Dear Reader,
I hope you have had as much fun reading Dark Seduction as I have had writing it. I had a blast and fell head over heels for Malcolm, just like Claire!
Branching out into the paranormal genre has been an excuse for me to do even sexier, more powerful heroes—and to dabble in my favorite time period, the Middle Ages. I chose contemporary heroines because I can think of nothing better than being swept into the past by a medieval hunk!
As always, I started by doing a lot of research into medieval Scotland, because my muse said these Masters would be Highlanders.
Knowing that, I began to search for my hero’s name.
I finally decided on Malcolm, the English version of Calum.
I also dared to pick a clan for him, and my muse told me it would be the Macleans.
Then I had to decide where in the Highlands his castle sits.
I’d already made some decisions about the shrine being on Iona, so I picked the island of Mull, as it is an easy trip from one to the other.
I was still researching, and lo and behold, I learned that Mull was Maclean territory!
I was really surprised and then thrilled.
However, this kind of coincidence has often occurred for me when I write anything at all historical.
It gets better. Duart is the seat of the Macleans of Mull.
That is on the north shore. I decided to divide the clan up so Malcolm could be laird, and I still had to choose a location for Dunroch.
I chose the island’s south shore so it would be a very easy trip by sea to Iona.
And then I bought a contemporary map of Scotland. Thus far, I’d been using very specific maps in the historical texts I was reading—clan maps and historical maps. Where I placed Dunroch are cliffs called Malcolm’s Point.
That is a fact. Coincidence? Who knows!
Malcolm is a fictional character, as is his father, Brogan Mor. Mull was not divided between two branches of the Maclean clan as I have portrayed. But Red Hector, the Maclean of Duart, did die at the bloody battle of Red Harlaw in 1411.
I have also taken great liberty with the ancient and respectable name of Moray.
The lords and later the earls of Moray have played significant roles in Highland history and I have completely fabricated the demonization of the early-fifteenth-century earl of Moray, who bears no resemblance to any historical or living member of the Moray family and line.
Black Royce’s story is next. As you know, Royce is very tired and very alone, in spite of his close ties to Malcolm and Aidan.
He has spent more than eight hundred years fighting the Deamhanain and protecting Innocence, and he has seen the worst evil can offer.
But most important, he has been tormented for all that time with guilt for his failure to protect his bride from evil when he was newly chosen.
He has not allowed himself any intimacy with a woman since.
But his world is about to be turned upside down, and the catalyst is named Allie Monroe.
Allie is tiny, beautiful, feisty and determined. The world thinks her an heiress devoted to charity, but she has a huge secret. She is a Healer, and she has vowed to never turn her back on any living being or creature in need.
At midnight Allie slips from her family’s mansion to cruise the city, healing the victims of evil crime. But that isn’t enough. Allie hates evil passionately and wants to vanquish it. That is, she is a wannabe warrior.
Because she is five feet tall and ninety-nine pounds, she is not equipped to do battle, not under any circumstance.
It frustrates her that her powers are limited to healing, and she has an arsenal of weapons and gadgets to try to get the job done.
When Royce appears during a political fund-raiser at her home, hunting a Deamhan, he is both horrified and mesmerized to see such a woman trying to battle the Deamhanain!
And she is thrilled that a superhero is finally on the side of the good guys!
There are a few problems. Allie takes one look at Royce and wants him, badly.
He takes one look at her and wants her even more, but he senses that if he starts with her, he will get involved.
He was involved once; he will never make the same mistake.
How should he protect her from evil, as he was told to do by MacNeil, and avoid any entanglements?
You can guess what happens next! Sparks and tempers fly! Passions arise. And Allie must fight far more than evil. She must fight for Royce’s life and fight to heal his black heart….