Suzanne Enoch closes her Scandalous Highlanders series with our October Top Pick in Romance, Some Like It Scot, the tale of two stubborn souls who find each other in the beautiful yet treacherous Scottish Highlands. In this 7 Questions interview, Enoch talks about the appeal of a kilt, her favorite romances and what's next for her.
Describe your book in one sentence.
The course of true love never did run smooth, especially when it involves the two most stubborn, set-in-their-ways people on the planet. In kilts. (Okay, that’s two sentences, but just barely.)
Why do you think Highlanders are such a romance novel staple?
In our mythos, the word “Highlander” comes with a built-in dictionary definition filled with terms like “wild,” untamed,” “strong,” “independent,” and very, very alpha. It’s one of those words like “shark” or “tornado,” where just its mention fills a reader's mind with a whole slew of imagery. And it’s very compelling, very seductive imagery.
Would you rather be a part of the Regency ton or take to the moors of 19th-century Scotland described in Some Like It Scot?
That’s a really tough question. As a lady, I think I’d have an easier time in a London drawing room, but man, those Highlanders and that kind of rollicking lifestyle are so tempting. Can I summer in the Highlands and winter in my estate in Surrey? That would work for me.
Did you do any research for Some Like It Scot?
Over the course of this Scandalous Highlanders book series, I’ve done a lot of research on what was going on in the Highlands at the time of the English Regency—the easing of the restrictions placed on the Scots after their loss at the Battle of Culloden, the Clearances that were forcing landowners to replace tenants with Cheviot sheep, the decline of the clan system, etc. It wasn’t fairy-tale pretty by any means, but the hardship and the drama make for a fascinating setting—and tons of conflict—that I love as a writer.
You’re a big film fan: What’s your favorite on-screen romance?
I love Hawkeye and Cora’s romance in The Last of the Mohicans—it’s so sweeping and larger-than-life (much more so than in the novel). And I’m also a sucker for the much more subtle romance of Ripley and Hicks in Aliens, with two very strong-willed people who know both how to survive and how vital it is to do what’s right.
What do you love most about Bear and Catriona’s relationship?
I like how neither of them are looking for love, but eventually—through much smack-talk and arguing—realize that while love is a compromise, it also has the effect of making them better people than they were before. I knew I would be using Bear for the book’s hero, and I knew he was big and imposing and fierce. When it came time to concoct a heroine, I figured I could go one of two ways: either give him his complete opposite, someone shy and proper and who needed his protection, or give him a lass at least as tough and fierce as he was. I decided the latter would be so much more fun, and it definitely turned out that way.
This is the final Scandalous Highlander book. What’s next for you?
I had the opportunity to go back to London if I wanted, but as I was doodling out plot lines, I realized that I’m not quite finished with the Highlands yet. So I’m heading back there again, with a new group of lads and lasses and putting as much trouble in front of them as I can manage. I can’t wait.
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