A Laird to Hold


Book Description

A journey through time to save one life jeopardizes the lives of everyone Scarlett holds dear in this finale of the Laird for all Time series. Scarlett would do anything to save her unborn baby, even return to a time she never thought she’d see again. Not for a moment had she missed the constant scrutiny of a celebrity life. To reappear now, inexplicably pregnant in the eyes of the modern world would create a media circus, but Scarlett knows she can overcome any obstacles with Laird at her side and the help of new friends drawn together across time itself by the enigmatic Scotsman known as Auld Donell. The crafty old Scot had been busy over the years, not just meddling in Scarlett’s life but browsing through time, tweaking history and changing the fates of his other ‘projects’. They’d all received a second chance at love, but are unaware of how closely they’re connected despite the years separating them. Unaware of how their Fates are entangled. And unaware of how Auld Donell’s ‘master plan’ to right a few wrongs of his own will put all their lives in peril against an unforeseen enemy. Laird Hepburn spent years enjoying his wife’s fantastic tales of the future world, but he’d never expected—or wanted to see it for himself. Now to ensure the survival of his unborn bairn and protect his family, he must face that alien world head on. Alas, the future holds more surprises and danger than any of them had anticipated. Soon, Laird realizes that in order to avert disaster and save the lives of his loved ones, he may be forced to sacrifice his own.




A Time and Place for Every Laird


Book Description

Surely, she’d gone completely mad. Claire Manning can’t imagine what she was thinking when she decided to help the escapee from her company’s lab but after seeing him caged like an animal, her humanitarian compulsion cannot be overridden – even by the arrogant, scowling eighteenth-century Highlander Hugh Urquhart turns out to be. His entire life has been taken away from him and Claire understands the pain and torment of loss. She understands the desperation she sees in his eyes and is prepared to do whatever it takes to secure Hugh’s freedom and future. What she isn’t prepared for is the ruggedly handsome Scot she finds under the layers of grime and blood caked on him. Nor is she prepared to feel so much more than mere compassion for his suffering. Not once in Hugh’s entire life has he been taken for a savage or been argued with and commanded about like a lackey as often as he had by his savior from imprisonment. It was he who commanded. He who men yielded to. However, for this woman who had saved his life, Hugh is willing to concede that he doesn’t know everything, that he might need some small amount of help in navigating his way through the alien world he has been unwillingly dragged into. With inexplicable trust, Hugh hands over the reins of his future to Claire – or Sorcha as they would have called her in his world. A woman unlike any he has ever met. A woman of intelligence, wit, courage and startling passion buried deep beneath her bonny exterior. On the run, Claire and Hugh hide away from the agents pursuing them but cannot hide from the undeniable desire that ensnares them and both must face their pasts, the loss and heartache that plagues them if they hope to discover that there is a true time and place for every Highland laird.




CAPTURED BY A LAIRD


Book Description

THE DOUGLAS LEGACY The Douglas sisters, beauties all, are valuable pawns in their family's bitter struggle to control the Scottish Crown. But when powerful enemies threaten, each Douglas lass will find she must face them alone. CAPTURED BY A LAIRD Haunted by his father's violent death, David Hume, the new laird of Wedderburn, sets out to make his name so feared that no one will dare harm his family again. The treacherous ally who played on his father's weakness is dead and beyond David's vengeance, but his castle and young widow are ripe for the taking. The moment David lays eyes on the dark-haired beauty defending her wee daughters, however, he knows this frail-looking lass is the one person who could bring him to his knees. Wed at thirteen to a man who tried daily to break her spirit, Lady Alison Douglas is looking forward to a long widowhood. But when the fearsome warrior known as the Beast of Wedderburn storms her gates, she finds herself, once again, forced to wed a stranger. Alison is only a pawn to serve his vengeance, so why does this dark warrior arouse such fiery passion and an unwelcome longing in her heart? With death and danger looming, these two wounded souls must learn to trust each other...for only love can save them.




Kind One


Book Description

"There is always a surprise in the voice and in the heart of Laird Hunt's stories, with its echoes of habit caught in a timeless dialect, so we see the world he gives us as if new. 'You hear something like that and it walks out the door with you.'"--Michael Ondaatje "Laird Hunt's Kind One, about two slave girls who take their white mistress into captivity, is a profound meditation on the sexual and racial subconscious of America. . . . [A] gorgeous and terrifying novel."--Danzy Senna As a teenage girl, Ginny marries Linus Lancaster, her mother's second cousin, and moves to his Kentucky pig farm "ninety miles from nowhere." In the shadows of the lush Kentucky landscape, Ginny discovers the empty promises of Linus' "paradise"--a place where the charms of her husband fall away to reveal a troubled man and cruel slave owner. Ginny befriends the young slaves Cleome and Zinnia who work at the farm--until Linus' attentions turn to them, and she finds herself torn between her husband and only companions. The events that follow Linus' death change all three women for life. Haunting, chilling, and suspenseful, Kind One is a powerful tale of redemption and human endurance in antebellum America. Laird Hunt is the author of several works of fiction and a finalist for the 2010 PEN Center USA Award in Fiction. Currently on the faculty of the University of Denver's creative writing program, he and his wife, the poet Eleni Sikelianos, live in Boulder, Colorado, with their daughter, Eva Grace.




When a Laird Loves a Lady


Book Description

A need to belong drives her. A longing to forget compels him. Fate may send them into each other’s arms, but only love can mend their hearts. An Outlander Raised by a tyrannical father, Marion de Lacy yearns for the comfort of belonging to a loving family. So when her father announces her betrothal to an evil knight in exchange for his help to overthrow the king, she concocts a desperate scheme to avoid the marriage: feigning her own death and then fleeing England. But when her plan goes terribly awry and she’s captured by the knight, not even her careful preparations could ready her for the Scottish barbarian who rescues her and then informs her that he’s to marry her by edict of her king. Certain her father will defy the king’s orders and wed her to the knight if she refuses the Highlander’s hand, Marion agrees to marry the strangely compelling but obstinate laird of the MacLeod clan. A Highlander After the death of his beloved wife, Iain MacLeod has no desire to marry ever again. Yet when he finds himself obliged to do so to secure the freedom of his childhood friend and king, he reluctantly travels across England to collect his unwanted bride, expecting to find a cold Englishwoman. Instead, he discovers a fiery, bold beauty who is fiercely loyal, protective of those she loves, and defies him at every turn, challenging his certainty that his heart is dead. Ensnared Following a hasty marriage and perilous journey to Scotland, Marion harbors no illusions that her new husband loves her. Still, her heart cannot resist the noble, brave warrior, and she cannot suppress the hope that she has finally found where she belongs. However, the harder she tries to fit in with the clan and gain Iain’s love, the farther away her dreams drift. Iain is more than willing to give his respect to his courageous wife—her kisses and caresses even ignite his blood and demand his passion—but he refuses to give up his heart. That is, until enemies near and far threaten to take Marion from him. Now the demons that haunt him can only be conquered by surrendering body and soul to Marion, if only it’s not too late… "WHEN A LAIRD LOVES A LADY by Julie Johnstone is the first book in the Highlander Vows: Entangled Hearts series, and I cannot wait for the second instalment. With beautiful imagery, the author transports the reader to a whole new world. Both Marion and Iain are meaningful and emotional characters, who I became deeply invested in. I could not put this book down. With plenty of danger, excitement and passionate encounters, WHEN A LAIRD LOVES A LADY by Julie Johnstone has got it all, and I now have a new favourite author." ~ Fresh Fiction




The Forest Laird


Book Description

This epic historical novel brings to life the hero of the Scottish Wars of Independence who struggled against the tyranny of the English. In the predawn hours of August 24, 1305, in London’s Smithfield Prison, the outlaw William Wallace—hero of all the Scots and deadly enemy of King Edward of England—sits awaiting the dawn, when he is to be hanged and then drawn and quartered. Wallace is visited by a Scottish priest to hear his last confession. Here, Wallace recounts his own incredible real-life story. We follow Wallace through his many lives—from fugitive to patriot, rebel, and kingmaker. His desperate struggles and victorious campaigns are all here, as are the high ideals and fierce patriotism that drove him to abandon the people he loved to save his country. With far more breadth, detail, and historical accuracy than the Hollywood film Braveheart, Jack Whyte’s masterful storytelling breathes life into Wallace’s tale, giving readers an amazing character study of the man who helped shape Scotland’s identity and future.




One Night with the Laird


Book Description

Widow but flirtatious hostess, Lady Mairi, mourns the loss of her husband and cannot seem to find the emotional attachment she needs for her current lover, Jack Rutherford. But he comes to the rescue in more ways than one we he tracks a blackmailer who is threatening her.




Zorrie


Book Description

Finalist for the 2021 National Book Award (Fiction) “A virtuosic portrait.” –New York Times Book Review “A tender, glowing novel.” –Anthony Doerr, Guardian, “Best Books of the Year” “Pages that are polished like jewels.” –Scott Simon, NPR, "Books We Love" "Lit from within.” -Mark Athitakis, Los Angeles Times, “Best Fiction Books of the Year” "A touching, tightly woven story from an always impressive author." -Kirkus (starred review), “Best Fiction of the Year” “Radiates the heat of a beating heart.” –Vox “A poignant, unforgettable novel.” –Hernan Diaz From prize-winning, acclaimed author Laird Hunt, a poignant novel about a woman searching for her place in the world and finding it in the daily rhythms of life in rural Indiana. “It was Indiana, it was the dirt she had bloomed up out of, it was who she was, what she felt, how she thought, what she knew.” As a girl, Zorrie Underwood's modest and hardscrabble home county was the only constant in her young life. After losing both her parents, Zorrie moved in with her aunt, whose own death orphaned Zorrie all over again, casting her off into the perilous realities and sublime landscapes of rural, Depression-era Indiana. Drifting west, Zorrie survived on odd jobs, sleeping in barns and under the stars, before finding a position at a radium processing plant. At the end of each day, the girls at her factory glowed from the radioactive material. But when Indiana calls Zorrie home, she finally finds the love and community that have eluded her in and around the small town of Hillisburg. And yet, even as she tries to build a new life, Zorrie discovers that her trials have only begun. Spanning an entire lifetime, a life convulsed and transformed by the events of the 20th century, Laird Hunt's extraordinary novel offers a profound and intimate portrait of the dreams that propel one tenacious woman onward and the losses that she cannot outrun. Set against a harsh, gorgeous, quintessentially American landscape, this is a deeply empathetic and poetic novel that belongs on a shelf with the classics of Willa Cather, Marilynne Robinson, and Elizabeth Strout.




The Winter Laird


Book Description

"...considerably more wit and pizazz than the legendary Georgette [Heyer] herself.” —Kirkus Reviews The eligible but aloof Lord Marchmont seems as determined to remain single as his sister, Lady Emilia, is to see him wed. They are surrounded by a glimmering cast of characters, from the unreliable but dashing rake Jeffery de Guere to the lovely and shy Miss Amy Lewis. And, of course, the Stanbroke girls: Lady Isabella, romantic and dreamy, yet surprisingly practical, and Lady Elizabeth, her older sister, a heroine of great sense and wit as well as beauty. As these characters dance, court, conspire, love, and chase their way through some of the most fashionable spots of England and the continent, we join their elegant circle for the sparkling, sophisticated romp. As always, Fiona Hill brings a fresh and engaging liveliness to the world of Regency manners, making The Stanbroke Girls a triumphant delight to read.




The Laird


Book Description

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Grace Burrowes delivers another passionate Regency romance... He left his bride to go to war... After years of soldiering, Michael Brodie returns to his Highland estate to find that the bride he left behind has become a stranger. Brenna is self-sufficient, competent, confident—and furious about Michael's prolonged absence. Now his most important battle will be for her heart Brenna is also hurt, bewildered, and tired of fighting for the respect of those around her. Michael left her when she needed him most, and then stayed away even after the war ended. Nonetheless, the young man who abandoned her has come home a wiser, more patient and honorable husband. But if she trusts Michael with the truths she's been guarding, he'll have to choose between his wife and everything else he holds dear. Captive Hearts series: The Captive (Book 1) The Traitor (Book 2) The Laird (Book 3) "Burrowes delivers powerful and moving romance." —RT Book Reviews Praise for The MacGregor's Lady: "Consistently excellent writing, deep and layered stories." —Publishers Weekly "Engaging, deliciously sensual, superbly written romance." —Library Journal "Absolutely enchanting." —Romance Junkies