KILL OR BE KILT (Highland Spies #3) by Victoria Roberts-Review and Book Tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 3, 2016

Lady Elizabeth Walsingham pined after the same man for years. When she finally realizes the brawny Highland laird doesn’t return her feelings, she decides to leave for London and start anew. It seems that her prayers are answered when she catches the eye of a charming actor at the Globe Theatre – a man who is the complete opposite of the Highlander she once loved.

Laird Ian Monroe spends his time avoiding the bothersome young girl who dreams of their union. But when he travels to London and discovers that she has a new love interest with a dishonorable agenda, his perspective changes. Ian soon realizes that Elizabeth is no longer a child with a crush, but a beautiful woman in need of his help. He may have what it takes to rescue Elizabeth from her scheming beau, but does he have the courage to reclaim Elizabeth’s heart as well?

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REVIEW: KILL OR BE KILT is the third installment in Victoria Roberts’s historical HIGHLAND SPIES Highland, romance series. This is Lady Elizabeth Walsingham, and Laird Ian Monroe’s storyline. KILL OR BE KILT can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty.

Told from several third person points of view KILL OR BE KILT is an adventure that takes the reader from the Highlands of Scotland to London, England. It is 1613, and King James sits on the throne of England; Lady Elizabeth’s Uncle Walter, who sat on the King’s Privy Council, has died a tragic death; and the Scottish Lairds including Ian, Ruairi and Fagan are hoping for a meeting with King James’s Court. When Elizabeth declares that she is going to the Court and not returning home following their Uncle’s demise, Laird Ian has no choice but to guard the young woman with his life. What ensues is a series of attacks against the members of the King’s Privy Council, while Ian struggles with his attraction to the woman in his charge.

Elizabeth has loved Laird Ian since the age of fifteen, but the intimidating Laird is almost twice her age, and Ian is a man with little experience at wooing a woman. Not that the man is inexperienced but for all intents and purposes, Ian makes mistake after mistake in his courtship with Elizabeth Walsingham. Ian will battle his attraction to Elizabeth only to discover that jealousy is not an emotion he is willing to feel when not one but two other males vie for Elizabeth’s affections. Several times Ian has chosen the coward’s way out, and found himself on the outside looking in. Meanwhile our heroine’s acerbic personality is a little over the top for a woman of her time.

KILL OR BE KILT has a large ensemble cast of supporting and secondary characters including Ruairi and Ravenna (My Highland Spy), Fagan and Grace (Kilts and Daggers), and Elizabeth’s youngest sister Lady Katherine, who at fifteen, has a lifelong friendship with Torquil. The world building continues focus on the tepid truce between Scotland and England; the political temperament of the times-betrayal, spies, assassinations and potential war; and of course a little bit of ‘enlightened’ history with the British monarchy.

KILL OR BE KILT is an historical love story with a little bit of mystery and suspense; humorous and funny moments as Ian is ‘schooled’ about his treatment of women; secrets and lies. The premise is entertaining and delightful; the characters are inspiring, imaginative and captivating; the romance is a struggle to the finish-Ian’s inability to please Elizabeth, and Elizabeth’s constant need to push everyone around.

READING ORDER and Previous Reviews
My Highland Spy
Kilts and Daggers
Kill or be Kilt

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

Victoria Roberts Shares Interesting Facts about Scotland in the 1600s

Thank you so much for having me back at The Reading Café! It’s always a pleasure.

With the wild success of Outlander dominating tales about the 1700s-and with more medieval romances unleased to the world than I can count-not many Scottish historical authors write in the early 1600s. That’s exactly why I decided to write stories in this time period, and the Jacobean era continues to hold my interest today.

King James VI and I (Scotland/England/Ireland) was born on June 19, 1566. He was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots and great-great-grandson of Henry VIII. Those two facts alone are interesting to me. As a wee bairn, James succeeded to the Scottish throne at a mere 13-months-old. After Elizabeth I died without issue (no children) in 1603, James also became the ruler over England and Ireland until his death in 1625.

In the late 1500s, James became fascinated with witchcraft. He attended the North Berwick witch trials, which was the first major persecution of witches in Scotland under the Witchcraft Act of 1563. He also supervised the torture of women accused of practicing the dark arts. A visit to Denmark may have sparked his interest in the study of witchcraft, which he considered a branch of theology.

James was determined to establish a single country between Scotland and England with one monarch, one parliament and law. But both countries opposed his views. In 1604, the Commons refused to grant him the title “King of Great Britain.” But with great power comes great responsibility. (I think Spidey’s uncle said that.) James simply assumed the title by proclamation rather than by statute. That same year at Hampton Court Palace, a new compilation of approved books of the Bible was commissioned to resolve any discrepancies among the various translations. Hence the King James Version of the Bible was born and completed in 1611.

In 1605, the infamous Gunpowder Plot came into play. On the evening of the state opening, Guy Fawkes was discovered guarding a wood pile in the bowels of the parliament buildings. But beyond the pile of wood was 36 barrels of gunpowder that he had every intention of blowing up underneath Parliament House. This plot inspired my award-winning novel X Marks the Scot.

The statues of Iona were enacted in 1609, which required Highland lairds to send their heirs to the Lowlands to be educated in English speaking Protestant schools. James also requested the lairds report to Edinburgh to answer for their actions. He firmly believed Highlanders were void of knowledge and fear of God, nothing but barbarians. Therefore, he decided he wanted to abolish the Gaelic language and destroy traditional culture. As a result, several imprisonments followed for men like Patrick Stewart, the Earl of Orkney, and his son, who led an unsuccessful rebellion against James. I’ve used the king’s edict and Scottish uprisings as a basis for my books Temptation in a Kilt, My Highland Spy, Kilts and Daggers, and Kill or Be Kilt. His orders gave me great material to work with because there was a lot of strife between England and Scotland…still is today. This information is only the tip of the iceberg, and there’s still much left to explore. No matter what genre or time period you read, I hope you escape to the destination of your dreams.

Happy Reading!

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Award-winning author Victoria Roberts writes Scottish historical romances about kilted heroes and warriors from the past. RT Book Reviews named her “one of the most promising debut authors across the genres,” and she was also a 2013 RT Reviewers’ Choice award winner for X MARKS THE SCOT.

Represented by Jill Marsal of the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency, Victoria is a member of Romance Writers of America® and several local chapters, as well as a contributing author to the online magazine CELTIC GUIDE.

Victoria lives in western Pennsylvania with her husband of twenty one years and their two beautiful children—not to mention one spoiled dog. When she is not plotting her next Scottish adventure, she’s dragging her clan to every Scottish festival under the sun.

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