Highlighting Historical Romance with Cathleen Ross who mixes psychic elements in Scottish historical fiction.
When I was doing my research for Highlander Romances, I came across a fascinating blog post about The Brahan Seer, or Coinneach Odhar who is famous in Scotland for predicting the future. Apparently, the Scottish had a different view about seers from the English who considered them to be witches and burned them. The Scottish recognized it as a gift but not necessarily a good gift.
Numerous members of my family and forebears are psychic. The gift manifests itself in visions surrounded by sparkling white light. I can touch someone and feel their energy run up my arm and then I knew things about them. I have to be careful when I drink that I don’t subject the poor person sitting next to me to psychic insights. It has taken me many years of study with a medium to learn how to tamper down and control this unfortunate gift. Imagine sitting at a table of strangers and knowing who has murdered someone because they have the souls attached to them, or knowing who has had affairs, or who has money issues.
I once had dinner with a psychiatrist and I wanted to get his professional take on seers and psychic ability. Part of me was expecting him to ask me what medication I was on when I admitted to psychic abilities, instead he asked me are you descended from the Celts.
In my boxed set, I wanted to combine the Scottish ferocity, their determination to keep the English out of their country, their famous king Robert the Bruce and weave through the unusual psychic characters who inhabited Scotland.
About the Book
The Highlander Romances is a boxed set of four Forbidden Fantasy stories: Highlander (short story), Highlander in Her Bed (novella) and two novels, In Her Wild Highlander’s Bed and My Highland Lover.
Enjoy the tales of four strong highland brothers.
Highlander is a short erotic romance set in Scotland, 1308. When Sir James Bruce conquers enemy territory, his reward is the hand of beautiful virgin, Lady Isobel McLaird. Although Isobel has no intention of marrying Sir James, he intends to tame her to his touch.
Scotland 1308 Sir David McLaird is a prisoner of Sir James Bruce. When healer, Lady Arabel Bruce tends to his wounds he doesn’t expect to fall in love. The trouble is Arabel is from the enemy clan.
Lady Arabel loves the wild highlander but won’t betray her clan and marry him, until Sir David abducts and makes her his.
When Sir Jasper Bruce discovers a lady hiding under his bed in the castle he has just conquered, he doesn’t expect to fall in love.
Lady Rosamund Percy can think of nothing else except escaping to England when her Scottish betrothed leaves her stranded. The trouble is Sir Jasper considers her a delicious prize of war. How can she convince him to let her go when he wants her in his bed?
1314 Highlands Grieving widower, Sir Eoin Bruce is forced to marry wealthy Lady Jehanne de la Croix in order to keep her dowry in Bruce hands. Eoin hates enchantment of any kind and he soon discovers Jehanne is the witch who haunted his dreams. She brings him more titles and wealth than he ever thought possible as a second son of a laird. Can he overcome his grief and go against everything he believes in to love her?
Jehanne de la Croix wants nothing more than to be safe and loved by her husband, Sir Eoin Bruce but she was born from a line of great seers. If she can’t get Eoin to accept her prophesies, she will burn at the stake and he will meet a violent end. Everything rests on Eoin and his willingness to love a witch.
Excerpt from My Highland Lover
Eoin’s eyes flickered open and he pushed himself to a sitting position. No light entered the slit windows of his chamber, telling him that morn was yet to come. No ember burned in his grate. It was always in the pitch of night she came and he could see her silhouette in all her dark glory across the room. She floated closer, her feet skimming the floor until she stopped at his side so close that he could make out her features. Her face was pleasing, her dark hair loose and wild with long curls floating around her. She appeared comely, her breasts large and rounded though it was difficult to make out more as she was garbed in a loose-fitting shift. Already his body warmed and his cock swelled responding to her power of enticement, yet fear crawled up his spine, a coarse reminder of his plight.
Wraith. Demon. Hellion. “Get back.” He was not fooled by her guise of a fair maiden. He knew this devil used tricks to beguile his mind and make him a supplicant.
“Eoin.”
Her voice seemed little more than a whisper in his head. Instinctively he began to pray as he had been taught to do though his words were no more than an undertone. “Lord have mercy upon my soul. Forgive me for my sins.” Yet even entreaties to the Lord were not enough to save him. His whole body froze, his arms and legs stilled as she hovered within reaching distance. He fought to move, but to no avail.
She’d never come so close before. Had she come to suck his soul from his body and pull him down to hell?
One of her ghostly hands reached out for him, the fingers so close, so real he could see the dragon seal on the ring she wore. When she touched his cheek, his skin prickled as if caressed by the cold. Yet her touch was gentle, more a breeze than a blight and an odd sense of calm stole over him.
“Who are you?”
“Your lady, Jehanne.”
“No. No. I have no lady. “
“I will bring you great happiness, sweet Eoin. We are to be wed. “
“Devilish spirit, I know what you are about. You’ll not seduce me and steal my soul.” Yet his eyes shuttered as the sorceress stroked his face, her touch now as soft as a real woman’s.
She bent over him. “You will get from me many children. Great warriors.” Her long hair moved around her face as if kissed by a breeze, some falling down touching his skin as she moved beside him.
He wanted to squeeze his eyes shut but her dark gaze compelling him to look at her. She had an alluring, sensual face, her nose petite under wide eyes and a full, lush mouth. Her hand moved lower down his chest and over his stomach resting lightly on his groin.
Despite his pounding heart, a rush of heat hit him against his will. Oh dear God he was beguiled by her magic. He could make out the plump curves of her breasts where her shift opened. Up close, she was more a tempting vixen than a wraith. Sweat dribbled down his brow as he fought to free his mind and body from the scourge. An enchanted fool was a dead fool. “My wife lies fresh buried. Leave me be.” His words rushed out in a twist of anguish, yet the woman’s touch was so pleasurous, it made him hard. Shame bit at him. He didn’t expect God to forgive him, not after the offense he’d committed, but that didn’t mean he’d allow himself to sink into depravity by consorting with a servant of the devil.
“You must find me.”
“Nay.” Eoin shuddered at the thought. “My wife and girls paid for my sin. Do you not ken how guilty I am? God has punished me enough. Get from me, demon.”
His chamber door opened and the lady vanished. Light from a flaming torch revealed the shape of James Douglas, a close friend of the king and the knight who would be leading the battle on the morn. The Black Douglas entered the room lifting his torch as if searching for enemies. “Eoin. What is it, man?”
About the Author
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