Honey Bee Promotions Presents
April 30, 2012
Hi Everyone, Thank you for joining me as I host Alexa Bourne, author of Her Highland Champion, on my blog today. Alexa’s book is available from Decadent Publishing. So grab your tea, coffee, or favorite beverage and join the party for HER HIGHLAND CHAMPION, a brand new contemporary Scottish romantic suspense! Learn more about Alexa Bourne as she makes her last blog stop in April here today on Virginia Wright Blog. Leave a comment and be in the running for a free copy of HER HIGHLAND CHAMPION, a $10 Amazon gift card, and a Scottish surprise! The more you comment, the better your chances of being the winner! Now set back and meet Alexa Bourne…
Thank you for stopping by,
Virginia Wright
Alexa Bourne is a teacher by day and a romantic suspense writer by nights, weekends and all school holidays. She also teaches online classes for writers throughout the year. She is thrilled to be writing for Decadent Publishing and to have the chance to share her love of Scotland with readers everywhere.
When she’s not concocting sinister plots and steamy love scenes or traveling and exploring cultures, Alexa spends her time reading, watching brainless TV and thinking about exercising. She loves to hear from readers. To find her, visit www.alexabourne.com or http://alexabourne.blogspot.com,
http://www.facebook.com/AuthorAlexaBourne or follow her on Twitter @AlexaBourne.
HER HIGHLAND CHAMPION
A Decadent Honor Guard story….
Heather Winchester leads a charming life. With good friends, a beautiful flat in one of the most amazing cities in the world, and a promising future once she finishes her Ph.D, she is finally pursuing her own dreams instead of catering to everyone else’s…except she doesn’t remember any of it.
Malcolm Fraser has returned to his Highland village to forget his failings as a professional bodyguard. Believing he could just lose himself in the mundane activities of running his bed & breakfast, he finds a woman’s lifeless body by the loch instead….
Captivated by Heather as she regains her memory, Malcolm is thrown into the line of duty. As danger comes knocking on their doors, will he be strong enough to love her and keep her safe?
Genre: Contemporary romance, adventure, suspense/thriller
Heat level: 3
Word count – 23k
HER HIGHLAND CHAMPION
Champion Excerpt:
She turned to the bedside. A man stood there dressed in dark green sweats, with both hands clenched around the silver bedside bar. He was handsome, with light eyes, dark hair cropped close to his head, and a firm jaw. It was his hands, though. They drew her attention. Clean skin, defined knuckles, large fingers. Hands rough from a hard day’s physical labor, and yet, she imagined, gentle enough to caress the afternoon’s sufferings away.
“It’s good to see you awake.” He smiled. “You gave us all quite a fright.”
Okay, the Scottish accent drew her attention, too. At once, it both melted away some of her fears and sparked a whirlwind of questions.
“Where am I?” Her throat scratched like sandpaper.
“St. Catherine’s Hospital.”
She swallowed hard. “Where is that?”
“Fort William.” He reached for something on the table by her bed and brought back a plastic cup with a straw. “Here.”
“Thank you.” The warm water coated her sore vocal cords. She handed the cup back to him.
Wait a minute. Fort William? The only Fort William she knew was in Scotland. “I don’t understand. How did I get here?” Ignoring the aches in her body, she pressed both palms to the sheets on each side of her and pushed herself up. The blanket fell away from her chest and a new chill surrounded her. “What’s going on?”
Her arms shook, and she collapsed back to the bed.
“Relax.” The man set his palm on her shoulder, as if to keep her flat against the mattress. The heat of his fingers seeped through her hospital gown and into her skin. “I found you unconscious on the beach in Glenhalish. I called for an ambulance, and they brought you here.”
“I was in Glenhalish?”
“Aye, on a three day tour of the Highlands. Do you not remember being there?”
“No.” She squinted and studied him. No memories surfaced. “Do I know you?”
He shook his head. “Only from the beach. I’m Malcolm Fraser.”
She opened her mouth and then closed it again. Her gaze drifted to her lap as tears burned in the corners of her eyes. Panic swelled in her chest and into her throat.
“What is it, lass?” he asked with such tenderness.
“Can you tell me my name?”
Buy Links
Bookstrand:
http://www.bookstrand.com/her-highland-champion
Heather Winchester’s Diary Excerpt:
Dear Diary….Good grief that sounds so ridiculous from a grown woman.
Today is the day I’m getting out of the hospital. The doctor says I’m good enough for now besides the fact that I can’t remember anything. I shudder to think about what it’s going to be like. I mean I’m leaving the hospital with a man I don’t know. Am I scared? Terrified is more like it. I mean, someone’s trying to kill me and I don’t know who or why. And it’s not like I can think back to the even that landed me in here. I’ve completely lost my memory. Okay, I do know I’m from the US and I know who my president is, but that’s about it.
Ugh. As I stare out the window down at the streets of Fort William, I can’t help the shiver running through me. Physically I’m feeling better. A few aches and pains, but that’s not what scares me. I’m like a baby, everything is new and strange and unfamiliar. If the man who tried to kill me came up to me now, would I even know?
I’m lucky to have Malcolm. He seems like a decent man. He must be. He saved my life. I owe him everything and I can’t even pay him back. My gut tells me I’ll be safe with him even if he’s reluctant to have me around. Maybe it’s Scottish pride that’s making him continue to help me. As kind and sweet as he’s been since finding me unconscious at the loch’s edge, I can still feel some tension coming off him. I hate to interrupt his life, but at this moment, he’s all I have. I hope I’ll be able to repay him at some point. I’ll start by being as little trouble for him in his bed & breakfast as I can.
Speaking of the Kierlain House, I better get changed out of this flimsy hospital gown. The nurse says the doctor will be in to check on me and sign my release papers soon. Then I’ll be totally dependent on a man I hardly know in a country that’s not my own.
Wish me luck. Something tells me I’m going to need it.
Maybe I’ll write some more tonight when I’ve had my 1st glimpse of the Kierlain House and Glenhalish. From the way people describe the village, it sounds like it might be just the place for me to relax. I’ll let you know.
Blog Tour by Honey Bee Promotions http://www.honeybeepromotions.com 