Setting: Scottish Highlands, 1712
Sensuality: 7

Mary Lowell is enjoying the social whirl of a London season when Alex MacGannon, Earl of Kilgannon, walks into her aunt's ballroom. It's love at first sight but their courtship isn't an easy one; instead, it's fraught with misunderstandings, the intervention of another jealous suitor, and an attack on Mary's life. Despite her aunt's warnings about the danger and hardships of life in the Highlands, Mary is determined and marries her handsome Scotsman. She quickly learns that marriage to a Scottish laird involves complications that she's never considered, while Alex finds that having a beautiful, intelligent wife can sometimes make life difficult. And as if settling into marriage and sharing their life isn't challenging enough, the threat of betrayal and war swirls over Kilgannon, threatening their happiness and the lives of the clan.

The world of well-to-do Londoners and Highland clansmen comes alive in this memorable historical, immersing the reader in the sights and sounds of the early 1700s. The characters are well drawn, while the tightly woven plot keeps one turning the pages without pause. The sequel to this story, The Wild Rose of Kilgannon, is soon to follow, bringing us the further adventures of Mary and Alec. --Lois Faye Dyer