The Highland Ladies series is a spin-off to my first series, The Clan Sinclair, and follows the lives of ladies-in-waiting at King Robert the Bruce’s court. If you are a fan of Highlander romances, then you have surely encountered the time period that spans the Wars of Scottish Independence, along with the rise and reign of Robert the Bruce.
While I was intentionally vague about the time period and royal couple in The Clan Sinclair, there is little way to avoid the history of Robert the Bruce when this series takes place predominantly at Stirling Castle after he was crowned king. I have taken creative license in a number of areas, especially the creation of characters, but the events and clan dynamics are true to history.
A Beauty at the Highland Court tackles more than one social issue. Never one to shy away from a challenge, I’ve jumped in with both feet to create a story that depicts social pressures and expectations based upon beauty, anxiety, and alcoholism. Arabella Johnstone is once again a product of my imagination, but she mirrors the struggle many women face when reality can never live up to expectation.
All locations in this story are real, just as in all my other books. The exception are the taverns mentioned. Those are also a product of my imagination. I’ve had readers ask how I estimate the time it takes for characters to travel from place to place. I work on the premise that a horse can travel on average 20 miles per day given the terrain our medieval characters would have faced.
Inchcailleoch Priory is a setting mentioned in more than one book in The Highland Ladies series. It was supposedly referred to as the “island of old women,” but there is no historical record to specify what monastic order of nuns may have resided there. The name is what leads historians to speculate there was a monastic house on the island of Inchailleoch, located in Loch Lomand.
It often seems like clan rivalries and alliances changed with the wind. Given Scotland’s notorious weather, this meant often. Depending upon the political climate and relationships with other clans, friends became enemies just like enemies became friends. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Clan Gunn is featured prominently in this book, and their discord with Clan Keith and Clan Mackay was true to fact, but it happened in the 15th century rather than the 14th. Their adversarial relationship with the Mackays, who were rivals with the Sinclairs, begins in The Clan Sinclair series. I “solved” the real animosity between the Mackays and Sinclairs with Mairghread and Tristan’s story in His Highland Lass, making the Mackays and Sinclairs allies. Fictitious members of Clan Gunn become enemies to the Sinclairs in His Bonnie Highland Temptation and His Highland Prize.
Clan Gunn and Clan Sutherland allied during the 16th century, but there is not significant record of their relationship during the 14th century, so for the purposes of my storytelling, they did not get along. Clan Sinclair and Clan Sutherland had a shifting relationship depending upon the century. To weave my stories, I chose to focus on the time when there was no feuding. The marriage between Kyla Sutherland and Liam Sinclair in Their Highland Beginning lays the foundation for their alliance, which meant Clan Gunn became the Sutherlands’ enemy too. Complicated? Just a little, but alliances and feuds were a way of life for the rugged Highlanders who fought for their land and their clan’s survival.
Clan Johnstone was a border clan and were well known reivers. They battled the English, often crossing the border to steal or reclaim (depending upon whose side you take) livestock. For more than six centuries, they held considerable power and influence in the West Marches, protecting the land from the English. This is briefly mentioned in this story as well as the clan’s one-time allegiance to King Edward I in the late 1200s. A member of their clan was appointed Warden of the Western March nearly one hundred years later in the late 1300s, which is well past the setting for this series, but this is another instance where I took creative license on dates.
I hope you enjoy this tale that’s been foreshadowed since A Wallflower at the Highland Court. Please consider leaving a review to share with other readers to let them know enjoyed this installment in The Highland Ladies.
Happy reading,
Celeste
Character Name Pronunciation
There are names used in this story that because of their Gaelic etymology are not phonetic for