Twelve Days of Christmas in a Highlander's Arms: a Yuletide set of Medieval historical romances Read online

  Copyright

  All twelve books within this anthology are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. With the exception of well-known historical figures and places, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, now known or hereafter invented, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the applicable author, except for the use of brief quotations in a critical article or book review.

  The license granted herein is to read this ebook for entertainment or literary criticism purposes only. Without limiting the generality of the forgoing, any use of this work for machine learning or artificial intelligence training purposes is not included under the license and is expressly prohibited.

  Copyright © 2020 - applicable to all authors listed within this boxed set.

  Full copyright remains with each author.

  Stock Photography by Period Images

  Cover Design by Victoria Cooper

  The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The scanning, uploading, or distribution of this book without explicit written permission is theft of intellectual property. Thank you for your support of our authorial rights.

  Being an international collection, you’ll find both American and British conventions for spelling and punctuation in this edition. No error is intended. Each author has written according to their preferred (and usual) style.

  The copyright applies to the following stories:

  Loving Her Highland Enemy - by Samantha Holt

  Highland Dove - by Elizabeth Rose

  The Kitchen Maid’s Tale - by Hildie McQueen

  Brenna's Yuletide Song - by Cathy MacRae

  Ringing in Yule - by Sky Purington

  Highlander's Christmas - by Mariah Stone

  Highland Swan - by Anna Markland

  The Lady's Guide to a Highlander's Heart - by Emmanuelle de Maupassant

  The Laird's Midnight Dancer - by Ashe Barker

  An Angel at the Highland Court - by Celeste Barclay

  The Piper - by Lily Baldwin

  Scot Under the Mistletoe - by Caroline Lee

  Contents

  Your Invitation

  Foreword

  A little about the ‘Twelve Days’ song…

  Twelve Gorgeous Novellas

  Loving Her Highland Enemy

  Highland Dove

  The Kitchen Maid's Tale

  Brenna's Yuletide Song

  Ringing in Yule

  Highlander's Christmas

  Highland Swan

  The Lady's Guide to a Highlander's Heart

  The Laird's Midnight Dancer

  An Angel at the Highland Court

  The Piper

  Scot Under the Mistletoe

  Reviews

  Your Invitation

  Your Invitation

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  Dear Reader

  On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me....

  Welcome to our anthology of twelve passionate Yuletide tales, filled with Highland warrior heroes, brave and true. Honor-bound and sworn to protect, they're about to meet their match in twelve feisty heroines.

  Amidst the wild Scottish mountains, the snow is falling deep, but these stories of love await to warm your heart—one for each day of Christmas.

  The characters in our stories battle many of the same challenges we do today—striving for independence and self-determination, while yearning for true love.

  While you’re cheering for our heroes and heroines, we want you to cheer for yourself. Like the women and men in these tales, you’re stronger than you may realize, more resourceful and more determined.

  As for happy endings, we all need to believe that things can get better if we persevere, that there is hope, and the chance to embrace a life of love and friendship and contentment.

  With our love

  Samantha Holt, Elizabeth Rose,

  Hildie McQueen, Cathy MacRae,

  Sky Purington, Mariah Stone,

  Anna Markland, Celeste Barclay,

  Emmanuelle de Maupassant, Ashe Barker,

  Lily Baldwin and Caroline Lee

  A little about the ‘Twelve Days’ song…

  The song we know so well features a gift for each of the days, leading through to Twelfth Night. There have been many variations through the centuries, often linked to folk traditions associated with the festive season. For instance, in Iceland, the "Yule Lads" put gifts in children’s shoes for each of thirteen nights.

  France has its “Twelve Months” song while in the Faroe Islands they sing of a feather, two geese, three sides of meat, four sheep, five cows, six oxen, seven dishes, eight ponies, nine banners, ten barrels, eleven goats, twelve men, thirteen hides, fourteen rounds of cheese and fifteen deer.

  A similar cumulative verse from Scotland is "The Yule Days", which has thirteen sets of gifts rather than twelve. Here is its final verse:

  The king sent his lady on the thirteenth Yule day,

  Three stalks o' merry corn,

  Three maids a-merry dancing,

  Three hinds a-merry hunting,

  An Arabian baboon,

  Three swans a-merry swimming,

  Three ducks a-merry laying,

  A bull that was brown,

  Three goldspinks,

  Three starlings,

  A goose that was grey,

  Three plovers,

  Three partridges,

  A pippin go aye;

  Wha learns my carol and carries it away?

  The best known English version was first printed in 1780 in a book intended for children, Mirth without Mischief, as a memorization game to be played on Twelfth Night. Participants repeated a verse of poetry recited by the leader and those who made an error were required to pay a penalty, in the form of offering a kiss or confection.

  Whichever lyrics you’re familiar with, we hope you enjoy this collection of Highlander romances which draw inspiration from the motifs of this wonderful, playful song.

  Happy Christmas!

  We hope you enjoy unwrapping these twelve gorgeous Highland novellas.

  Our authors, hailing from all over the world, are thrilled to have come together to create this sumptuous set of heartwarming historical romances.

  Browse the teasers below, to help you choose where to begin.

  Loving Her Highland Enemy

  by Samantha Holt

  Leana's waited for years to get revenge on her clan’s enemies and the time
has come. It might be Yuletide, but she’ll not be celebrating. Nor will she be distracted by Tavish Maclean, the soon-to-be-laird of the very clan she loathes—no matter how braw he is. But she might have to join forces with him when danger threatens both their lives.

  Highland Dove

  by Elizabeth Rose

  As a promise of marriage before leaving for battle, Duncan MacLean presents Mari Stewart with a pair of Turtle Doves as an early present to their upcoming Hogmanay wedding.

  Doves mate for life, and just like the doves, Mari promises Duncan that she will wait for him and never marry another. But when Duncan and his brother are captured and imprisoned by the English, Mari is betrothed to another man against her will.

  Will true love bring them back together in time, or will the Yuletide Season end with someone’s broken heart and one less Highland Dove?

  The Kitchen Maid's Tale

  by Hildie McQueen

  Glynnis McBean is sent to work in the kitchens of Urquhart Keep. A fate not so horrible when she can catch glimpses of the Laird’s youngest son, who she’s always loved from afar. Faced with his father's command of marrying by Yule's eve, impetuous rogue Arran Urquhart is determined to foil the plan by finding the most imperfect bride.

  When Glynnis mistakes him for a prowler, knocking him unconscious, she sets in motion a series of events that will change their lives forever.

  Brenna's Yuletide Song

  by Cathy MacRae

  Uilleam MacLaren cannot believe his father has signed a betrothal document in his name—much less to one of the Four Songbirds of Corbie’s Burn! Known less kindly as the Four Corbies for their chatter-box ways, the lasses may be beautiful beyond measure and with voices to make angels weep, but who wants a chantie-beak for a wife?

  As for Brenna, pampered daughter of the wealthy merchant, Lord le Naper, marriage to a Highland barbarian is NOT the life she envisioned for herself.

  Their marriage will unite the shipping businesses of two powerful merchants. IF the wedding takes place.

  Ringing in Yule

  by Sky Purington

  Tavish rescues his sworn enemy Nessa, and forbidden love ignites. Yet when their clans finally find peace, it’s too late. He must escort her to the man she’ll marry. Will five golden rings representing memories they made together remind them of what’s at stake? Or will her promise to another end their future before it begins?

  Highlander's Christmas

  by Mariah Stone

  When infamous mercenary Hamish Dunn visits the warden of the West English March, he finds more than a job. The lass he never stopped loving is now the family’s wet nurse.

  Deidre Maxwell has a dangerous secret. She’s not the widow she claims but a disowned noblewoman with an illegitimate daughter. After being cast aside by the man she loved, she’ll never let herself or her daughter be hurt again.

  Deidre strives to keep him from learning of his child, but she can’t resist the dark Scot’s draw. Hamish wants to protect them both, though he has been hired to murder her father.

  Highland Swan

  by Anna Markland

  Doctor Ambrose Pendray finds himself agreeing to travel into the Highlands to treat wounded rebels. He has to amputate the arm of a rebel betrothed to Eala Calhoun, a woman he is instantly attracted to.

  Eala does not love her fiancé. Ambrose draws her like a lodestone, but his honor demands he do everything he can to save his patient’s life.

  The Lady's Guide to a Highlander's Heart

  by Emmanuelle de Maupassant

  Upon the night a knife is plunged into her father's heart, headstrong Flora Dalreagh flees the forbidding warrior to whom she has been hastily wed.

  Entering his domain in the guise of a dairymaid, Flora never expects passion to burn as fiercely as her desire for revenge, but she soon discovers her secret is only one of many in the castle.

  The Laird's Midnight Dancer

  by Ashe Barker

  Euan Cameron, laird of Malaig Dun, can think of worse ways to spend the winter solstice than watching Flora Brodie dancing naked in the moonlight, though he much prefers to see her writhing in his bed. But when jealousy and superstition threaten to take a dreadful toll, can he protect his bewitching Midnight Dancer?

  An Angel at the Highland Court

  by Celeste Barclay

  A laird who fears making a mistake...Ronan Mackinnon bears the weight of leading his clan with such focus that the pleasures of the flesh play no part in his life--until Abigail MacLeod enters it.

  A lady who's made one mistake after another...Abigail's life is filled with poor choices. When a handsome but reserved laird arrives at court, Abigail fears her rushed judgement might cost her a lifetime in a Highlander's arms.

  The Piper

  by Lily Baldwin

  Hiding away in a castle tower overlooking snowswept moors, Lady Cait Campbell plays her pipe. Her music helps her deal with a past she can never forget and a world she now fears.

  Gravely injured in battle, Laird Ewan MacLeod survives his wounds but loses his sight. Believing himself incapable of protecting his people, he wishes to relinquish his chiefdom to his young brother who stubbornly refuses to accept the role, believing Ewan is still the rightful laird.

  When their families come together to celebrate the Yuletide season, Ewan and Cait rekindle the friendship shared in their youth and the spark that has always existed between them ignites into a fiery attraction. Still, love can only save them from their lonely fates if they both have the courage to face the challenges of the future, together.

  Scot Under the Mistletoe

  by Caroline Lee

  A year ago, Nessa Oliphant FINALLY landed the man of her dreams in bed…but when her father, the laird, betrothed her to the first Henry, her lover failed to fight for her. Brohn, the housekeeper’s son, might be in command of the Oliphant troops, but knows his duty to the clan is to step aside and let Nessa make a strong betrothal contract. But after SEVEN failed betrothals—all to Henrys—Nessa is done with fiddling around. It’s going to take the legend of the Ghostly Drummer of Oliphant Castle, some random sprigs of mistletoe, and plenty of Yuletide magic to fix this hilarious mess!

  Loving Her Highland Enemy

  by SAMANTHA HOLT

  Prologue

  Sunlight peeked over the hill, offering tiny glimmering splashes of a new day. The charred keep presented a stark contrast, its blackened walls and crumbling beams still smoldering, tiny wisps of smoke only hinting at the devastation it had wreaked. The bitter odor of burned wood refused to abate.

  Nessa watched a curl of smoke rise until it vanished into the sunlight. She narrowed her gaze at the sky. How she’d wished to see a new day, to breathe fresh air only hours ago. She clenched her jaw.

  Now she hated the new day. It didn’t deserve to be beautiful. It shouldn’t be promising. The blanket slipped from her shoulders and the lady tending to her arm tugged it up.

  “Poor wee bairn,” she kept muttering.

  She didn’t feel poor or wee. She didn’t feel anything. Even the pain of the burn had begun to numb, feeling like a faint throb as the woman wrapped. She glanced at the reddened flesh before it vanished under the white cloth. She couldn’t recall when the fire had touched her or even the pain of it until she emerged from the blaze, gulping down breaths through painful lungs, scarcely able to see.

  The woman tending to her said her wee size must have saved her. Allowed her to escape.

  How could that be if no one else survived? Not even Leana who was so similar to her, people often mistook them for one another.

  A knot formed in her dry throat.

  Not even her mother. They were gone. All of them.

  Men and women picked their way through the debris, calling in vain for survivors. There was no hope. Anyone who had been in that fire would know that. The flames had taken hold with such savagery that they scarcely had a moment to realize what was occurring. Escape had been impossible. Perhaps if she had remai
ned in the Great Hall, she would be dead too. For some reason, the main doors wouldn’t open, as though they were barred from the outside.

  She clenched her jaw. She might only be eight summers old but she knew why they had been trapped, and she knew how.

  This had been a deliberate act. A fire set to wipe out as many important members of the clan as possible. That meant people like her and her mother would be sacrificed too. A mere maid and her daughter—no one important.

  A few bodies had been found and were laid under blankets. One of them could be her mother but she imagined it would be impossible to tell if it was her. She’d already seen the state of the corpses, and when she had tried to wander over to look, the adults pulled her away.

  “There, yer all patched up, love.”

  Nessa eyed the woman. She didn’t recognize her, but the blaze had brought farmers from all over to help. Too late though. Everyone was gone.

  The woman cupped her face. “What shall we do with ye?”

  Nessa didn’t manage a response. Even if her throat wasn’t as parched as sand on a hot day, she didn’t think she could summon one. If she released a noise, what would come? Tears? Screaming? She wasn’t sure but she didn’t trust herself to unleash it. Ma always scolded her for crying, saying it was a waste of time, and she shouldn’t dwell on things that couldn’t be changed.