A carousing young Highlander turned into a formidable man, a practical widow who balances love and levelheadedness, a...
Murder and intrigue shadow a second-chance romance in 1816 Inverness.
In her third No Ordinary Hero novel, Enoch (My One True Highlander, 2017, etc.) tells the story of the reunion of childhood friends Callum MacCreath, the younger brother of a Scottish earl, and Rebecca Sanderson, an English transplant to the Highlands. Callum returns from America after news of his brother’s accidental drowning reaches him in Kentucky. He had left after a furious argument over his staid sibling's engagement to Rebecca but now vows to hunt down those he believes killed Ian—even if that includes her. It's not long before love for his niece begins to compete with his anger, however, and his widowed sister-in-law’s presence reminds him that his exile was fueled by a broken heart at being spurned by her. Lest we flinch at the pairing, Enoch pointedly has him remind Rebecca (and us) that levirate marriage, the practice of a single man marrying his brother’s widow, was acceptable in the Highlands. While Rebecca is initially dismayed at his return and dismissive of his claims of foul play, there is no mistaking that they are drawn to each other and that he will do anything to protect her daughter. As evidence of murder mounts and they join forces, their fierce arguments change to passionate lovemaking (though a sex scene at a ball after which Rebecca returns to the dance floor to join a quadrille is a bit wince-inducing, hygienically speaking). The villains are known from the start (of the series and the novel), so the intrigue plot is less a whodunit and more about how the final vengeance will unfold and whether our protagonists will be hurt in the process. Less angst-y than Elizabeth Lowell’s Redwood Empire or Sherry Thomas’ My Beautiful Enemy, this lost-love-regained romance will appeal to fans of alpha-male Scots in kilts.
A carousing young Highlander turned into a formidable man, a practical widow who balances love and levelheadedness, a precocious child, a pet wolf, and a sneaky Skye terrier—a recipe for an entertaining read.Pub Date: Jan. 30, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-09545-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
Well-written women’s weepie from the author of many, now with her first hardcover.
Blindness, babies, bathos.
When photojournalist Jessie Ryder finds that she’s losing her sight to a rare retinal disease, it’s time to take stock—and, at last, meet the child she gave away years before. She rails against her cruel fate as she leaves New Zealand for the Texas town where she grew up. After all, she’d stayed away, kept her distance—and kept her side of the bargain she made with God. She’d provided the best possible home for her newborn by handing her over to her sister Luz and her husband Ian. Even now that she’s a teenager, Lila has no idea that she was adopted (and there’s another thing even Luz doesn’t know). Lila escapes serious injury during a joyriding car accident that shakes the family out of its complacency and forces them to grapple with the Big Questions. Why does Ian, a Death Row lawyer, always have time for his clients but not for his family? Must Luz always shoulder most of the burden of raising the kids and running the house? Luz pines for what she perceives as her sister’s freedom, but Jessie, of course, isn’t really free. She’s always been haunted by what she never told Luz: Lila is the product of a long-ago, whirlwind affair with Ian. Her vision dimming day by day, Jessie wonders whether she’ll ever find happiness. There’s hunky rancher Dusty Matlock, father of an adorable toddler, still fending off media attention ever since his pregnant wife, comatose after a stroke, gave birth by Cesarean and expired a couple of years ago. Should Jessie give in to Blair LaBorde, tabloid reporter, and photograph Dusty? Perhaps. But will Jessie even admit that she’s losing her sight? Yes, once she shares her story yet again at the world-famous center for the blind not far away.
Well-written women’s weepie from the author of many, now with her first hardcover.Pub Date: April 1, 2003
ISBN: 1-55166-673-1
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A satisfying treat, with extra scoops of excitement and romance that make up for certain lapses in credibility.
Once-in-a-lifetime romantic passion and graphically depicted torture sessions are only the two extremes of this lively time-travel romance set in 18th-century Scotland—an imaginative and lighthearted debut by a promising newcomer.
World War II has finally ended and Claire Beauchamp Randall, a British Red Cross nurse, has gone off to Scotland with her historian husband, Frank, to try to resume their married life where it left off six years before. Their diligent attempts to make a baby come to a halt, however, when Claire discovers an ancient stone circle on a nearby hilltop, slips between two mysterious-looking boulders, and is transported willy-nilly to the year 1743. Stumbling down the hillside, disoriented and confused, Claire is discovered by Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall, an evil English officer who happens to be her husband's direct ancestor and physical look-alike. Randall notes Claire's revealing 1940's summer dress, assumes she is a whore, and attempts to rape her, whereupon she is rescued by the fierce MacKenzie clan, who take her to their castle and confine her there. Claire adjusts to her changed circumstances with amazing ease, using her nursing experience to tend to her hosts' illnesses while she impatiently awaits a chance to return to the circle of stones. Before she can get away, circumstances force her into a marriage with James Frazer, a Scottish renegade from English justice and Jonathan Randall's archenemy. Young Jamie's good looks, passion, and virility soon redirect Claire's energies to defending her stalwart new husband against her former mate's evil clone, and the fierce, courageous but historically doomed Scottish clans against the course of destiny itself.
A satisfying treat, with extra scoops of excitement and romance that make up for certain lapses in credibility.Pub Date: July 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-385-30230-4
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
