Mia Marlowe Guest Post & Giveaway

I would like to welcome Mia Marlowe to Royal Reviews!

First of all, hello to everyone at The Royal Reviews! It’s lovely to be visiting you. My co-author New York Times Bestseller Connie Mason and I are very excited to share the cast of characters from our newest release, Sins of the Highlander. First up, every story needs a drool-worthy hero.

Meet “Mad Rob” MacLaren. If you’ve ever read any of Connie’s books, you know she specializes in alpha heroes. Rob is no exception. He’s bold, strong and just a wee bit bull-headed. He’s also wounded. Two years before the story starts, he lost his wife. His heart hasn’t been the same since. Neither has his head. When he hatches the half-brained plot to abduct his enemy’s bride literally from the altar, he fully deserves his nickname. His friends and his enemies all believe him mad.

But one of the appealing things about Rob is that he already knows how to love deeply. He gave Fiona his whole heart. Now that she’s gone, he’s like an amputee who still feels phantom pain from the missing limb. No one is more surprised than he when Elspeth Stewart awakens that part of him he thought buried with his wife.

When I read a romance, I want a heroine whose life I’d like to try on for a bit. Elspeth Stewart’s shoes are a good fit. She’s one Queen Mary’s Ladies-in-Waiting and a dutiful daughter who’s prepared to wed the laird her father chose for her. Elspeth is blessed with the gift of Sight, but her visions of the future are often so cryptic, she can’t decipher them. She certainly never saw Rob coming. When she woke on the morn of her wedding, she only though to lose her maidenhead that day. She never expected a woad-painted warrior to come galloping into the kirk and carry her off, upending her entire life. But she doesn’t weep and moan. She’s resourceful, courageous and a good match for a mad Highlander, whether he knows it or not.

Lachlan Drummond is Elspeth’s intended and the man Rob holds responsible for his wife’s death. Laird of his clan, Lachlan is fierce, proud and canny. He’s not to be trifled with and, like Rob, will stop at nothing to achieve his ends. It’s said that every villain is the hero of his own story. What Lachlan wants is to unite several clans under his banner and joining his lands through marriage to the Stewart clan, with its connection to the queen, is a good step in that direction.

Sins of the Highlander is peopled with interesting characters who help or hinder Rob and Elspeth on their way. One of my favorites is Angus Fletcher. He’s a mountain of a man whose bushy red beard might easily hide a bird’s nest or two. His wattle-and-daub house is crammed full of oddments he can’t bring himself to throw away, but he keeps his beloved boat clean enough to eat off the hull. I’m also partial to Fingal, his mangy wolfhound, who becomes very attached to Elspeth and would protect her from anything—even Rob!

Thanks again for having me here today, Angela! I’d love to answer questions from your readers or respond to comments. To get the conversation rolling let me start by asking a question:
What draws you into a story more—a loveable hero or a spunky heroine?

SINS OF THE HIGHLANDER BY CONNIE MASON & MIA MARLOWE – IN STORES JANUARY 2012

Abduction
Never had Elspeth Stewart imagined her wedding would be interrupted by a dark-haired stranger charging in on a black stallion, scooping her into his arms, and carrying her off across the wild Scottish highlands. Pressed against his hard chest and nestled between his trong thighs, she ought to have feared for her life. But her captor silenced all protests with a soul-searing kiss, giving Elspeth a glimpse of the pain behind his passion—a pain only she could ease.

Obsession
“Mad Rob” MacLaren thought stealing his rival’s bride-to-be was the prefect revenge. But Rob never reckoned that this beautiful, innocent lass would awaken the part of him he thought dead and buried with his wife. Against all reason, he longed to introduce the luscious Elspeth to the pleasures of the flesh, to make her his, and only his, forever.

With two clans against them burning for battle, they must find a way to join together—body, breath and soul. Or both will be made to pay for the Sins of the Highlander.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Connie Mason is a New York Times bestselling author of more than 50 novels. She was named Storyteller of the Year in 1990 and received a Career Achievement Award from RT Book Reviews in 1994. She currently lives in Florida. Mia Marlowe is a highly acclaimed new voice in romance whose debut novel released in Spring 2011 from Kensington. She lives in Boston, MA. Together, they are working on a new Regency romance series for Sourcebooks Casablanca, the first of which will be in stores in early 2013. For more information, please visit http://www.conniemason.com/, http://miamarlowe.com/ and follow Mia on Twitter @Mia_Marlowe.

Mia Marlowe loves to connect with readers. She invites you to enter her website contest at http://miamarlowe.com/contest.php. The Grand Prize there is a new KINDLE! You can also find her on Twitter http://twitter.com/Mia_Marlowe and Facebook http://facebook.com/MiaMarloweFanPage.

I would like to thank Mia for stopping by and introducing us to her characters and chatting with our readers.

Mia asked the question; what draws you into a story more—a loveable hero or a spunky heroine?
For me, I love a loveable hero that has a bit of a gruff side. What turns me off of a novel is a heroine that is a milquetoast; I simply cannot stand that type of heroine.

I have 2 copies of Sins of the Highlander.
US and Canada only.
To enter please answer Mia’s question:
What draws you into a story more—a loveable hero or a spunky heroine?
Winners will be selected on February 9

Please feel free to ask Mia your questions.

Best Wishes,
Angela