Kilts and Daggers (Highland Spies #2) by Victoria Roberts-Review and Book Tour
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 5, 2015
Ever since Lady Grace Walsingham discovered her uncle and sister are spies for the Crown, she has yearned for adventure. She’s counting the days until she can leave barbaric Scotland behind, even if she must endure Highland captain Fagan Murray’s company for weeks.
Fagan has a simple mission: escort the haughty Lady Grace back to England. But nothing is ever easy. The sharp-tongued woman needles him at every turn. But when a menacing threat follows them on their journey, Fagan’s grudging tolerance for Grace turns to respect…and into a perilous attraction that could seal their fate.
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REVIEW: KILTS AND DAGGERS is the second installment in Victoria Roberts’s adult Highland Spies historical, Highland romance series. This is English Lady Grace Walsingham, and Highland Captain Fagan Murray’s storyline. Grace is the sister of Lady Ravenna whom we met in book one My Highland Spy. KILTS AND DAGGERS can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous storyline is revealed where necessary.
Told from third person point of view, KILTS AND DAGGERS follows the building but tumultuous relationship between Grace and Fagan. Following her sister’s wedding to Laird Ruairi Sutherland in the Scottish Highlands, Grace forgoes a return trip to England to stay near her newlywed sister. Grace is betrothed to Lord Daniel Casterbrook but her feelings are ambivalent and confusing especially when a certain Scottish Captain is constantly on her mind. All does not go according to plan when the ‘barbarian’ Highlander Fagan Murray continues to be a thorn in Grace’s snobbish side. When Fagan opts to escort Grace back home, a rogue band of mercenaries will attack and take Grace hostage in a political exchange of prisoners.
The relationship between Fagan and Grace is tumultuous. Grace is a snob; an aristocratic woman raised to be a proper English wife but in this her treatment of Fagan is anything but polite or acceptable. Fagan is an honorable Highlander who has fallen for the acid-tongued beauty, but he is accorded no respect by Grace, due in part to his lack of title and money. As the storyline develops, so too does the relationship wherein Grace will begin to understand her preconceived notions are a little too harsh and without merit. The $ex scenes are intimate and romantic without being too sexually graphic or too erotic but Grace’s need to belittle and insult Fagan Murray got old, real fast, and in this Grace is a difficult character to like.
The world building continues to focus on some of the political temperament of the time-spies, leadership, and the ruling class. Scotland and England are constantly at war and a marriage between a Highland Warrior and the British nobility is never an easily accepted arrangement. Victoria Roberts take the reader through the breathtaking Scottish Highlands, rolling hills, and trickling streams of cool waters and darkened caves. Close your eyes and find yourself in the land of green grass and Highland castles.
KILTS AND DAGGERS is a story of adventure, romance and love. There are moments of lighthearted humor balanced with heartbreak and betrayal. The beautiful Scottish Highlands take center stage in a storyline where two very different people fight a war with words and their heart.
Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.
Reviewed by Sandy
“Then call me Fagan. Mister Murray was my father’s name anyway.”
Grace looked around and then softened her voice. “Now is that truly appropriate?”
“I told ye before. Ye’re a long way from England, lass. Lest ye forget, ye’re in the Highlands now. We do things differently here.”
She lifted a brow. “How could I forget?”
“Ruairi said ye’ll be staying with us for a few weeks. More to the point, I already call Ruairi’s wife Ravenna.” He turned up his smile a notch. “Ye and I are practically like family. Ye will call me Fagan, and I will call ye Grace, or I could always call ye bhana-phrionnsa. I’ll be kind enough to give ye a choice.”
“Ravenna may permit you to call her by her Christian name, but I certainly do not, Mister Murray. Although you do make me laugh, I’m afraid you and I are far from family.”
***
When Grace’s eyes smoldered, Fagan knew he shouldn’t get too close to the flame for fear of getting burned. There was still enough time to take his leave. Otherwise, he’d be verbally sparring with a lass in the middle of the great hall. Ruairi would no doubt have his head for causing mischief with his kin so soon after the wedding.
Fagan slapped both hands on the table and casually stood. Instinctively, he took another step back in case the lass suddenly had a strong urge to reach across the table and throttle him—or worse. Nevertheless, once she heard what he was about to say, the table wouldn’t provide enough space between them.
“Verra well then. I think bhana-phrionnsa suits ye quite nicely.” When Grace’s cheeks turned scarlet, Fagan smiled. “Donna say I didnae warn ye. Remember I did give ye a choice.” He winked at her and then turned on his heel.
“Wait!”
He had a hard time trying to mask his smile. He turned around slowly and lifted a brow. “Aye?”
Grace flew to her feet, walked around the table, and closed the distance between them. She lifted her head, and by the way she was unsteady on her feet, he swore the daft lass was standing on the tips of her toes in a futile attempt to look him level in the eye.
“England and Scotland have been warring for centuries, Mister Murray, yet somehow Scotland has never won.” Lifting her skirts, she brushed his arm with her shoulder and took a few steps away from him.
That was until he called after her and stopped her dead in her tracks. “Cuine a chì mi a-ris thu, Grace?” When will I see you again? He made certain he said the words as though he spoke to his lover, which obviously had the desired effect because her whole body stiffened, and then she left him without a backward glance. Fagan’s mood was suddenly buoyant. He wasn’t exactly sure why he loved to unnerve Princess Grace, but he had one hell of a time doing it.
To celebrate the release of KILTS AND DAGGERS, the second title in Victoria Roberts’ Highland Spies series, Fagan Murray, the strong and handsome captain of Laird Sutherland’s guard has agreed to sit down with us and answer our questions so you can know more about this rugged Highlander!
Complete this sentence: Not many people know this, but Grace is really good at ______.
Driving me gray. In all seriousness, she’s really good at telling me what to do.
If you had two weeks to travel and unlimited funds, where would you go?
I already live in Scotland. Why would I want to go anywhere else?
My Highland Spy
Highland Spies #1
by Victoria Roberts
Genre: adult, historical, Highland, romance
Release Date: September 2, 2014
ebook ONLY $1.99 : 
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Click HERE for Sandy’s review of MY HIGHLAND SPY
ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 2, 2014
This Highland Laird won’t bow to the Crown
Laird Ruairi Sutherland refuses to send his only son away to be educated by the English. And he most definitely will not appear in Edinburgh to pay homage to a liege who has no respect for Scotland. So he does what any laird would do—he lies to the king. The last thing Ruairi expects is a beautiful English governess to appear on his doorstep.
But this lady spy might make him…
Lady Ravenna Walsingham is a seasoned spy who is sent to the savage Highlands to uncover a nefarious plot against the Crown. Playing the part of an English governess—a job easier said than done—she infiltrates the home of Laird Sutherland, a suspected conspirator.
If she doesn’t betray him first
Ravenna soon discovers that the only real threat Sutherland poses is to her heart. But will the proud Highland laird ever forgive her when he discovers the woman he loves in an English spy?
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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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Giveaway for 3 copies of MY HIGHLAND SPY by Victoria Roberts
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