I’m thrilled to have a fellow teacher, Alexa Bourne, author of
Her Highlander Champion visiting The Blue Rose Writing Room today.
Welcome Alexa!
Today, I’m interviewing Heather and Malcolm from Her Highland Champion.
Today, I’m interviewing Heather and Malcolm from Her Highland Champion.
BRWR: Malcolm and Heather, welcome to The Blue Rose Writing Room. I’m so glad you stopped by today. Can I get you anything? A cup of tea perhaps? I have some lovely fresh Scot’s shortbread cookies. They’re my favorite.
Heather: Oh, yes! I’ll have some.
Malcolm: Just the tea, thanks.
BRWR: Well, I must say, your introduction was somewhat unusual. Can you share a bit about that? Malcolm, why don’t you start.
Malcolm: Aye, it was quite interesting. I was out for a run when I found this lass floating on the beach with her feet in the loch and her head in the sand.
BRWR: Heather, it must have been quite a shock for you.
Heather: Yeah, it was. I don’t remember it all, but I remember being terrified when I came to.
BRWR: So Heather, before your, ah, unfortunate episode, you were pursuing a Ph.D. Can you tell us a little about that?
Heather: I was in the later stages of researching and prepping for my dissertation. I’ve always been interested in archaeology and Scotland is filled with a bunch of wonderful history to explore. A great opportunity came up for me and I jumped at the chance to do my work in Scotland.
BRWR: And Malcolm, you’d returned home, it sounds like to escape an unhappy past. If you’re comfortable sharing, I’m sure we’d all like to know a bit more about what happened to compel you to return home to the Highlands.
Malcolm: I’m a bodyguard with the International Protective Network. I’d been on a job and things hadn’t gone well with my last clients. I’d lost confidence in my own abilities to protect anyone and so I left. I had given my notice to quit, but my boss didn’t accept it.
BRWR: Heather, I’ve never lost my memory. You must have been so frustrated. What was the worst part?
Heather: It was hard not knowing whom I could trust. Yes, it was all frustrating, but I always worried about whether the people I spoke with were truly being nice to me or if the kind person was actually the one who had left me to die at the edge of the loch.
BRWR: And Malcolm, you had no idea who this woman was you’d found by the loch?
Malcolm: None. I wasn’t even sure she was alive at first. When I saw the bruises and learnt she couldn’t remember who she was, I just couldn’t leave her alone.
BRWR: I must ask, after all we’re romance writers. When did you first know you were falling in love?
Heather: What’s not to love? Actually, I think I was falling for him early on because he was a hot Scotsman and so very good to me. And of course, that accent!
Malcolm: I knew she was affecting me straight away. I remember walking into her hospital room the evening of the day I found her. She’d been cleaned up and was sitting up with a brilliant smile. She looked so bonnie. From that moment on I had knots in me chest and she was all I thought about.
BRWR: Was there ever a time you feared you’d lose the other? Malcolm, why don’t you share first this time.
Malcolm: Och, aye. We had a visitor at the bed & breakfast that nearly tore her from me arms. I’ll not go into too much detail though in case your readers want to find out for themselves.
BRWR: What about you Heather? That moment when you thought it might be over.
Heather: Well, I did panic about losing him, but it wasn’t about our romance. It was when I found out he was a bodyguard. Until that moment, I’d thought he was just a sweet, mild-mannered businessman who volunteered to help me. It wasn’t until someone tried to hurt me again, when Malcolm came out with all these fancy moves that I realized I really didn’t know him.
BRWR: Well, you seem fabulously happy now. Heather, please tell us one quirky or funny thing about Malcolm.
Heather: He thinks he can sing.
Malcolm: What?
Heather: (laughing) You do! You’ll sing softly as you go up and down the stairs in the house and I try to figure out what you’re singing but I can never understand the tune. (She leans over and kisses him.) Sorry, my love.
BRWR: Okay, Malcolm, it’s your turn. Something only you know about Heather that the readers might get a kick out of.
Malcolm: When she has a bottle of beer she always has to touch her tongue to the rim of the bottle before taking a sip.
Heather: I do not!
Malcolm: (He smiles.) And that goes for every sip.
BRWR: What does the future hold for you now?
Heather: I’m organizing some archaeology-themed tour packages for the places I’ve researched around Scotland.
Malcolm: I still travel a bit with The International Protective Network.
Heather: And when we’re both home, we make sure to make date nights. At the moment, we’re just happy being together when we can.
BRWR: Well, this has been wonderful. Would you care for another shortbread cookie before you go? Malcolm, don’t be shy. You’ve only eaten six. Look, I have an entire plate of them.
Thank you so much for visiting today. Is there anything else you’d like to share with your readers?
Heather: We just hope people take a chance and read our story.
She turned to the bedside. A man stood there dressed in dark green sweats, wih 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 enough 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 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?”
“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 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?”
About Her Highland Champion
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?
About Alexa 
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 Great Britain with readers everywhere.
When she’s not concocting sinister plots and steamy love scenes or traveling and exploring new cultures, Alexa spends her time reading, watching brainless TV and thinking about exercising. She loves to interact with readers, so visit her web page, hang out at her blog, follow her on Twitter or drop her a note at [email protected]!
Contact Alexa
Twitter:@AlexaBourne
BUY LINKS:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Highland-Champion-Honor-Series-ebook/dp/B007PJ1GM0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344107555&sr=8-1&keywords=alexa+bourne
All Romance Ebooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-herhighlandchampion-769535-149.html
