Matchmaker meets Fisherman, A Delightful Scottish Romance in the Kilts & Quilts Series
Welcome Patience Griffin back to Get Lost in a Story.
Patience is an award-winning author who has recently been nominated for two RITA® awards. Her debut novel, To Scotland with Love, received a Publishers Weekly starred review. It also won the New England Readers’ Choice for Best First Book and the Golden Quill’s Best First Book award. And the next books in the series are receiving rave reviews.
She grew up in a small town along the Mississippi River, living life in a close-knit community. She loves to quilt and has gained some recognition with her September 11th Story Quilt which has toured the country as the property of the Pentagon. With a master’s degree in nuclear engineering, she’s a nerdy girl to the core, but loves to read books which make her laugh. She lives in Texas, writing her stories of home, heart, and community alongside of her hyper Sheltie, a cuddly Bichon-poo, and a bulimic stray cat.
THE BOOK
Some Like It Scottish
Kit Woodhouse’s matchmaking business is such a success, she’s expanding to the Highlands of Scotland where the hot, prosperous, and kilted are anxious to connect. Now, looking to fill her stable with eligible bachelors, Kit’s arrived in Gandiegow to recruit potential Real Men of Scotland. It’s not until she meets her tour guide that she discovers just how real they can be.
With his sexy grin, jeans, and black wellies, Ramsay Armstrong is an unpolished hulk of a Scottish fisherman—and a skeptic when it comes to romance. Not exactly a man of “pairing attributes” when talking marriageable matches, but he does make Kit’s heart beat a little faster. Maybe it’s the scent of the sea in his hair. Maybe it’s the challenge. Maybe it’s the thrill of the unexpected. Then again, maybe it’s love.
With his sexy grin, jeans, and black wellies, Ramsay Armstrong is an unpolished hulk of a Scottish fisherman—and a skeptic when it comes to romance. Not exactly a man of “pairing attributes” when talking marriageable matches, but he does make Kit’s heart beat a little faster. Maybe it’s the scent of the sea in his hair. Maybe it’s the challenge. Maybe it’s the thrill of the unexpected. Then again, maybe it’s love.
Excerpt:
Twenty-six year old Ramsay Armstrong pulled the fishing boat alongside the dock and hollered to his oldest brother, John. “What’s so important that ye’ve called me back? I haven’t checked the north nets yet.” He threw the rope to his brother.
“I’ll take care of the damned nets.” John tied off the boat. “I have a job for you, and it can’t wait.”
“Do it yereself!” More often than not, Ramsay got stuck with the crap jobs in the family.
“I had planned to.” John ducked his head and, stepping aboard, muttered, “Maggie won’t let me.”
Ramsay grinned. “Yere wife telling you what you can and can’t do.” He pounded John on the back. “There’s a reason I’m still single, brother.”
“Nay.” John shook his head. “Ye’re an arse, Ramsay. That’s why ye’re still single. No woman would have ye.”
“So what’s this job you need done?”
John didn’t meet his eye. “It has to do with the maintenance we scheduled for the boat.”
“I thought we set enough money aside for that.”
“I thought so, too, but a revised quote came in. The price has gone up. Way up.”
“By how much?”
John shook his head.
Ramsay frowned. John never shared the actual numbers with him, always keeping him in the dark, always treating him like the babe in the family. “So what’s this have to do with the favor you want?”
“Ross and I’ll take care of the boat while ye’re doing it,” John hedged.
“Spit it out, man.” Ramsay was about to knock his brother into the drink. “What is it?”
John pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and thrust it at him. “It’s all there. Her itinerary.”
Ramsay took it and opened the crumpled paper. The letterhead read:
Kit Woodhouse Matchmaking, Inc.
Kit Woodhouse, CEO
Real Men of Alaska Real Men of Scotland
Ramsay snapped his head up and glared at his brother. “What the crank is this? Matchmaker? From the U.S.?”
“Read on.” John busied himself with two empty buckets, but really he was avoiding Ramsay’s glare. He should be chagrined.
It was indeed a detailed itinerary—beginning with when this woman would land and her schedule for each day.
“For the next three cranking months?” Ramsay yelled. “Surely, you don’t expect me to play nursemaid for three months to some sappy matchmaker!” The word made him feel like he could breathe fire.
John hung his head. “I saw her ad for a driver on the Internet. We need the money. I thought you and Ross could run the boat for the summer and I’d put up with driving Ms. Woodhouse around. But when Maggie found out, she nearly chopped off my balls.”
“It would serve you right.” Ramsay ran his eyes down the length of the paper. “Did you never think to consult Ross and me in your scheme?”
“I’m the oldest; I make the decisions.” John acted like he had decades on him, but he was only thirty-five, nine years older than Ramsay.
Ramsay huffed. “Well, ye’ve screwed up this time. You better call it off and tell this woman we can’t do it.”
“But I signed a contract.” John’s brow furrowed as he ran a hand through his hair. “Ms. Woodhouse doesn’t care who lives up to the contract, as long as somebody does.”
Ramsay wadded the paper into a fist. “So you volunteered me.”
“Ye better get back to the house and clean up.” John started the motor. “You’ll have just enough time to get a shower, and shave, before you have to rush off to the airport.”
Ramsay considered cramming the itinerary down his brother’s throat. He stepped off the boat instead, too angry to speak. On autopilot, he loosened the line and pushed the boat away with his foot.
John shouted above the motor. “Be on your best behavior and don’t screw this up. We need the money.”
Ramsay flipped him off, and then shaking his head, trudged off the dock.
He sure as hell wasn’t going to let John’s asinine matchmaker interfere with his own plans. In one month Ramsay intended to have enough money to buy ole man Martin’s boat. Between the odd jobs at the North Sea Valve Company and helping the surrounding farmers after he was done fishing for the day, he would have enough. One month. And dammit, if he didn’t get the old codger the money by then, the boat would be put up for auction and go for twice what Martin had agreed to.
Well, Ramsay had no intention of losing his chance to get out from under his brothers’ thumbs. He wasn’t born the youngest for nothing. He’d learned early on there’s more than one way to wiggle out of a chore. He would make short work of the matchmaker, he decided. Three days with him and the interfering ole biddy would be paying him to go back to her nice cushy life in the States where she belonged.
RT Book Reviews…
Griffin’s third Kilts and Quilts novel reads like a fun romantic comedy, with plenty of back-and-forth banter, unexpected surprises and a delightfully colorful supporting cast who bring this wee island to life…the inhabitants of Gandiegow are a joy to visit, and the women who make up its quilters’ circle provide a safe haven for anyone looking for a place to call home. -RT Reviews, 4 stars
Find SOME LIKE IT SCOTTISH at:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1IEtNBZ
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/some-like-it-scottish-patience-griffin/1120795127?ean=9780451468314
Walmart: http://bit.ly/1Us8zj
Connect with Patience at:
@patiencegriffin
What’s up next:
The Accidental Scot, book 4 in the Kilts and Quilts series, comes out December 1st. Christmas in the small village of Gandiegow brings holiday cheer—and a chance for love between two strangers.
THE GIVEAWAY:
Patience Griffin is offering two (2) chances to win today:
- She’ll giveaway Some Like It Scottish to someone who tells what they love about Scotland in the comments (include your email if it's not on your blogger id.)
- Or enter her Kilts & Quilts rafflecopter to win a quilt (US only)
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