Organising parties and making Tigh na Locha so welcoming that he would never want to leave. Driving out with him to rescue animals caught in the snowdrifts. That was the kiss of death on our relationship.’įliss knew that in Fiona’s place she would have stayed at his side, reading by the big fire in the library while he and Murdo went over the accounts. Now, looking back – I realise that I didn’t court her enough or pay her enough attention. When I came back for the New Year I was so immersed in estate business that I didn’t see how isolated and neglected she was feeling. As a result, Fiona spent a lonely Christmas at Tigh na Locha, waiting for me to return home from Australia. That particular winter, Mitzi and the girls decamped for Angus’s villa in Barbados in early December as soon as their term ended at boarding school. ‘It can be really bleak here in the winter when the tourists leave and everything shuts down. She knew how much it cost him to admit that he’d failed at something as fundamental as getting his bride to the altar and making a life with her, so she gave his hand an encouraging squeeze. He drew breath as though it was important that she understood. My fiancée – Fiona, was used to the diversions of Edinburgh, London and Paris, foolishly I brought her to Kinloch Mara where none of those things exists.’

But it didn’t – and the fault’s entirely mine.

‘Fliss, it’s no secret I was in a relationship which I thought would go the distance. He’s taken Fliss there so he can explain how his reluctance to commit to their relationship has its roots in the not too distant past. The action takes place on a remote hill overlooking the Ruairi’s highland estate. Can Fliss tame the Monarch of the Glen and find the happiness she deserves? Here’s the extract. Facing the dole queue once more Fliss resolves to make sexy, infuriating Ruairi revise his unflattering opinion of her, turn the therapy centre around and sort out his dysfunctional family. He’s determined to pull the plug on the business, bring his eccentric family to heel and eject undesirables from his estate – starting with Fliss. Fliss’s romantic view of the highlands populated by Men in Kilts is shattered when she has an upclose and personal encounter with the Laird of Kinloch Mara, Ruairi Urquhart. The centre lies five hundred miles north in Wester Ross, Scotland. She’s offered the chance to take over a failing therapy centre, but there’s a catch. After attending a party in Notting Hill she loses her job and with it the dream of being her own boss. įliss Bagshawe longs for a passport out of Pimlico where she works as a holistic therapist. This extract is from my novel Tall, Dark and Kilted– A contemporary romance set in the Highlands of Scotland.

Tall, Dark and Kilted by Lizzie Lamb