An Unsuitable Lady for a Lord
Series: Scottish Lords and Ladies Series
Author: Cathleen Ross
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Release date: 13 April 2020
Genre: Regency
Pages: 192 52,000 words
Blurb:
Lord Aaron Lyle has one hell of a choice: a bankrupt dukedom, or marriage to some simpering society miss so his spendthrift father can get his hands on her huge dowry. He won’t do it. He has a reputation to maintain, and besides, he’d rather run naked through the streets of London than marry anyone at all. Surely, there must be a third option.
Then Lady Crystal Wilding walks into his life, a bluestocking, full of subversive thoughts, who hates the notion of marriage even more than he does. He is intrigued…and suddenly he has an idea. He invites the totally unsuitable lady home on the pretext of presenting her as a possible match…but in truth, Aaron has something far more pleasurable in mind. For her part, Lady Crystal has her own reasons for going along with his harebrained scheme.
Imagine their shock when his highly proper family loves her and starts planning the wedding. Good lord. Now what?
Excerpt: (Heat Rating) Medium
Excerpt:
Edinburgh, 1811 Friday evening
When the wild Scottish wind swept Lady Crystal Wilding’s straw bonnet from her head, she didn’t expect it to fly, complete with ostrich feathers, right into the hands of the most compelling gentleman she’d ever seen.
He leaped with masculine grace, snatched the offending black hat from the air, and, on seeing its owner, bowed deeply. His thick, dark hair and perfectly trimmed sideburns had not been mussed by the leap, and the first thing she noticed was the amusement in his midnight blue eyes. He was exquisitely attired in a double-breasted black tailcoat, tan breeches, and black leather shoes. His cream silk cravat was tied superbly in a complicated pattern only a highly paid servant could manage. A hint of his brocade waistcoat showed under his well-tailored tailcoat.
“Lord Lyle at your service, Miss…”
“Lady Crystal Wilding.”
She strode a few feet over to him, bobbed a curtsy, and caught his compelling blue-eyed gaze for a second too long. She usually regarded powerful lords with some contempt… but something about this man grabbed her attention and wouldn’t let go.
She deliberately shook it off. She really needed to refocus and not allow herself to be distracted. “Thank you for saving this miscreant of a hat, my lord. I dinnae ken how it came loose.”
He fluffed the elaborate plumed creation before placing it in her hands and giving her a wicked smile. “Perhaps it was trying to return to its former avian owner.”
A ripple of laughter left her lips, and he joined her, his stern, noble face softening with enjoyment. Up close, he smelled of fine wool and the delicious scent of lime.
Just then, Hilda, Crystal’s maid, approached her. “I’m sorry, my lady. I should have tied the hat better.”
“No matter. You may go, Hilda. Take the hackney cab back to Old Town. I can see Sir Walter Scott is waiting for me at his front door,” she said. She was looking forward to meeting the famous poet and author.
“Aye, my lady.” Hilda curtsied and left her.
“So, you’re attending Sir Walter’s soiree? I heard there is a right harridan of a speaker tonight,” Lord Lyle confided, leaning close to her. “Let me escort you to the door.” He held out his arm for her.
She took it and walked with him down North Castle Street, conscious of how well built he was, with broad shoulders, narrow hips, and long legs.
“A harridan, you say?” she mused, biding her time. “She sounds right frightening. Does she come with horns?” He laughed again, and she noticed how his intense blue eyes warmed to her humor. He had a dimple in one cheek when he smiled, which was rather appealing, despite his cutting words.
“She’s a bluestocking, I’m told. One of those dreadful mannish creatures, no doubt with a mustache, who’ll probably bore us. Certainly, she’ll not be a bonny lass like you.”
He found her beautiful? Well, her heart certainly beat faster when he was close, but it irritated her that he thought a woman should be comely if he was expected to listen to her. She turned to him, raised her eyebrows, and looked him up and down as they approached Sir Walter’s gate. “Why are you attending the salon if you’re not interested in this boring, frightening orator?”
“The whisky is excellent, and Sir Walter is a dear friend,” he said with a wink.
Sir Walter Scott held on to the rail and limped down his front stairs to greet them. “Lord Lyle, I see you’ve already met our charming presenter, Lady Crystal Wilding.”
Lord Lyle blanched, his handsome face becoming all angles and planes, making his blade of a nose appear sharper under his high cheekbones. “Our speaker, you say?”
Crystal calmly rubbed above her upper lip, where her mustache would be if she were the harridan he had expected. “Aye, the lord has made my acquaintance and entertained me with his views. I look forward to sharing some of mine, for I’m sure he’ll eat up my words.”
Or learn to eat his own.
Meet Cathleen Ross:
NA: How did you come up with the idea for your book?
CR: I said to my editor that I was going on a trip to Scotland and she asked would I like to write a Regency with a Blue Stocking heroine.
For my research, I read the Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft because I wanted to understand how women thought and felt at that time. I also read The Last Highlander by Sarah Frazer so I could understand the history behind the rebellion. It gave me a feel for the mentality of the Highland people in 1745. The kicker was that when I was doing my research, I realized I was related to some of the main players – The Frazer lord and the Ross lord.
I’m descended from a Scottish Frazer Lady , the sister of the lord who married a Ross—that side fought for the Rebellion—and another Ross Lord, which I’m directly descended from, fought for the English. So, I’m writing about my ancestors.
A lot of little things I put in are about Ross lords. They were a wild lot. One of them cut off the king’s enemies’ heads and presented the heads to the king. That’s how he became an earl. Nice lot I come from.
I used my research to fashion my heroine. My heroine is very strong minded and refuses to accept her place in society. She also has a strong social conscience. From the reviews of Goodreads I can see my readers have enjoyed the humor and the heroine’s strength and ideas.
NA: What was your job before you started writing full time?
CR: I used to be an Assistant Principal of an Adult English College and later a writing teacher for another college but I always wanted to write romance.
NA: What do your family and friends think about your writing?
CR: My friends and family are used to me being a writer as I’ve been published for many years. The first book I sold was an erotic best seller and I sold it to Random House. No one in the family talked about it and some friends were shocked. I was happily married and my husband used to tell everyone I wrote all about him, which made everyone laugh.
NA: What has surprised you about being an author?
CR: One of my big surprises was for winning an award for my first and only science fiction romance about an apocalypse. Although my editor asked me for another, I didn’t want to go back into that world. It was too stressful and now we’re all living it anyway.
NA: Do you outline books ahead of time or are you more of a by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer?|
CR: I have to outline for my Entangled editor. She then sends the story idea up the chain for approval. I sign a contract and then start work on the book. For my other books, which I self-publish, when I’m not contracted, I write into the mist.
NA: What has been one of your most rewarding experiences as an author?
CR: Being able to earn money from a passion, having good reviews and emails from readers.
NA: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
CR: I like walking because I have to sit so much for my job.
NA: What are you working on now?
CR: I always have a few projects going. I’m writing a Scottish Highlander book set just after the Battle of Culloden. The hero, although he is Scottish, fights for the English side because he wants to get his confiscated Scottish estate back from a treacherous old lord. He refuses to marry the heroine even though she begs him, so she is then forced to marry the old lord. Her husband, the treacherous old lord, is killed at Culloden, so technically she owns the hero’s estate and she can’t forgive him for rejecting her and leaving her to make his fortune, or for his fighting for the English.
I’ve just finished a book set in 1920s about the Theosophists. They are far more fascinating than the name suggests. That’s with my agent at the moment.
Hello, Cathleen…
Cathleen Ross is a quirky writer who lives on Sydney Harbor with her husband, daughter and very loved dog, Denzel. As an English teacher and editor, she has always surrounded herself with books. When she’s not giving psychic predictions for her family and friends, she’s writing romances where her heroines always get their man. She’s a multi-award-winning author who regularly hits the Amazon best-seller lists.
You can find Cathleen here on https://www.facebook.com/cathleen.ross.3