SEDUCED BY A SCOT by Julia London is a book about survival and how someone can overcome extraordinary obstacles. The hero and heroine had to overcome their past and learn to move forward.
A prominent Scottish family hires a fixer, Nicholas Bain, to help them weather the possible scandal. Calvin Garbett has arranged for his daughter, unassuming in personality and beauty, to be married to someone whose family will help his business dealings. Falsely accused of enticing the fiancé, the ward, Maura Darby, is taken by Bain to marry an aging bachelor. Having no other options, she agrees, but silently is plotting to return for her family heirloom necklace, taken from her by the mother and daughter. During their long journey, she vents to him about being hurt and disappointed by those who are supposed to care for her. Maura challenges Bain at every turn to see her as a person rather than a problem to be solved. He realizes that she is entitled to her necklace and plots with her to get it back. As they spend time together they grow closer and sparks start to fly between them. Bain realizes that they are kindred spirits since he was thrown out by his supposed father and the one possession, a pocket watch, he cherished was taken away. They find love and realize that they can trust one another.
Readers will enjoy the Cinderella element to the story. She was given the servant’s quarters and hand me down clothes. Mrs. Garbett took Maura’s beautiful clothes, belongings, pets and gave them all to her daughter Sorcha who was extremely spoiled. Maura tried to stay out of her way, lurking in the shadows. Both women were petty, jealous, and cruel to Maura and would do anything to make her feel unwanted. Only while traveling with Bain does she become someone determined, bold, and brash.
Relationship stories are the best when the hero and heroine can share a similar background. They both had to face secrets, lies, cruelty, resentment, enviousness, and spite. Taking a journey with these two wounded souls allowed readers to share their emotions ranging from sadness to laughter.
Elise Cooper: Is this a series?
Julia London: It is the sixth and final book in “The Highland Grooms” series. I wanted to base it in the early eighteenth century when Scotland and England were unified and acted like bad cousins. I thought it was a great backdrop to set a series about a Scottish family where the women were English. I thought it would be interesting to have the English women and the Scottish men struggling with the same problems the countries were going through.
EC: How did you come up with the character Nichol Bain?
JL: He was in the previous book, hired by the Duke of Montrose. He wanted a seat in Parliament but his image needed an overhaul so he hires Bain. I wrote Bain as a crisis manager, a fixer, for rich men who got into trouble because of women or gambling debts. This current book is about how Bain can fix everyone else’s problems, but cannot fix his own.
EC: The story highlights the reality of the limited options for unmarried women in 18th-century Scotland?
JL: I wanted to give a strong perspective of how women were seen in the past. This is why I had that scene in the book where Maura was blamed for the fiancé’s advances because she was pretty. 18th Century women had no skills, could not own property, cannot have money, and Maura does not even have a family. Her options were very limited. She needed and wanted the necklace because it was the only item that tied her to her past and was something of value. It anchored her to where she had come from.
EC: It is very rare that children could form their own relationships?
JL: Women did not have a say in love and compatibility. Especially in the upper classes, connections were made for a business or monetary reason, helping the parents forge a future. I showed this with Sorcha where her dad wanted his iron works business to boom and arranged a marriage to help it.
EC: How would you describe Maura?
JL: Loyal, defiant, spunky, direct, brave, and determined. She is also clever because she was never fooled by anyone. I would have loved to be her friend, knowing she would be the type to tell it exactly as it is. Part of the reason people underestimated her was because she was female.
EC: How would you describe Bain?
JL: Mysterious, closed off, insecure, someone who craved love, but was a loner.
EC: How would you describe the relationship?
JL: They are soul mates. Both never had anyone miss them, care for them, or love them. Those who should have protected them betrayed them. I think this created barriers. Unlike most men of the time, Bain did not believe she was just property and under the thumb of every man, without the ability to make decisions for herself. He treated her as an equal.
EC: There are very detailed scenes about riding horses. Do you ride?
JL: I used to ride them because I grew up on a ranch. I think I put all the details because I was trying to figure out how Maura would ride the horse, especially wearing a dress and without a saddle. I do remember riding bareback, which is very difficult and really hard to stay on, bouncing and sliding all over the place.
EC: Can you give a heads up about your next books?
JL: I am writing a new series set on a Texas ranch. It is a contemporary western similar to the TV show Dallas, with a rich family. It will be a four book series and out in the spring. I will also be writing a new series that takes place in the Victorian era. I created a European kingdom where the princes come to England for various reasons. They meet middle class women and fall in love. It is set in the 1840s and called “A Royal Wedding.”
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