Cassian (The Immortal Highland Centurions #2) - Jayne Castel Page 0,87
break the curse upon him and his friends, he must wed a woman he can’t stand.
The lady in question has just escaped a loveless marriage. The last thing she wants is to enter another one—especially to the cold, brutal warrior who fights at William Wallace’s side.
When the English king hears that Wallace is hiding at Dunnottar Castle, and lays siege to the fortress—Draco and the widow must band together against this common foe. But are they prepared to take things a step further and sacrifice their own happiness to break an ancient curse?
Book #3 in The Immortal Highland Centurion series, DRACO is the dramatic conclusion to a high-octane romance trilogy about three cursed Roman soldiers and the brave-hearted Scottish women who love them.
Preorder your copy of DRACO today, and it’ll be delivered to your Kindle on December 3rd!
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FROM THE AUTHOR
I hope you enjoyed the second installment in THE IMMORTAL HIGHLAND CENTURIONS.
CASSIAN was an emotional book to write. I really felt for Cassian’s situation, while at the same time wanting to give him a shake for being so guarded and stubborn. Aila was a fascinating heroine—a young woman full of contradictions. I loved seeing her blossom as the story progressed.
Unrequited love is one of my favorite romance tropes. Having said that, this is the first one I’ve done where the woman is the one who’s hopelessly in love. It was a powerful theme to explore, as was the fact that pain is just part of love—and if we seek to avoid it at all costs, we avoid living. I found this story a real ‘old-school’ romance—there were so many fun scenes to write.
I’m afraid I’ve left you with a bit of a cliff-hanger at the end of Book #2 (insert evil author laugh here!), but fear not, dear reader, for Book #3 is already on preorder and due very soon!
Once again there’s quite a bit of historical background that went into this novel (read my historical notes below for details on it), and it was great fun to bring Edward of England into the plot. As you might have guessed, we’re not done with him yet either!
Get ready for Draco’s story, coming in a month’s time!
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Jayne x
HISTORICAL NOTES
Once again, these notes are lengthy—but worth the read if you like a bit of historical background insight! Some of these are repeated from the notes at the back of Maximus (for those of you who haven’t read Book 1), but there are also some additional details I think you’ll enjoy learning about.
As those of you who’ve read Book #1 will know, this tale hinges around the story of the Ninth legion—a legion of five thousand men who marched into the wilds of Caledonia in around 118 AD and were never seen again.
The Ninth legion was also called ‘the Hispana’, or Spanish legion. The generals and commander would have all been Roman, but most of the legion was made up of soldiers from Hispania (Spain). Cassian comes from what is now northern Spain, and the Roman fort of Brigantium—now the town of A Coruña, in Galicia.
Halley’s Comet is a prominent feature in the whole series. Back in the Dark Ages and Medieval period, it didn’t go by that name (as it was named after the scientist who ‘discovered’ it in 1758). Instead, there are references to it being called ‘the fire-tailed star’. Maximus calls it ‘the Broom-star’, which was actually a name that Chinese astronomers attached to the comet. Halley’s Comet appears in our skies every 75-76 years, and in ancient times it was often heralded as an ill omen. The comet actually appeared in the night-sky in the months preceding the Norman invasion of England, something which the English blamed for their defeat. The Bayeux tapestry even shows the comet! The year in which this series takes place, 1301, was a year in which the comet was sighted.
Dunnottar does mean ‘fort on the shelving slope’ in Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Fhoithear. The castle is a mighty stronghold perched on cliffs on the north-eastern coast of Scotland. The castle was taken by the English in the final years of the 13th Century and then liberated by William Wallace and his