Haunted by horrors of his childhood, Dugan MacMillan has sworn to protect his clan at any cost . . . even if he must search for a rumored treasure and kidnap a beautiful thief to do it.
The MacMillan laird has never crossed paths with anyone quite like Lady Maura Duncanson. After he saved her from certain death, the comely vixen had the audacity to disappear with his treasure map, his only key to restoring his clan. Dugan has no qualms about taking Maura hostage, especially when he learns she is to wed a wealthy old baron who will pay him a fortune in ransom . . . a fortune his people desperately need.
But, of course, Maura has no intention of returning to her despicable fiancÉ. And the longer Dugan spends in the bewitching hellion’s presence, the less willing he is to surrender her to any man . . . at any price.
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I cannot tell you how pleased I am that I finally got the chance to write a hunky hero in a kilt! After my most recent books (five Regencies and two Regency novellas) a character named Laird Dugan MacMillan of Braemore, jumped into my imagination and would not let me go. Luckily, when I told my editor about him, she fell a little bit in love, too. What followed was my August release from Avon Books,The Warrior Laird.
Dugan MacMillan is the first of the MacMillan heroes – a braw highlander who wears plaid. And wears it well, indeed!
Dugan is usually a gentle warrior, unless you threaten his clan. And the duke of Argyll does exactly that in The Warrior Laird. As laird, Dugan isn’t about to take the threat of eviction lying down, so when he figures a way he might be able to pay his rents and keep his land, he goes after it. Much to his brother’s chagrin, he follows a vague rumor about a hidden cache of gold – the solution to all his problems.
The search involves a treasure map that’s been torn in quarters, and Dugan has only two of the quarters. It’s a risk – going after a hidden treasure. But if he can find another piece of the map, and figure out how to interpret its odd symbols, he’ll have a great chance to enrich his clan beyond belief, and beyond any further harassment from the hateful old duke.
As he begins his quest, Dugan’s path crosses that of Maura Duncanson, whose own purpose is in direct conflict with his own. Maura is the black sheep daughter of a royalist earl, who despises her parents for banishing her beloved youngest sister to the remote highlands with a cruel stick of a nurse. Poor Rosie is mentally and physically handicapped, and Maura knows that one more harsh winter in the highlands could kill her sweet sister. When Maura meets Dugan, and learns about the gold … well, she just can’t help but manipulate him into giving her assistance in finding young Rosie. Sure, she feels a wee bit guilty about it, but her quest is no less important than Dugan’s.
Of course Dugan and Maura bump heads – and other body parts – during the course of this story. I decided to stay away from the politics of the era (mostly) in order to concentrate on Dugan’s and Maura’s goals and the conflicts between them. Each character has to fight for what he or she loves most, and they come to love each other in the process. But be warned: they are a couple of stubborn Scots. J
One of the main characters in this book is the villain, and some parts of the story are told from his point of view. My editor warned me not to make him a weird, mustache-twisting rogue, and I think I succeeded in making him a three-dimensional character. What do you think? Do you like to read other characters – especially the villain’s – point of view? Tell me what you think, and I’ll pick one participant to receive a copy of my last book, BRAZEN .
Romantic Times said: Maguire’s latest may be her most emotionally moving novel yet. Replete with incredible passion and characters who quickly grab readers’ heartstrings, THE WARRIOR LAIRD will not be easily forgotten.
Publisher’s Weekly said: Maguire makes smooth, fast-paced writing look effortless.
Romance Junkies said: Despite having many issues at stake in this story, it never gets confusing as it takes readers on a delicious romp across Scotland. Cleverly written, this delightful story is packed with adventure, sizzling situations, deceit, complex characters, clever repartee, a hidden treasure, mystery, suspense and romance. As a longtime fan of Ms. Maguire’s works, I highly recommend THE WARRIOR LAIRD and look forward to seeing what she comes up with next. Do not miss it!!
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For more information about Margo and her backlist, visit www.margomaguire.com. And remember to leave a comment answering the question for a chance to win BRAZEN. Good luck!
Honorary Mention of Book Sluts 'R' Us Blogger Awards by 
RR@H Novel Thoughts & Book Talk 
off course…i like point of view from hero and heroines….but seldom to read about villain’s pov..
i think that;s interesting…because we’ll know about the villain charracter and what make him become a bad guy…
thx u for the chance of win..
i love HR novels with medieval setting…:)
-nurma-
chikojubilee at gmail dot com
I hope you’ll try this one, even though there’s a villain POV. I think it rounds out the story and gives more insight into the heroine’s motivations.
Sexy cover, and Scotland? Hero in Kilt? The next thing I want to get into 😉
Heh. Right? 🙂
I hope you’ll let me know how you like it!
It depends on the villain, that’s for sure! I don’t like to read Romantic Suspense when we get the villain’s point of view, because I get too creeped out (I’m a wuss). But in other books it can make the villain a more complex character – he might not actually be as bad as you think, a la Sebastian in A Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas!
This particular villain will never be redeemable as Sebastian was in A Devil in Winter! But he’s not truly an evil guy. He has issues! What can I say??
Nice review! I love highlanders myself and this one looks right up my alley. I also love the cover. Beautiful.
Thank you, Eileen! I agree about the cover. LOVE those colors!
I do like some different point of views besides the hero and heroine’s. It gives you an idea of what else is happening in the plot as a whole.
That’s what I was thinking when I wrote him in. I wanted to give more information about where the heroine was coming from, and the villain was the best way to do that.
congratulations for your last book!
actually I like a story with point of view not just from the heroine but also from the hero. if it has villain’s point of view even better unlike most stories, but the proportions should be noted.
Thank you, Izz!
Yes, I think an author has to be careful to tell the story of the main characters and keep the proportions right. But I needed to get out some more info about the heroine. In this story, the villain was the best thing I could think of to accomplish that.
Congrats on your release! I just love a hunky hero in a kilt!
Oh yeah. (Can’t think of anyone who doesn’t!)
In suspense/mystery books, the villain’s pov is sometimes offered and
that definitely adds to the mystery. Anything more than a hint of sus-
pense would ruin the story for me! If I knew that the villain would have
a larger voice in the tale, I probably would not purchase the book!
Pat Cochran
I agree, Pat. The author should not give away more than necessary!
In THE WARRIOR LAIRD, the villain is the heroine’s royalist escort. She is the daughter of a royalist earl, so that makes sense. But she is the black sheep… bucking against authority…
I have enjoyed different points of view before… it would be interesting to see the view of the villian. Beautiful book cover… sounds like a book I would enjoy. Thanks for sharing! 😀
I hope you give it a try, Colleen! I promise a great adventure. And a couple who rises above their obstacles to find their HEA.
Thanks for the nice guestpost Margo, and congrats on the new book. I do like reading about the villain’s point of view, it adds a certain creep factor to the book, knowing what evil things are going to happen and being curious how the main couple will defeat it.
Looking forward to reading the book someday 🙂
I hope you DO get a chance, xaurianx! Hey, beach reading season is still on. 🙂
I like to get inside the villain’s mind. Learn what makes them the way they are. It brings more to the story when there’s sub plots going on. This sounds like a really good read and I can’t wait to meet Dugan. Thank you for the chance in the giveaway. 🙂
It can be very interesting to get the villian’s point of view – to find out why they do what they do – are they just crazy, or egocentric, want revenge for something? Do they regret what they’ve done?
Exactly! You don’t want the villain’s actions coming “out of the blue.” You want to know why he’s so bent on doing what he does.
I do like to read other characters point of view – and to get a glimpse into the villain’s mind is always interesting.
Hi Barbara! You’re here, too!
Yes, that glimpse into the villain’s mind was exactly what I was going for.
A little bit more info and insight into a villain is welcome. The story has to be believable and some vague guy comming in, making trouble and dissapearing after heroic acts from H/H is not for me.
Exactly! In this story, I couldn’t just come up with a convenient bad guy at the end to cause trouble. I needed a confluence of events – and had to have the reader aware of the villain’s actions throughout the whole novel.
I think it depends on the story. If there is a consistent change in POV, then I like to see the villain’s point of view. However, I hate it when the POV is the same character for half or more of the book and then all of a sudden it changes. So, if the point of view regularly changes, it is good.
Oh yeah! I agree 100%. That’s why there’s a consistent thread with this villain’s POV and his progress throughout the novel. It’s not as heavily weighted as the H&H’s, but it’s definitely consistent.
i agree, it depends on the story. i like romantic suspense.. historical.
and great cover too.
To be honest, it really depends for me and I can’t say until I’ve actually read a different character’s POV in the specific story. Sometimes, I find it very interesting to switch to another POV but there are other times where I would find it annoying to be reading from another character’s POV if it doesn’t add anything to the story or if I just don’t like that character’s voice.
I think you’re right about that, Winnie. You don’t want to read another character’s POV if it doesn’t add anything to the story.
I like reading different points of view. It would be interesting to read about a villain’s point of view.
I hope so!
I don’t mind reading from a villain’s perspective. It can help me understand a story better and it makes things interesting. Different POVs allows me to see a story from various sides and I feel a story is better read that way.
That’s what I was thinking as I wrote him. It adds a perspective the reader actually needs in order to understand the whole story.
Sometimes having different a POV can enhance the story. You get a much fuller picture of what everyone is thinking.
What a beautiful cover! Honestly, I’ve never before read of your books and now I’m so want to buy and read them all, especially this one.
I really don’t mind reading something from the villain’s POV. Sometimes it raises the thrill of what’s going to happen next, is he/she going to make it or not. Of course as long as it’s not too much, or else it would make me wondering, who’s exactly the main character? 🙂