Mesmerized by a Roguish HighlanderA Historical Scottish Romance Novel Maddie MacKenna Edited by Maggie Berry Contents A Gift from the Highlands Scottish Brogue Glossary Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Epilogue Extended Epilogue Preview: Captivating a Highland Warrior 1. Revelations 2. Regret Is A Lousy Friend 3. A New Ally Also by Maddie MacKenna About the Author A Gift from the Highlands Thank you very much for purchasing my book. It really means a lot to me, because this is the best way to show me your love and support! As a way to show you my gratitude, I have written a full length novel for you, called Highlander’s Untamed Bride. It’s only available to people who have downloaded one of my books and you can get your free copy by tapping the image below or this link here. Once again, I can’t thank you enough for your support! Maddie MacKenna Scottish Brogue Glossary Here is a very useful glossary my good friend and fellow author Lydia Kendall sent to me, that will help you better understand the Scottish Brogue used: aboot - about ach - oh afore - before an' - and anythin - anything a'side - beside askin' - asking a'tween - between auld - old aye - yes bampot - a jerk bare bannock- a type of biscuit bearin' - bearing beddin' - bedding or sleeping with bellend - a vulgar slang word blethering - blabbing blootered - drunk bonnie - beautiful or pretty bonniest - prettiest cannae - cannot chargin' - charging cheesin' - happy clocked - noticed c'mon- come on couldn'ae - couldn't coupla - couple of crivens - hell cuddie - idiot dae - do dinin' - dining dinnae - didn't or don't disnae - doesn't dobber - idiot doesn'ae - doesn't dolton - idiot doon - down dram - a measure of whiskey efter - after eh' - right 'ere - here fer - for frein - friend fey - from gae - get or give git - a contemptible person gonnae - going to greetin' - dying hae - have hald - hold haven'ae - haven't heed - head heedstart - head start hid - had hoovered - gobbled intoxicated - drunk kip - rest lass - young girl leavin - leaving legless - drunk me - my nae - not no' - not noo - now nothin' - nothing, oan - on o' - of Och - an Olympian spirit who rules the sun oot- out packin- packing pished - drunk scooby - clue scran - food shite - shit sittin' - sitting so's - so as somethin' - something soonds ' sounds stonking - stinking tae - to teasin' - teasing thrawn - perverse, ill-tempered tryin' - trying wallops - idiot wee -small wheest - talking whit's - what's wi'- with wid - would wisnae - was not withoot - without wouldnae - wouldn't ya - you ye - you yea - yes ye'll - you'll yer - your yerself - yourself ye're - you're ye've - you've About the Book He will protect her from anything. But the enemy is closer than he thinks... Raised in a God-fearing family, Mary Thompson suffocates under her parents’ constant control. When her strict father announces she is to marry a man she despises, she flees. Alone in unfamiliar territory, she has but one choice to ensure her survival: she poses as a voiceless maid. Leith Balloch, son of the Laird of Lenichton, is determined to find the cure to his father’s inexplicable madness. What he stumbles across instead is a breathtaking English lass that instantly captures all of his senses. Lost in their all-consuming feelings for each other, they fail to realize that someone knows. And someone always tells. A threatening note appears on Mary's bed, along with a promise of doom. When Mary is thrown into the dungeons for bearing witness to an abominable act with the potential to destroy them all, Leith has to fight his demons in order to save her. And sometimes those demons wear a familiar face... 1 Harlington, England, 1670 Forgive me God, but this man is…repugnant. Is this truthfully the man my parents want me to marry? He’s almost three times my age! Mary Thompson’s sapphire eyes were fixed on James Darby, the Viscount of Blackmore, with dismay. Seated across from him on the dinner table in her father’s house, Mary had to force her face. The man, aged over fifty years, was touted to be as pious as her parents but how was he so odious? What part did piety have with gluttony? The man had two-and-a-half chins, for God’s sake, and was built like the carriage he had come in. This was the third time she had been with the lord, and without fail, he had not done a thing to impress her. On his first visit, he had spoken endlessly about the misdeeds of King Charles the Second. She had pretended to pay attention, but his droning voice had almost put her to sleep. Then, on his second, they had taken a walk but merely twenty steps in the man had begun wheezing. He couldn’t even coordinate walking and talking. Now, she was seeing another side of him that moved her impression of him from dismay to pure repulsion. Her appetite had vanished after she had seen the lord pile five portions of roasted fowl on his plate. He sloshed wine down his chin when he guzzled his drink and did not refuse the polite offers for a second helping. The man was a glutton. How could her parents not see that? She looked over her father, Oliver Thompson, the Baron of Harlington, begging him with her eyes to see what she saw in James. Her father was not looking at her, instead, he was staring impassively at James from the head of the table. Her mother, Rebecca, was quoting something from the Old Testament that Mary could not follow because she had not heard what had come before it. Her attention was trapped with James. “Isn’t that right, Mary?” Calmly shifting her gaze to her mother who had asked the question, she nodded, “Yes, Mother, it is.” Truthfully, she had not the faintest idea what her mother had said, but she had learned a long time ago to just nod and say yes in these instances. She forced herself to pick the fork back up and spear a chunk of meat. Chewing it was a chore, but she managed to get it down. She began to ache
