Highland Bad Lads, Why Do We Love Them? by @LauraSt05038951 #99cents #scottishromance #romance
top of page
  • N. N. Light
    • Aug 11, 2020
    • 5 min read

Highland Bad Lads, Why Do We Love Them? by @LauraSt05038951 #99cents #scottishromance #romance



I don’t know about you, but I love Scottish Historical Romance. I enjoy both reading and writing it, because it takes me out of the everyday and lets me escape to a world where I’ve always secretly wanted to live. And that can do a woman good—especially now!

I love the pageantry of stories about Bonnie Prince Charlie and Culloden, depictions of craggy mountains and bleak, heather-covered moors. I love those heroes, who so often show up with kilts a-swirl and swords flashing. I even enjoy the mood created by all that mist and rain.

But lately I’ve started wondering—what about those Scottish bad boys, or should I call them bad lads? Confession time here: I think I like them best of all. Give me a Highland bad lad any day…maybe it’s the wicked gleam in his eye, that promises he won’t be bound by rules, and can give the sweetest—and hottest—kisses. Quite likely, it’s the Highland accent, that low, rough burr that makes the heart beat faster. It might have something to do with his strength, and daring, or the fact that he’s as difficult to control as a Scottish gale.

I’ve written my share of Highland bad lads. My first book for The Wild Rose Press, Devil Black, was based on the fact that my hero, Dougal MacRae, had earned the name "Diabhal Dubh", which literally translates from the Gaelic to Devil Black. In the past, he’s done terrible things, including highway robbery and seduction. This is no gentle soul lurking beneath a gruff exterior. Dougal’s a Highland savage whose actions are dictated only by his own desire to survive. What happens when such a man meets a woman whose spirit speaks to his? Now, there’s a story!

Or, take Finnan MacAllister, from my story His Wicked Highland Ways. This is a hero who has caused readers to shout aloud at him while reading, because the things he does are truly, well, wicked. He deliberately sets out to break my heroine’s heart. Will he carry through with it, once his own heart is engaged? The answer to that will have you, too, screaming, because he’s just as irresistible as he is a bad lad. (Note: His Wicked Highland Ways is available in audio, narrated by a native Scot whose voice will make you melt. Try listening to him in the dark!)

And perhaps that’s what makes us enjoy reading about those Scottish heroes so much. Through the pages of a book, we can venture where we might not dare to go, in real life. For a time, we can taste the danger, and experience the wild pleasure of holding a Highland bad lad in our arms, all from the safety of our own living rooms. Go ahead, and take a walk through that wild Scottish mist. You know you want to!

Title: Devil Black

Author: Laura Strickland

Genre: Scottish Historical Romance

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Book Blurb:

Disgraced in her father's eyes, Isobel Maitland travels to Scotland, determined to purchase her sister's happiness at the cost of her own. But when her coach is held up and she is abducted by a dangerous highwayman, she faces an unexpected choice: suffer the loveless union to which she has resigned herself, or marry this ruthless, Scottish outlaw who can ignite her desire with a single touch.

They call him "Diabhal Dubh" - Devil Black - and he spends his days terrorizing the countryside, trying to outdistance the memories that torture him. The King has decreed he must settle and take a wife. And when he steals the alluring woman betrothed to his enemy, Dougal MacRae sees a way to both answer the King's demand and obtain the revenge he has sought so long...

Excerpt:

He saw her bosom rise as she struggled to breathe. Aye, well, most women about to be plundered experienced some fear, especially those gently bred. He would get her past it.

He unlaced his tunic, shrugged out of it, shot his sleeves and hauled open his shirt. Her eyes widened. “You said you would not force me.”

“And I shall not.” He approached her carefully, as one might a skittish pony, reached out, and captured her face between his hands. He could see her pulse stir the lace at her throat.

His eyes swept her for an instant before he bent his head and kissed her, intending to keep it gentle and ease her into offering herself to him. He—they both—had felt the heat that simmered. He need only tap into that, then ride her till dawn.

Aye, he meant to be gentle, but the instant his lips met hers that fire came leaping. His mouth turned savage on hers and all the sense in his head burned away.

A fire like this could consume them both.

For a glorious instant, they both hung on the point of flame. Then she drew away and uttered one word: “Please!”

His hands, already at work, had slid beneath the collar of the green gown, pushing it from her shoulders. He craved the taste of her skin and, lovely as the gown was, wanted it off her. With difficulty, he focused on her face.

“Aye, Lady Wife?”

Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):

On sale for 99 cents for a very limited time! Grab your copy today!


Author Biography:

Multi-award-winning author Laura Strickland delights in time traveling to the past and searching out settings for her books, be they Historical Romance, Steampunk or something in between. Her first Scottish Historical hero, Devil Black, battled his way onto the publishing scene in 2013, and the author never looked back. Nor has she tapped the limits of her imagination. Venturing beyond Historical and Contemporary Romance, she created a new world with her ground-breaking Buffalo Steampunk Adventure series set in her native city, in Western New York. Married and the parent of one grown daughter, Laura has also been privileged to mother a number of very special rescue dogs, and is intensely interested in animal welfare. These days while she's writing, you can always find her latest rescue, Lacy, nearby. Her love of dogs, and her lifelong interest in Celtic history, magic and music, are all reflected in her writing. Laura's mantra is Lore, Legend, Love, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

Social Media Links:

Author Twitter:

Laura Strickland Author @LauraSt05038951

bottom of page