Guest Author Interview: Margaret Mallory

Alexis: Happy Mother’s Day everyone! What a great day to have Margaret Mallory visiting Happily Ever After Thoughts. After all, what’s a better gift to those of us who are moms than a wonderful romance novel? What is truly great about Margaret’s most recent release is that it is just the beginning of a series, so THE GUARDIAN is the type of gift that will keep giving ;-)

Welcome to Happily Ever After Thoughts, Margaret. We are so pleased to have you and I, for one, love a great series. Where did you get the idea for the Return of the Highlanders Series?

Margaret: For a historical backdrop, I look for a time of conflict and great change. I decided to set my series in the wake of the Scots devastating defeat to Henry VIII’s forces in 1513 at the Battle of Flodden. Thousands of Scots were killed, including the Scottish king and many nobles and chieftains. I have my four heroes fighting in France at the time, and they return to find their clan in peril, their king and chieftain dead, and everything changed.

Alexis: What a great backdrop for a romance, built-in tension for both setting and characters. What are your favorite character traits of Sileas and Ian?

Margaret: I like Sileas inner strength, resilience, and loyalty. When things get bad, she really shines. 

 I admire Ian’s driving need to save his clan, right the wrongs of his past, and redeem himself.

Alexis: This story is obviously based in the thick of a long-standing historical conflict. What kind of research did you have to do for this novel?

Margaret: I was lucky to be able to visit Scotland last summer. It made a big difference to see the castles and countryside I was writing about in this series. I also found places that I hadn’t planned to include in my books but decided I had to work in. ;)

I spent quite a bit of time researching clan histories. When I found that the first chieftain of the MacDonalds of Sleat had six sons by six different women and that the animosity between these six half-brothers led to two generations of violence and murder, I knew I’d found the clan for my heroes.

My characters would be speaking Gaelic, so I listened to Gaelic for the cadence of the speech. I also looked for Gaelic expressions and had fun including some of them in THE GUARDIAN.

Alexis: Since I consider Scotland my home away from home, I can completely understand your need to add a few more locations after visiting. It is truly the perfect country for romance, heroic action, and historical upheaval. And I have to say that historical romances have always held a special place in my heart.  What was the first historical romance you ever read? First Scottish historical?

Margaret: It’s hard to remember the first historical, but it might have been a Judith McNaught or Georgette Heyer. My first and favorite Scottish historical is Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.

Alexis: Ah, yes. Diana’s is truly a classic. You said you’d visited Scotland. Which is your favorite Scottish Castle and why?

Margaret: I can’t choose! Edinburgh Castle is majestic and huge, sitting up on a volcanic rock. Stirling Castle is stunning. Urquhart is in ruins and is in a gorgeous setting on Loch Ness. I could go on… 

Alexis: I do know how hard it is to decide on just one.  I can’t decide either though Doune, Dunnottar, and Kilchurn are definitely at the top J

Margaret, thank you so much for stopping by. Here at Happily Ever After Thoughts, we love romances and enjoy meeting the lovely people who create them for us.

Blog readers!  If you want a chance to win Margaret’s book, THE GUARDIAN, be sure to leave her a comment and we will pull a winner Wednesday morning. If you want to learn more about Margaret and her new series go to www.MargaretMallory.com

Check out this excerpt from THE GUARDIAN:

The room fell away as Ian stared at the young woman who stood in the glow of the firelight. Her hair was the most beautiful shade of red he had ever seen. It fell in gleaming waves and framed a face so lovely it squeezed his heart to look at her.

When she lifted her gaze and met his, the air went out of him. There was something very familiar about this lovely, green-eyed lass, but Ian could not place her.

"Ian." Alex jabbed him in the ribs.

Ian knew he should stop staring at her, but he couldn't help himself.

"Hmmph," Alex grunted as he pushed past Ian. He strode across the room and greeted the young woman with a kiss on her cheek, as if he knew her well. "Ach, you are a sight to behold," Alex said. "If I were your husband, Sìleas, ye can be sure I wouldn't have kept ye waiting a single day."

Sìleas? Ian shook his head. Nay, this could not be...

The young woman was nothing like the scrawny thirteen-year-old he remembered. Instead of gawky limbs and pointed elbows, she had graceful lines and rounded curves that made his throat go dry.

"Welcome home," the young woman said to Alex in the kind of throaty voice a man wanted to hear in the dark.

"Ye two must be hungry after your travels. Come, Sìleas, let us get these men fed," his mother said, taking the lass by the arm. His mother gave him a wide-eyed look over her shoulder, the kind she used to give him when he was a lad and had committed some grievous error in front of company.

When Ian started to follow the two women to the table, Alex hauled him back. "Are ye an idiot?" Alex hissed in his face. "Ye didn't even greet Sìleas. What's the matter with ye?"

"Are ye sure that's Sìleas?" Ian said, leaning to the side so he could see past Alex to the red-haired lass.

"Of course it is, ye fool," Alex said. "Did ye no hear your mam just say her name?"

From the corner of his eye, Ian saw the back of Sìleas's skirt disappearing up the stairs. It occurred to him he had the right to follow her up and take her to bed. Tonight. Right now. Before supper, if he wanted. And again, after. The part of him between his legs was giving him an emphatic "Aye!"

His reaction startled him. For five long years, he had planned to end the marriage as soon as he returned. He'd harbored not a single doubt.

But he made that plan before she turned into this enchanting lass with curves that would have him dreaming of her naked as soon as he closed his eyes.

Aye, he most definitely wanted to take Sìleas to bed. Any man would. The question, however, was whether he wanted her to be the last woman he ever took to his bed.

Alexis:  Remember to post a comment for a chance to win this awesome book J