#Giveaway — The Laird’s Christmas Kiss by Anna Campbell #historicalromance #Regency #mustread @AnnaCampbelloz

Inspiration Behind The Laird’s Christmas Kiss

 By Anna Campbell

It’s so great to be back on Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots today. Thanks to Mary Anne for inviting me here to talk about some of the inspiration behind my Christmas novella, The Laird’s Christmas Kiss, book 2 of my Lairds Most Likely series, which launched last July with The Laird’s Willful Lass.

The setting for this new story is once again Achnasheen Castle on the west coast of Scotland, with its spectacular views across to the Isle of Skye. Fergus and Marina, the hero and heroine of The Laird’s Willful Lass, are hosting their first Christmas house party for friends and family. The guests include Fergus’s roguish cousin, Brody Girvan, Laird of Invermackie, and Hamish’s bluestocking sister, Elspeth Douglas, who has been madly in love with Brody since she was fifteen, although she’s well aware that he doesn’t know she’s alive.

This romantic story incorporates fairytale elements from Cinderella and the Ugly Duckling. The first book in the series bristled with sexual tension and the push and pull between the lead characters. The next full-length story, The Laird’s Lost Lady, out early in 2019, is a dark and dramatic tale about a runaway bride.

So I wanted this Christmas novella to act like a sorbet between two substantial courses, something light and sweet to suit the season of goodwill and add a touch of comedy to proceedings. Readers can revisit characters who appeared in the first book. It’s a chance to check in with Fergus and his artist bride, and also find out a bit more about Diarmid Mactavish and Hamish Douglas, the heroes of future entries in the series.

While this is the eighth Christmas story I’ve written (clearly I enjoy doing them!), I’ve never before set a seasonal novella in Scotland. This is a little strange, as Scottish heroes feature in The Winter Wife, His Christmas Cinderella, Her Christmas Earl, and A Pirate for Christmas.

One of the problems I ran into with this current story is that mistletoe is rare north of the border. As you can imagine, kissing under the mistletoe makes for a lot of fun in a Yuletide historical romance, and it’s something readers look forward to finding when they pick up a seasonal love story. And while mistletoe features in Norse mythology, and the west coast of Scotland has a long Viking history, most of the references I found said that the modern folklore about mistletoe originates from the other side of the border. Which makes sense, given mistletoe is a parasitic plant common in the Midlands and further south.

What was a resourceful historical romance writer to do? Manage without her mistletoe? Never!

Luckily, in Marina Mackinnon née Lucchetti, I had a half-English hostess for the high jinks at Achnasheen. While she was brought up in Florence, her late mother was English, so I thought it highly likely that mistletoe featured in family Christmas celebrations in Italy. (It’s suddenly occurred to me that this series, while set in Scotland, is actually quite international!) Cue Marina’s father arriving with his new bride Julia and bringing as his gift a crate full of mistletoe imported from the land of the Sassenachs.

Bravo! My Christmas novella was saved! So if you enjoy a serving of mistletoe kisses with your Christmas cheer, I hope you’ll pick up The Laird’s Christmas Kiss either as a pre-order now, or after it’s released on 27^th October! It’s only 99p/99 cents on Kindle!

Amazon UK • Amazon US •

Amazon AU • Kobo • iTunes

Christmas in Australia coincides with our summer holidays – although that doesn’t stop most of us from doing the whole European massive roast dinner thing with plum pudding to follow, or from sending out Christmas cards festooned in snow and holly and robins. Seems odd, I know! But it’s also a great time of year to settle down and watch Christmas movies (usually from the other side of the world and usually featuring snow!).

Do you have a favourite Christmas film? I’ve got quite a few, mostly old-school (I love classic cinema). They include Christmas in Connecticut, An Affair to Remember, and The Shop Around the Corner. Not a Scots hero in any of them!

There’s a Kindle download of my new novella, The Laird’s Christmas Kiss, up for grabs today to someone who comments. No geographical restrictions. Good luck!

Giveaway

*Giveaway is now closed.

Do you have a favourite Christmas film? I’ve got quite a few, mostly old-school (I love classic cinema). They include Christmas in Connecticut, An Affair to Remember, and The Shop Around the Corner. Not a Scots hero in any of them!

There’s a Kindle download of my new novella, The Laird’s Christmas Kiss, up for grabs today to someone who comments. No geographical restrictions. Good luck!

Giveaway Rules

• Leave your answer in the comments at the bottom of this post.

• Giveaway ends at 11:59pm BST on October 31st.

You must be 18 or older to enter.


• Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY.


•Only one entry per household.


• All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.

•Winners will be announced in the comments.

• Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

The Laird’s Christmas Kiss:

A Lairds Most Likely Christmas Novella

Down with love!

Ever since she was fifteen, shy wallflower Elspeth Douglas has pined in vain for the attentions of dashing Brody Girvan, Laird of Invermackie. But the rakish Highlander doesn’t even know she’s alive. Now she’s twenty, she realizes that she’ll never be happy until she stops loving her brother’s handsome friend. When family and friends gather at Achnasheen Castle for Christmas, she intends to show the world that’s she’s all grown up, and grown out of silly crushes on gorgeous Scotsmen. So take that, my gallant laddie!

Girls just want to have fun…

Except it turns out that Brody isn’t singing from the same Christmas carol sheet. Elspeth decides she’s not interested in him anymore, just as he decides he’s very interested indeed. In fact, now he looks more closely, his friend Hamish’s sister is pretty and funny and forthright – and just the lassie to share his Highland estate. Convincing his little wren of his romantic intentions is difficult enough, even before she undergoes a makeover and becomes the belle of Achnasheen. For once in his life, dissolute Brody is burdened with honorable intentions, while the lady he pursues is set on flirtation with no strings attached.

Deck the halls with mistletoe!
With interfering friends and a crate of imported mistletoe thrown into the mix, the stage is set for a house party rife with secrets, clandestine kisses, misunderstandings, heartache, scandal, and love triumphant.

Amazon UK • Amazon US •

Amazon AU • Kobo • iTunes

Anna Campbell

Australian Anna Campbell has written 10 multi award-winning historical romances for Grand Central Publishing and Avon HarperCollins, and 20 bestselling independently published novellas. She’s also written 2 full-length independently published novels, Lord Garson’s Bride, the last instalment in her bestselling Dashing Widows series, and The Laird’s Willful Lass, the first book in The Lairds Most Likely. Look out for her novella, The Laird’s Christmas Kiss, in late October, the second story in this new Scottish-set series.

Anna loves to hear from readers, you can find her: Website • Facebook • Twitter.