Historical Romance Review: Highland Surrender by Tracy Brogan

HIGHLAND SURRENDER

By Tracy Brogan

Review by Kathleen Bittner Roth

ABOUT THE BOOK:

To seal a fragile truce, Fiona Sinclair’s brothers trade her in marriage to their sworn enemy. Though devastated by their betrayal, she has little choice in the matter, for if she refuses, her innocent young sister must take her place. The spirited Fiona is willing to sacrifice her freedom to protect her kin, but she vows never to surrender her heart.

As the eldest son of a clan chief, Myles Campbell is accustomed to having his own way. But when the king of Scotland commands he wed a defiant Highland lass instead of a French mademoiselle, Myles must obey his royal duty. Meeting his bride for the first time on their wedding day, he is pleased to discover the lass is a beauty, but she quickly proves she’d just as soon kill him as kiss him.

When two such warrior spirits collide, sparks fly, igniting a fiery passion that strains against the bonds of family honor, clan loyalty — and the ultimate surrender — love.

BOOK REVIEW:

What a pleasure Highland Surrender was to read! Fiona Sinclair is no damsel in distress who meekly takes life as it comes. She is feisty, tough, and with a sense of humor that lays her hero flat. But let’s not discount Myles Campbell, the man her brothers have forced her to wed in order to heal the rift between the clans Sinclair and Campbell.

Bound to the eldest son of the Earl of Argyll, a man she has never met, Fiona must marry him or sacrifice her younger sister to the Campbells. Not only does she detest the entire clan, she loathes the earl himself, a man she holds responsible for her mother’s death. Even though she is forced into marriage, she decides she doesn’t have to like her husband, nor hate him and his family any the less.

But when she meets her adversary on her wedding day, she comes face to face with a handsome, formidable man who will give her no quarter for he too is chagrined at the idea of a forced marriage. After all, King James had promised him a sweet bit of French fluff, not some Highland virago with two unruly brothers who hold a vendetta against his clan.

Their wedding vows spoken, bride and groom are off to Campbell country. And here is where mayhem, intrigue and mystery take hold like a firestorm whipped up by a howling wind.

Nothing is as it seems, and while her brothers carry out a plan to bring down King James, Fiona and Myles are thrown together under the most difficult and trying of circumstances.  Despite their adversarial coupling, Fiona cannot ignore the heady chemistry that exists between the two, while Myles, despite the conflict between clans, tries to make a decent marriage out of the debacle.

The author, Tracy Brogan, a two-time RWA Golden Heart finalist, leaves no stone unturned in this story filled with twists and turns, yet she writes with such clarity and subtle persuasion that you are instantly drawn into a world she cleverly builds without the reader realizing what the author has accomplished.

Miss Brogan has a way with words, and a sense of humor that makes for outright giggles, even in the midst of turmoil.

Debut author Tracy Brogan has hit a home run out of two separate fields: Historical romance with Highland Surrender, and Crazy Little Thing, a contemporary.  This author has the rare ability to cleverly change author voices with each genre. Had she used a different pen name for one of the stories, I wouldn’t have guessed the same author wrote both books. Brava! You can find her at http://www.tracybrogan.com/

Today’s reviewer is Kathleen Bittner Roth, a 2012 RWA Golden Heart finalist whose Victorian novel, A Duke’s Wicked Kiss, will debut in June, 2014, from Entangled Publishing. www.kathleenbittnerroth.com

Solid as Stone by Kathleen Bittner-Roth

I would like to welcome back to History Undressed, by dear friend, Kathleen Bittner-Roth! She has written yet another fascinating post for us. Enjoy!

SOLID AS STONE

by Kathleen Bittner-Roth

Whether reading a historical romance or writing one, those resplendent stone manor houses (and castles) serve not only as a backdrop for the players, but the stone buildings often become characters unto themselves. A mood can instantly be conjured by the description of a dwelling.

Imagine your wounded hero riding up the long, tree-lined drive to his boyhood home, returning after years in absentia. As the stark grey fortress looms ahead, its cold stone walls filled with dark secrets, his past rises up to haunt him.

Or what of a heroine, contracted at birth to marry a brooding duke she detests. Sick with anguish, she arrives in the ducal carriage he’s provided, only to spy a stone manor house that, despite its grand size, bears warmth and invitation, its stone walls a soft, welcoming honey tone flanked by beds of colorful spring flowers. Who is this man to have created such a place, she wonders?

The history of building with stone in England is a story unto itself. The tradition goes back a thousand years. When the Normans conquered Britain in 1066, they constructed castles, monasteries and royal houses out of stone. Stone had not the fire risk of the old pier and beam buildings, and it could be carved to create artful ornamentation, the more  intricate and extensive the carvings, the greater the standing. Soon, stone became a symbol of high status.

The grandest of stones was imported from France or carted across the countryside from quarries established as the finest in England.  The way the stone was laid and the quality of the work was just as important as the stone itself and was directly related to the status of the owner.

After a time, stone homes became common as quarries sprang up in many towns and villages. A tour through a few stone quarries gave me a different slant when writing historical romance. I learned that in the Costwolds, for instance, it’s the rich, honey tones that prevail. I learned those gray stone manor houses were usually Barnack stone, dug from quarries in Northamptonshire. Yet another honey-toned stone is the Chilmark, found in Wiltshire.

Stone is still favored today in England, with Limestone, granite and sandstone being the three chief building stones. Did you know stone is found under about twenty-one feet of clay!

I doubt I could write a story without including some kind of a dwelling that fleshes out my characters in one way or another. What about you? Do you find the homes your heroes and heroines live play an integral part in the story you are writing or reading? I’d love to hear from you.

A Victorian Lady's Toilette, by Kathleen Bittner-Roth

Today I am pleased to welcome romance writer, Kathleen Bittner-Roth to History Undressed.  She is an up and coming romance writer who I'm eager to see in print!  I've been eageraly anticipating her article today, so without further ado, I give you...

A VICTORIAN LADY'S TOILETTE

The Victorian Era fascinates me because so many changes took place during that time—the advancement of women's rights, the industrial revolution, electricity, telephones, medical advancements, even flush toilets (first in France, then England. They were way ahead of the U.S.).

One thing that always attracts my attention is how the Victorian woman appeared so well kept. My grandmother, who had a lovely complexion, taught me to wash my face once a week with sugar to slough off dead skin (a very light scrub on a wet face, adding more pressure as it melts). She also taught me to use a facial of crushed strawberries, to occasionally rinse the hair in lemon juice to add highlights, and her list went on. I asked her where she learned her little tricks and she said her mother instructed her. A little backtracking placed my great-grandmother, born around 1854, smack in the Victorian era. My grandmother, born around 1885 reaped the benefits of her mother's teachings.

Victorian women believed in lots of fresh air and exercise in the form of walking and riding, for the specific purpose of keeping the complexion fortified, from the inside as well as the outside. They believed in walking in weather that produced a fine mist or light rain without a parasol and with the face to the rain. These women were quite specific in how they cared for themselves and kept diaries filled with recipes. In one of the diaries of a Victorian noble woman I ran across, she wrote about her belief in personal care this way:

"As long as we are not ethereal spirits, as long as we have to live as mortals, we should submit ourselves to our condition, doing all that is in our power to ameliorate it. And indeed cleanliness already brings us a step nearer to the angels of light while slovenliness, on the other hand, keeps us down in the depths of our original mire."

Imagine your mother reciting that very thing to you as a child; or how about you reciting this to your small daughters over and over! Cleanliness, it seemed, was also a moral and spiritual issue.

Beyond my grandmother's recipes, I began collecting others I found from the Victorian period. They believed in cleanliness inside and out. Lemon juice and water drunk in the morning and at night was one way of keeping the internal organs flushed and clean.

The toothbrush, such as we use today, was not invented until 1938 (by DuPont), but Victorian women did clean their teeth with toothbrushes made from boars hair or horse hair (horse hair was preferred because it was softer—mostly used by the wealthy). Although one could purchase toothpowders, they were usually made at home, as were mouth rinses. Salt, although rough on the gums, was used to clean teeth on occasion, but thought to be better used on men. Marseilles soap, a delicate soap made from olive oil, sea water and ash, which had been around for 500-600 years, and still available today, was used in the mouth 2-3 times a week. You might get a chuckle out of the following recipe for a tooth cleaner:

1. Phosphate of dry chalk...2 ounces

2. Powdered myrrh...8 grains

3. Iris powder...1 ounce

4. Mix together and add:

5. Solution of cocaine...1 drop (yes, you read this right)

6. Eucalyptus oil...13 drops

7. Mix together and strain. Excellent for sensitive teeth and tender gums

In their baths, Victorian women used pumice stones after a good soak and sloughed their skin with dry salt mixed with glycerin (I've paid a good price for the same type of thing at spas today). They used flowers from the lime tree in their orangeries in footbaths.

Hair was washed in many things, from bicarbonate of soda to salted rainwater mixed with an infusion of colocynth. Rinses were lemon juice, herbal mixtures and even beer to bring out the luster and body. Hair was cut ¼ inch at the new moon during the first quarter. It was believed they would never have split ends, nor would the hair be robbed of any vitality using this method. My grandmother left the new moon stuff out, but was faithful to the ¼ inch a month. She possessed the most beautiful red hair, wound about on her head until she was 80 years old.

Victorian women used nail polish, something that was invented by the Chinese some 2,000 years ago. They called it nail lacquer, and sorry, I don't have a recipe for that.

Care of the face was a delicate matter. It meant washing in rainwater exclusively. There were those who believed in hot water only, while others believed in closing the pores with cold water

One concoction that was used universally was orange flower and rosewater mixed with olive oil. Many believed that was all one needed for the face to remain soft and supple. Another recipe was equal parts of brandy and milk. I found this recipe to refresh the face:

1. wineglassful of fresh lemon-juice

2. pint of rain-water

3. five drops of rose-water

4. This should be kept corked, and used from time to time will preserve the colour of the skin.

There were many ways of making rouge, the most dangerous contained lead, but by far the best were those invented by the Chinese, made from diluted beet juice.

Last, but certainly of vital importance to a Victorian lady, was her lips. Here is a recipe for pomade which could usually be found in her reticule or on her dressing table:

1. Pure beeswax...2 parts

2. Olive oil...11 parts

3. Tincture of benzoin or roses...3 drops

4. Melt wax over slow flame, add oil. Mix and remove from heat. When cool enough, add perfume. Put in miniature tins, allow to set.

Well, there you have it. These are only a few of the recipes I have collected from the Victorian Era, the period in which I write. What about you, do you have any old recipes you'd care to contribute?

Kathleen Bittner Roth is a prepublished author who writes Historical Romance in the Victorian time period. Her website is www.kathleenbittnerroth.com