Highland Warrior by Monica McCarty

Hi everyone! I’m thrilled to be blogging with you all at Yankee Romance today. I want to say a special thank you to Terra for inviting me here to share a little about my latest release, HIGHLAND WARRIOR, which hit shelves last Tuesday.

First off Terra asked me to tell you a little bit about myself. I live in the San Francisco bay area with my husband and two children about five blocks from where I grew up. Although I’m a life long Californian, thanks to my husband’s former baseball career, I’ve had the opportunity to live in a number of cities around the country (two of my favorites: Boston and Minneapolis). I’m a relatively new author; my first books came out in the summer of 2007. I first fell in love with Scotland while at Stanford Law School while doing a paper on feudalism and the clan system (it probably didn’t hurt that this was also about the time Outlander came out). After a couple of years practicing law (litigation) and a couple of kids, I decided to sit down and finally do what I’d always dreamed of someday doing: write a novel. Four years later I sold that first book (by then I’d written three more books) and it was eventually published as HIGHLANDER UNTAMED.

But back to the current book…HIGHLAND WARRIOR is the first book in my new Campbell trilogy. Like my first trilogy (featuring clan MacLeod), it will be released in back-to back months. The second book, HIGHLAND OUTLAW, comes out at the end of this month and HIGHLAND SCOUNDREL follows at the end of March. So if you like strapping lads in plaid you won’t have long to wait to find out “what’s next?”

Also like my first trilogy, you’ll find plenty of “ripped from the headlines” history, bringing to life actual people and events with a sensual fictional twist. But don’t worry if you haven’t read the first series, each book stands on their own.

HIGHLAND WARRIOR is the story of Jamie Campbell the ruthless enforcer of Scotland’s most powerful clan who vows to use any means necessary to vanquish lawlessness and unrest amongst the Highland clans. Driven by a fierce sense of law and order, Jamie never questions the righteousness of his cause, until he meets Caitrina Lamont, the doted upon daughter of a rival chief who challenges him—and arouses him—like no other woman.

Readers of my first trilogy might remember Jamie from HIGHLANDER UNMASKED (book #2 of the MacLeods). His sister Elizabeth, also introduced in UNMASKED, gets her story in HIGHLAND OUTLAW. Their brother Duncan, who was born on the “wrong side of the sheets” as they say, rounds out the trilogy in HIGHLAND SCOUNDREL.

Although the Campbells usually take on the role of the bad guys in romance (and in history), I thought it would be fun to let these “bad boys” take on the role of hero and see where the adventure led. If you like sexy, Alpha heroes, I’m think you’ll be happy with the results—these guys definitely have an edge.

Taming the “bad boy” is on of the most popular (and enduring) themes in romance—whether Scottish warrior, Regency rake, Paranormal vampire or the Contemporary black sheep.

Do you have a favorite “bad boy” hero? I’ve got tons, but my all time favorite “dark’ bad boy is John Medina in ALL THE QUEEN’S MEN by Linda Howard. At the opposite spectrum, I love Kenny from LADY BE GOOD, by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Why do you think women love the bad boy (at least in their fiction, LOL)? For me, I think it’s the challenge: The idea that no matter how “bad,” with the right woman, any man can be transformed by love.

One commenter on today’s blog will receive a signed copy of my latest release, HIGHLAND WARRIOR.