The Scottish Boy

Written by Alex de Campi

Narrated by Richard Pearce

1333. Edward III is at war with Scotland. Nineteen-year-old Sir Harry de Lyon yearns to prove himself and jumps at the chance when a powerful English baron, William Montagu, invites him on a secret mission with a dozen elite knights. They ride north, to a crumbling Scottish keep, capturing a feral, half-starved boy within and putting the other inhabitants to the sword.But nobody knows why the flower of English knighthood snuck over the border to capture a savage, dirty teenage boy. Montagu gives the boy to Harry as his squire, with only two rules: don't let him escape, and convert him to the English cause.At first, it's hopeless. The Scottish boy is surly and violent and eats anything that isn't nailed down. Then Harry begins to notice things: that, as well as Gaelic, the boy speaks flawless French, with an accent much different from Harry's Norman one. That he can read Latin too. And when Harry finally convinces the boy – Iain mac Maíl Coluim – to cut his filthy curtain of hair, the face revealed is the most beautiful thing Harry has ever seen.With Iain as his squire, Harry wins tournament after tournament and becomes a favourite of the King. But underneath the pageantry smoulder twin secrets: Harry and Iain's growing passion for each other, and Iain's mysterious heritage. As England hurtles towards war once again, these secrets will destroy everything Harry holds dear.A sexy, slow-burn, enemies to lovers historical romance, Alex De Campi delivers a steamy but tender love story. "Brokeback Mountain" meets "50 Shades of Grey" set again the vivid backdrop of Medieval Britain. Perfect for fans of Madeleine Miller's "Song of Achilles", the novels of C. S. Pascat, and K.J. Charles. This novel contains explicit sexual content and adult themes. Alex de Campi is a thriller writer with an extensive backlist of critically-acclaimed prose and graphic novels including Eisner-nominated heist noir "Bad Girls" (Simon & Schuster). Her most recent books were pulp horror graphic novel "Dracula, Motherf**ker" (Image Comics), sci-fi thriller "Madi: Once Upon A Time in the Future" co-written with Duncan Jones (Z2 Comics), and "True War Stories", an anthology of soldiers’ deployment tales. She is on most social media as @alexdecampi.

• Language: English
• Publisher: SAGA Egmont
• Release date: Dec 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9788728109038

Alex de Campi

Alex de Campi is the Eisner-nominated writer of Archie vs. Predator, Kat & Mouse, No Mercy, Agent Boo, and Semiautomagic. She lives in Maine with her awesome daughter and two dogs. Find her online on her website and on Twitter!

Reviews for The Scottish Boy

[Rosalind Springer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a brilliant book, I loved ever minute of it. It was very well narrated and kept me hooked alway to the end.

[john williams · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have no words to praise this book... Simply read it and get it blown by the beauty of it.

[Bill Yeary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazingly written and performed exceptionally. Both as a work of medieval period historic fiction and LGBTQ erotic romance, the book really kept me on my toes and, at times, tight in the crotch. I literally couldn’t stop listening. I listen to books so that I can keep busy but routinely caught myself standing or sitting, doing nothing but listening. I didn’t want to miss a single word.

[Kaylee Claire · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow, this book is great! I'd never have thought from the cover that it would be such a steamy romance. There is a lot of awful things that happens throughout the book, so it's definitely a really stressful read at times, and you might want to go look up content warnings, but (spoiler) I'm SO glad it has such a happy ending.

[Krishawna Stewart · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing! I could not put this book down. So so good. Highly recommended

[Jennifer Orton · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a beautiful, witty, and engrossing tale. I may listen to it again right away.
My only complaint is that on a couple of occasions, the narrator used the wrong voice, and ( probably due to a lack of editing) a couple of times, said the wrong character name. Nothing major, but mildly confusing.

[Rosinanta · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best stories i red so far. Witty, inteligent, without nonsens. Full of feelings good and bad. I could start it all over again right now.

[Hadrian Sparks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It’s been a very long time since I’ve been so captivated by a book, but this novel has broken that record. Extremely enjoyable and heartfelt, I hope we see more from this author!

[olga nyamakope · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The love between Harry and Iain was epic if not one for the ages yet fraught with difficulty. There were bloodlines, class differences and the most challenging was the fact that men of their social class/es could not discreetly live with and love each other without drawing scrutiny from those around them. Despite or in spite of all this they fought for their happiness and they managed to carve their own destiny. The Narrator did a great job ?? though I wasn't so thrilled with the impression of Iain's voice at the end especially since Iain was said to be a great singer before that. I am not sure how feel about Elise's roll in this whole thing but her coming into the picture certainly solved quite a number of problems for Harry and Iain and more importantly provided the much needed heirs. I really wanted Robbie and Montagu to die painful deaths.

[Juniper Lehr · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Aguishly beautiful. Teary eyed at multiple places. Left feeling exhausted and overjoyed.

[Kam · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was a master class in historical romance. I absolutely loved it. I laughed, I cried, I sat and listened with rapt attention. I didn't want it to end.

The narrator was perfect. The characters, story and pacing were incredible. Iain's character in particular was so 3 dimensional, so wild and rowdy and wonderful I fell absolutely in love with him. The prose. Ugh I can't say enough good things about this book. It's all I can talk about.

My only complaint is that the last third of the book didn't feel quite as strong as the first 2/3rds. I was losing my mind in the middle, the book was WRECKING me. I got a bit confused by Iain's behavior near the end -- and didn't feel like it was explained well enough to pull all the way back from that. It wasn't enough to dampen my enjoyment of the book in the least. I loved the ending, and this is a rare reread for me. I will be listening to it again.

[sharri miller · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent excellent book. Great tale which intertwines history and romance.

[Sylvia Gold · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This equates to another British person making the abuser/murder etc trying to again play the misunderstood but compassionate,enslaver etc ahhhh so typical British but given their unapologetic crimes against humanity; not surprised. Couldn't finish the listen of the lord of the manor ranting and being a typical horrible person but angry w his prisoner for not wanting to be his friend in a poor attempt to make the reader feel compassion for him.