet Jeanette. I do not understand how, but you always seem to ken the truth of someone when first you meet.” The memory was both sweet and melancholy.

“Lass?” he asked, his grin even wider now, lending a twinkle to his green-and-brown hazel eyes.

Instinct warred with recent experience and instinct won out. He might be an honorable man, but that did not mean she trusted him. Not yet.

“What are you doing here?” she finally snapped, setting her fists on her hips. She would find no comfort here in the company of a stranger and she wanted him gone. 

“Who are you?”

“I could ask the same of you,” he said.

“Nay, you could not. This is my family’s land and you do not belong here. I ask again, Who are you?”

The man folded his arms across his chest and cocked his head at her, his grin firmly in place as if he thought it disarming. Which it was.

Jeanette notched her chin up and waited for him to answer her questions. He was the interloper here. He was the one shattering the serenity of the place with his skin and his smile and his eyes.

“I am Malcolm MacKenzie.”

About the Author

Laurin Wittig comes from a long line of natural story tellers so it only made sense that she was a voracious reader, and eventually became a story teller, too. She was indoctrinated into her Scottish heritage at birth when her parents chose her oddly spelled name from a plethora of Scottish family names. At ten, Laurin attended her first MacGregor clan gathering with her grandparents, and her first ceilidh (kay-lee), a Scottish party, where she danced to the bagpipes with the hereditary chieftain of the clan. At eleven, she visited Scotland for the first time and it has inhabited her imagination ever since.

Early exposure to many cultures led Laurin to study anthropology at Brown University. Her curiosity led her to a long career in the computer industry, first as a trainer, then as a consultant, and finally as a technical writer. When she dropped out of the paid workforce to stay home with her two children, she used those precious napping hours to write her first book which went on to become a two time finalist in the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart contest.
Laurin's first published book, The Devil of Kilmartin, won the National Readers' Choice Award for short historical romance, and was a finalist for best first book in that contest and in the Holt Medallion. All of her books have appeared on the Amazon Top 100 Historical Romance, and Top 100 Historical Fiction lists, rising as high as #5.

On February 14th, 2012, two of her books, Charming the Shrew & Daring the Highlander (The Legacy of MacLeod series) will be relaunched by Amazon's Montlake Romance.

Today, Laurin lives in southeastern Virginia with her two nearly grown children, her husband (who refuses, under any circumstances, to ever wear a kilt), and their rescue Eskie.

You can find Laurin at 

         

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