Devil Black by Laura Strickland Except and Giveaway! $30

Devil Black

by Laura Strickland

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:
Disgraced in her father’s eyes, Isobel Maitland travels to Scotland, determined to purchase her sister’s happiness at the cost of her own.  But when her coach is held up and she is abducted by a dangerous highwayman, she faces an unexpected choice: suffer the loveless union to which she has resigned herself, or marry this ruthless, Scottish outlaw who can ignite her desire with a single touch.
They call him Diabhal Dubh – Devil Black – and he spends his days terrorizing the countryside, trying to outdistance the memories that torture him.  The King has decreed he must settle and take a wife.  And when he steals the alluring woman betrothed to his enemy, Dougal MacRae sees a way to both answer the King’s demand and obtain the revenge he has sought so long …

Excerpt:
“It is unacceptable,” Isobel Maitland said bitterly, much aggrieved. “Father, you cannot send Catherine away to marry. She is second born.”
“Fourth born, in truth,” said Gerald Maitland tersely. “Are you forgetting I had two sons? The fact that both have predeceased me does not make them any less significant.”
“I did not mean to imply that.” Isobel frowned. The wounds her father bore following the loss of his sons were raw and likely to remain so. The elder, John, had perished fighting valiantly for the Crown, and James scarcely a year later in a fall from a horse maddened by a bee sting. Isobel had watched her father sour thereafter, turning from a reasonably considerate man to one who cared little for anyone’s opinion save his own.
He now had no heirs save his two daughters, Isobel, nineteen, and Catherine, two years younger. Precedent existed for the lands to pass down the female line—the estate had, after all, come to Gerald Maitland through marriage. Isobel’s mother, a strong-minded Scottish heiress, had not lived long enough to see her daughters grown.
With that thought in mind, Isobel now spoke as perhaps wisdom dictated she should not. “Mother would not approve this marriage, not with Catherine’s heart so set against it.”
The look in her father’s blue eyes—the one feature Isobel had inherited—chilled. “Will you cite your mother’s will to me? What do you know of it, girl? For that matter, what does Catherine know about an advantageous union? She is but a child.”
“If you think her a child,” Isobel retorted heatedly, “you have no business sending her off like a bundle of high-priced goods.”

AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Born and raised in Western New York, Laura Strickland has been an avid reader and writer since childhood. Embracing her mother's heritage, she pursued a lifelong interest in Celtic lore, legend, and music, all reflected in her writing. She has made pilgrimages to both Newfoundland and Scotland in the company of her daughter, but is usually happiest at home not far from Lake Ontario, with her husband and her "fur" child, a rescue dog. She practices gratitude every day.

Author website: www.laurastricklandbooks.com

Links to purchase the book:

http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=176_138&products_id=5154

http://www.amazon.com/Devil-Black-Laura-Strickland/dp/1612176933/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365187916&sr=8-1&keywords=devil+black+laura+strickland

Facebook link:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000002632317

Laura will be awarding a $30 gift certificate to The Wild Rose Press (email address needed with comments) to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: 

http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/04/virtual-excerpt-tour-devil-black-by.html