Guest Post with Author Lecia Cornwall and Giveaway

Meet author Lecia Cornwall.

Lecia Cornwall lives in Calgary Alberta, in the foothills of the beautiful Canadian Rockies, with two grown children, four cats, a chocolate lab and a husband who puts up with all of the above with remarkable patience. Lecia's debut novel was published by Avon in April 2011. And, she is, of course, busy working on yet another book.

Places to find Lecia:

| Site | Facebook | Twitter |

A Trip Through Bonny Scotland

Many readers may be wondering why a writer who has a reputation for writing English Regency Romances has suddenly penned a Scottish ghost story.

The truth is that I am a creature of diverse interests, dear reader, but one rather special day convinced me to tell the story of ONCE UPON A HIGHLAND SUMMER.

Way back when I first decided to write romance, in the days when my children were small (my eldest is now 22), I thought I would write medieval tales of knights and ladies. I read every single medieval romance I could find in the three local libraries near my home. When I ran out of those, I discovered Regency romances, and fell in love with the rules, the gowns, and the settings. Somewhere in between, I found the wonderful Scottish romances by Shannon Drake and Julie Garwood. Those books still hold pride of place on my keeper shelf.

I actually began writing ONCE UPON A HIGHLAND SUMMER way back in 2003. It was filed away, half completed with a few other manuscripts during the days when my children took precedence over my plans to become an author.

When I brought it out again after a family vacation to Scotland in 2009, it was like meeting an old friend, long lost, and much missed, and better understood for all the adventures we’d had since we saw each other last. We hugged, we cried, and over a cup of tea, I began to alter the living love story, to add some humor, new characters and a to-die for hero and heroine. The only thing that didn’t change was my ghosts.

Well, as life goes, and ONCE UPON A HIGHLAND SUMMER had to be put aside yet again when my first English Regency romance found a loving home at Avon shortly after we returned from holiday, and there were other books to write. But my ghosts haunted me, reminding me of chance meeting in Scotland, which led to an unforgettable, magical day in the Highlands. After that day, I really understood just what I was writing about.

We had been on the road for weeks, and Scotland was our last stop before returning to Canada. We’d seen Paris, London, and England, saving Scotland—where my husband was born—for last. We were staying in Inverness, and desperately looking for a place to have dinner late one evening, since the hotel was hosting a party and couldn’t accommodate us in the dining room. After driving up and down the shore of Loch Ness (if we’d seen Nessie, we would have asked her for a restaurant recommendation), we found a little restaurant called the Oakwood. It was very quiet inside, and the host was grim faced and cool—until we ordered the leg of lamb, that is. At that moment, he grinned broadly, clapped his hands with delight and all but hugged us “You’re Canadians!” he cried. It turned out we had pronounced the French term for leg of lamb, “gigot de mouton”, in the French/Scottish (and apparently Canadian) way, “she-go”, instead of the English “giggott”. My Scottish mother-in-law explained all this to us when we arrived home.

Gus asked us where we were heading next, but when we told him we were bound for the Isle of Skye the next day, he frowned.

“Too many tourists. You dinna want to go there!” he insisted. He rushed away and returned with a map. The plates were pushed aside, and we leaned over the map like conspirators.

He stabbed it with his finger. “This will suit ye better,” he promised, and drew a half-circle around a large swath of Western Scotland, an area of forests and lochs and coastline and almost no roads at all.

“From Castle Urquhart, go along up through Drumnadrochit—” The magical place names rolled off his tongue as he pointed out the route we were to take—Kinlochewe, Torridon, Apple Cross—from Apple Cross we could look across the Inner Sound and see the Isles, including Skye, “And that,” Gus said, his eyes gleaming, “is the very best way to view them.”

The next day was misty, with thick clouds riding low over the green and gray slopes of the Highlands. It seemed hard to imagine people living there now, but it was easy to picture a troop of kilted clansmen on ponies riding over the hills.

The roads here are so narrow that the few cars that used them must take turns allowing each other to pass, the drivers nodding to each other. The way wound up into the clouds, and we travelled into a dense white mist, unable to see a thing. Then suddenly, magically, it cleared, and we came out on the edge of breathtaking views across endless hills and shining lochs.

Ancient castles stood on crags and hilltops, black and crumbling against the silver mist, mysterious, promising secrets and stories they’d gathered over centuries. It’s easy to imagine ghostly lovers roaming those towers. To this day I wonder, was it really just weather, or was it truly magic?

We drove down the length of Scotland that day, along the Great Glen, past Ben Nevis, through Glen Coe, Loch Lomond, and the Trossachs, and finally ended up in Glasgow, my husband’s birthplace, for the last few days of our trip.

Now I ask, dearest reader—what better inspiration for a story in the Highlands is there than a trip like that, taken at the height of Midsummer, with all the ghosts and magic just waiting to be brought to life?

So if you happen to be in Inverness some day, and stop for supper at the Oakwood restaurant by the shore of Loch Ness at Dochgarroch, be sure to order the “Shee-go” de Mouton, and tell Gus that Lecia Cornwall sent you.

An ancient curse, a pair of meddlesome ghosts, a girl on the run, and a case of mistaken identity make for the perfect chance at true love.

Lady Caroline Forrester is on the run from her brother's scheme to marry her off to the highest bidder. An escape to Scotland offers a chance at employment as a governess and freedom from an unhappy marriage—it's the perfect solution. But Caroline wasn't prepared for the feelings that her new employer brings out in her.

Alec McNabb, the reluctant Earl of Glenorne, never expected to return home to Scotland. But now that he's there, he realizes he has obligations that he cannot escape. Alec needs to marry well, and quickly.

When a case of mistaken identity coupled with the sensual, magical atmosphere of Glenorne castle results in a passionate encounter, Caroline and Alec must decide whether their attraction is enough to overcome the problems of their pasts. Or whether their one chance at true love was over before it began...

Purchase: | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes |

Check out what's up for grabs.

Up For Grabs:

• 1 copy of The Price of Temptation
• 1 copy of Once Upon a Highland Summer

To Enter: 

• Please leave a comment or question for Lecia.
• Please fill out the Rafflecopter form.

Good Luck! 

Special thanks to Lecia Cornwall for sponsoring this giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway