CAROL’S REVIEW: DANCE TO THE STORM BY MAGGIE CRAIG

(Storm Over Scotland #2)

Genre: Historical Romance

Cover Blurb (Amazon):

December 1743: In a snow-swept Edinburgh, Redcoat Captain Robert Catto and surgeon-apothecary’s daughter Christian Rankeillor face each other across a divide no bridge can cross. She’s in deadly danger: not least from him.

His investigations have turned up compelling evidence of a real threat posed to the House of Hanover by a plan to restore the House of Stuart to the British throne. Two of those at the heart of Jacobite political intrigue in Scotland are Patrick Rankeillor and his daughter Christian. Yet with each day that passes and despite their very different and deeply-held views, Robert and Kirsty are falling ever more deeply in love.

Robert Catto always does his duty. It’s all he’s ever had to hold on to: but he’s in danger too. Forced to confront his difficult past and a family connection that could call his loyalty to the crown into question, he could be risking the ruin of his military career.

And then there’s runaway Geordie Smart, his sister Alice and young African boy, Joshua. All three have been cruelly treated by a family of bored and cruel members of the gentry. Robert Catto and Christian Rankeillor stand ready to help Geordie, Alice and Joshua but that’s not going to be easy.

How is Robert Catto to reconcile doing his duty with his feelings for Christian Rankeillor? And how is she to balance her commitment to her father, their friends and the Stuart Cause with her feelings for Robert Catto?

♥♥♥♥♥♥

This is the second book in Maggie Craig’s Storm Over Scotland trilogy and I strongly recommend that you read Gathering Storm first to fully appreciate Dance to the Storm.

I like how Ms. Craig explores Robert and Kirsty’s relationship in greater depth in this book, but also provides enough drama and suspense to keep the story moving at a good pace, as Robert continues his search for the Jacobite conspirators.

Both are torn between their love for each other and their loyalty to others. Honour and duty have always been paramount to Robert, but now there is someone who means more to him. He vows to keep Kirsty and her father safe even though it means compromising his own integrity and jeopardising his military career. Not knowing who he can trust, he is going to have to proceed cautiously, and I think Ms. Craig’s analogy of walking a tightrope to describe Robert’s situation – one wrong step and you fall – fits perfectly.

Kirsty is similarly torn and begins to question her loyalty to the Jacobite cause. She cannot accept that the end justifies the means when it comes to murder. Given the choice of telling those who support the cause of the potential danger, or protecting Robert, she chooses the man she loves.

At times, she does make some foolish decisions, apparently oblivious to the consequences of her actions. I certainly couldn’t blame Robert for being so angry with her when he is risking everything to try and save her.

Robert has never known much love or affection in his life and it was heartwarming to see that, with Kirsty and her household, he had found a place he truly feels he belongs – where he feels part of family again.

I could feel Robert and Kirsty’s intense longing for each other and there were lovely tender moments, made all the more heartbreaking because there seems no way they can ever be together.

I like how Ms. Craig once again weaves social commentary into the fabric of her story, and shows the harsher side of life for ordinary people without power and wealth. Those who worked in Scotland’s coal mines, many young boys, were little more than serfs and legally the property the mine owners. Any runaways who were caught and brought back suffered a terrible punishment.

Among the secondary characters who particularly stood out were Sergeant Livingston who had some some wise advice for Robert; Geordie Smart who had a pretty hard time in this book; Joshua, the young, African servant who showed great courage, and Betty Gilchrist, Kirsty’s formidable little housekeeper.

When it comes to cruel Charlotte Liddell and her depraved brother, Cosmo, I hope that Ms. Craig has some suitable retribution for these two loathsome creatures in the final book.

I’m looking forward to reading Storm Crossed Moon, the final book in this trilogy, but it’s difficult to imagine how Robert and Kirsty will ever have their Happy Ever After. However, to quote the star-crossed pair…

”How are we to find our way through all of this?’ Her voice shook.”
“Somehow we’ll find a way.”

I’m sure Ms. Craig will.

Highly recommended for those who love intelligently written and impeccably researched Romantic Historical Fiction.

Originally posted on Goodreads

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CAROL’S REVIEW: GATHERING STORM BY MAGGIE CRAIG

(Storm Over Scotland #1)

Genre: Historical Romance

Cover Blurb (Amazon):

Edinburgh, Yuletide 1743, and Redcoat officer Robert Catto would rather be anywhere else on earth than Scotland. Seconded back from the wars in Europe to captain the city’s Town Guard, he fears his covert mission to assess the strength of the Jacobite threat will force him to confront the past he tries so hard to forget.

Christian Rankeillor, her surgeon-apothecary father and his apprentice Jamie Buchan of Balnamoon are committed supporters of the Stuart Cause. They’re hiding a Jacobite agent with a price on his head in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary: a hanging offence.

As they pick their way through a labyrinth of intrigue, Robert and Kirsty are increasingly drawn to each other. She knows their mutual attraction can go nowhere. He knows his duty demands that he must betray her.

♥♥♥♥♥♥

This book came highly recommended by my friend, Wendy Loveridge, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed because Maggie Craig is a superb writer. The first book in the Storm Over Scotland series, GATHERING STORM is an engrossing story with multi-layered characters, a meticulously researched historical setting and a star-crossed romance.

Edinburgh in 1743 is the backdrop to the story and Ms. Craig brings this historical setting vividly to life with her evocative writing and obvious in-depth knowledge of her subject. I could easily visualise the narrow, winding streets and smell their foulness, and I like how she doesn’t shy away from showing the dark underbelly of the town – the grim lives of those women forced to eke out a living anyway they can, and the depravity of those wealthy men who believed that their rank gave them the right to do whatever they wanted without consequences. It’s also a town of divided loyalties with the Jacobites who support the restoration of the exiled Stuart king on one side, and those who support the Hanoverian king in London on the other. It all combines to create the perfect setting for a fascinating story of political intrigue, murder, danger and betrayal.

What I love about Robert Catto is that he’s such a complex character. He is something of a mystery because, despite being born a Scot, he has spent half his life in the army, serving King George II. It’s clear that his reluctance to return to his homeland stems from something that happened in his youth; something so life-changing that he has done everything to conceal his past and his true identity.

At face value, it would would be easy to dislike Robert. In the scene where he breaks into Professor Rankeillor’s house and is confronted by an incensed Christian (Kirsty), he’s rude, sarcastic, belligerent and coarse. It is only later that I discovered he has every reason to hate the Jacobite cause on a personal level. He regards the Jacobites as dreamers and fools who have no conception of the realities of war, but Robert has seen first hand the horrific consequences of war, while fighting in Europe, and will do whatever he must to prevent a civil war in Scotland, and the bloodshed that would follow. It helped me to understand his motivations and, as the story unfolds, I began to see another side to him – a man who is honourable, loyal and caring, although he hides it well. I like how he realises that he can make a difference to Geordie’s life by treating him with respect and kindness, and I saw his compassion towards Geordie’s sister after her ordeal. Robert might be a hardened soldier, but he would always protect those who needed it.

Kirsty is very close to her father and she had an unconventional upbringing because he actively encouraged her interest in medicine. She helps him in his apothecary shop and has no qualms about observing a dissection. She’s intelligent and capable with a kind heart, but she’s no wilting lily and doesn’t crumble under Robert’s confrontational behaviour. I admired her fierce loyalty to her father but she did seem heedless of the potential consequences of helping the Jacobite spy.

As Robert and Kirsty are thrown into each other’s company more and more, a strong attraction sparks between them, one they know is going nowhere…

Wrong time, wrong place. Wrong man, wrong woman. Wrong situation.

…but one they are helpless to ignore.

Fully aware of the danger Kirsty is in, Robert is determined to keep her safe regardless of the huge risk to himself.

There is a strong cast of secondary characters who all add depth to the story. I particularly liked Duncan Forbes of Culloden, the Lord President of Scotland, an honourable and wise man, who cares about Scotland and doesn’t want to see it plunged into civil war, and Geordie Smart, the young cook boy who brings out Robert’s softer side, was certainly a scene stealer.

The various plot threads running through the story often seem unconnected and I love how Ms. Craig skilfully draws them all together to provide a surprise revelation that I certainly didn’t see coming. There are just enough threads left hanging to make me eager to read the second book, DANCE TO THE STORM and, of course, see what happens to Robert and Kirsty.

This was a superbly written story which skillfully blends history, political intrigue, mystery, danger and a star-crossed romance between a Redcoat Captain and a Jacobite lady. Highly recommended.

Originally posted on Goodreads

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WENDY’S RETRO AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: THE RIVER FLOWS ON BY MAGGIE CRAIG, NARRATED BY LESLIE MACKIE

 

(Glasgow and Clydebank Sagas, #1)

 Genre: Historical Romance (Glasgow, mainly during the Depression and WWII)

 Cover Blurb (Amazon):

A warm and poignant story of love, triumph over adversity and the building of the great ocean liner, the Queen Mary, set in Clydebank and the West of Scotland during the Hungry Thirties. Times are hard, but a close-knit community always manages to find a way to laugh at its troubles.

Robbie Baxter is the boy next door, the man Kate Cameron loves like a brother, the man who’s always ready to give her a shoulder to cry on, but it’s Jack Drummond who dazzles her. Kate meets him when she finally achieves her goal of attending classes at Glasgow School of Art in pursuit of her dreams of becoming an artist.

When Jack Drummond shows his true colours, it’s Robbie Kate turns to. Yet she cannot tell him the truth, which means that their growing happiness is a fragile flower, based on a secret which could blow their love and their family to pieces in an instant.

 ♥♥♥♥♥♥

This was a delightfully real, sometimes poignantly sad, but ultimately beautiful tale of Glasgow and its inhabitants. Set mainly during the Depression and WWII, it journeys through eight decades of the life and loves of Kathleen Cameron or Kate as she is mostly known. Her life is alternately joyous and heart-breaking, yet still she triumphs.

The story begins in 1924 when Kate Cameron is 16 and lives in a Glasgow tenement with her father Neil, mother Lily, sisters Jessie and Pearl, and little brother Davy. The family is poor but fiercely proud. Amongst other families sharing the same house are the Baxters, Robbie being the most prominent, as he has loved Kate and will continue to love her through many trials and tribulations. The two families share everything – their happiness, sorrows, even their baking and crockery when needs must. Ms. Craig describes how they prepare for Hogmanay – the scrubbing and cleaning, the first footing of a tall dark man with a lump of coal and black bun, and then the hooting of the ships on The Clyde. All of this I have heard from my own mother, a Glaswegian by birth, and therefore close to my heart.

Kate is a talented young woman and, unusual for the time, is still at school at the age of 16, but it is her father’s desire to see his favourite child continue with her schooling. Kate’s ambition is to attend the Glasgow School of Art, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, one of the many facts incorporated into the story by Maggie Craig to set the scene and stimulate the senses. For anyone unfamiliar with Glasgow, this is a beautiful, iconic building in the Art Nouveau style. Then Kate’s father is laid off work at the Donaldson’s shipyard, along with a large proportion of the workforce of Glasgow. The Great Depression has begun and Kate is finally forced to leave school by her shrewish mother and made to look for work to supplement the family’s meagre income. She is fortunate enough to have the support of two of her former schoolteachers who recommend her for an apprenticeship as a tracer at Donaldson’s.

Two years on, her fairy godmothers further help by pulling strings to obtain Kate a bursary to the School of Art, where she attends as a part time student, and there becomes friends with Marjorie Donaldson, her employer’s daughter. Fellow student, Jack Drummond – upper-class, handsome, elegant, languid, idle, cynical, and a friend of Marjorie’s – begins a charm offensive on Kate but his intentions are far from honourable. Unbeknownst to Kate, he has aspirations of marrying Marjorie for her money. Eventually after plying Kate with champagne at a lunch given at his home, Jack takes advantage of her infatuation but leaves her without a backward glance. Kate discovers that he has become engaged to Marjorie and then that she herself is pregnant. Faced with the choice of an abortion or tricking the honourable Robbie into marriage, she chooses the latter and begins her deceitful secret life with an adoring Robbie. Grace is born, to all intents and purposes a premature baby, and Robbie is in raptures over his daughter.

Robbie Baxter is the epitome of the dark, brooding, honourable hero. He worships Kate and their child and, although Kate is grateful to him, she does not believe she loves him. A few years into their marriage, it takes a visit from Marjorie and Jack to show her what a fool she has been, and it is then she realises how much she loves Robbie, who at last has the love and devotion of his ‘nut-brown maiden’ as he has always called her.

Maggie Craig has absolutely captured the poverty, lives and loves of the people of Glasgow and has a rare talent for understanding together with a real sense of place and time. She captures the hopelessness of The Great Depression, with the proud, brave men of Glasgow traipsing from one place to another in search of work; the horror of the war, both for the families and the men sent to fight; the utter devastation of the bombs being aimed at the shipyards, often missing their target and wiping out whole streets and families. I had a tear in my eye on more than one occasion during this beautiful, turbulent story.

I will always listen to the audio version when one is available, because Maggie Craig employs the talented, versatile, Scottish narrator, Leslie Mackie, who is so in tune with the author’s sensitive storytelling. Ms. Mackie’s beautifully modulated tones capture the feisty, fiercely independent Kate, the languid, slightly bored Jack Drummond, the softly spoken Neil Cameron with his gentle highland lilt, and then there is the darling Robbie Baxter. Who couldn’t love this wonderful, dignified man, so perfectly characterised by the clever Maggie Craig? Ms. Mackie employs a slightly deeper melodious tone for him – the image of this darkly beautiful, decent man so expertly conjured up by this gifted actress. Even the excited childish voice of wee Grace when her father comes home is perfectly captured. The Epilogue is enchanting too.

MY VERDICT: A magnificent feast of a story with a fitting and moving ending. Maggie Craig’s love for her City and its people is apparent in the care and thought she has poured into this wonderful tale of triumph over adversity.

 

REVIEW RATING: STELLAR 5 STARS

SENSUALITY RATING: SUBTLE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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NEW BOOKS ADDED TO MY BOOKSHELVES

I will buy anything that Courtney Milan writes! This is the first book in her new series.

Source: Purchased from Amazon Kindle

(The Worth Saga, #1)

Genre: Historical Romance (Victorian)

Cover Blurb:

The last man Judith Worth wants to see again is Charles Trent, the Marquess of Ashford—the man who spent summers at her family home, who kissed her one magical night…and then heartlessly ruined her father. But when a tricky business matter arises, he’s the only one she can ask for help. With any luck, he’ll engage a servant to take care of the matter, and she won’t even have to talk with him.

But Ashford has never forgotten Judith. He knows she will never forgive him for what he’s done, but when offered the chance to assist her, he arrives in person. His memory of Judith may have haunted him, but it pales in comparison to the reality of the vivacious, beautiful woman he rediscovers. Throughout his life, he has always done what is correct. But now, he finds himself doing something utterly wrong…falling in love with the one woman he can never have.

♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

Tessa Dare returns to Spindle Cove with this novella

Source: Purchased from Amazon Kindle

(Spindle Cove, #4.5)

Genre: Historical Romance (Regency)

Cover Blurb:

A snowstorm hath no fury like a spinster scorned!

Miss Elinora Browning grew up yearning for the handsome, intelligent lord-next-door…but he left England without a word of farewell. One night, inspired by a bit too much sherry, Nora poured out her heartbreak on paper. Lord Dashwood Missed Out was a love letter to every young lady who’d been overlooked by gentlemen—and an instant bestseller. Now she’s on her way to speak in Spindle Cove when snowy weather delays her coach. She’s forced to wait out the storm with the worst possible companion: Lord Dashwood himself.

And he finally seems to have noticed her.

George Travers, Lord Dashwood, has traveled the globe as a cartographer. He returned to England with the goal of marrying and creating an heir–only to find his reputation shredded by an audacious, vexingly attractive bluestocking and her poison pen. Lord Dashwood Missed Out, his arse. Since Nora Browning seems to believe he overlooked the passion of a lifetime, Dash challenges her to prove it.

She has one night.

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I love this series!

Source: I received a complimentary copy from the author in return for an honest review

(Duke’s Club, #4)

Genre: Historical Romance

Cover Blurb:

A Lady Who Vows Never to Wed:

Lady Allegra Portmund knows the cost of marriage. After the death of her dearest and only sister, Allegra swears she will never suffer the same fate. She will not become a possession shaped and destroyed by a husband. So, when her parents insist she marry the man of their choosing, there is only one thing for Allegra to do. Run. But when she runs, determined to be free, she meets the Duke of Roth, a singular man who sees her unique and vital spirit. Now that her heart is awakened to the most dangerous longings for love, how will she resist the temptation to break her vow?

A Duke Ruled By  Honor:

Nicholas Andrew Edward Forth, Duke of Roth, values family above everything else. Despite his wild reputation, having lost both of his parents when he was a child, his most secret wish is to have a family again. When he meets a young lady in disguise, Nicholas quickly realizes that she is unlike any woman he’s ever met and is also the only woman for him. But when he discovers how quickly she has abandoned her own family, he doubts whether she is the exceptional woman he believed her to be. Now, that he knows the truth about Allegra’s past, will his own sense of honor destroy his only chance at happiness?

♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

Source: A lovely Christmas gift from a friend

Audiobook narrated by Leslie Mackie

Genre: Historical Romance (Regency)

Cover Blurb:

Since losing their parents, Kate and Andrew Dunbar have been living with their cold-hearted aunt and uncle within the vaults of Edinburgh’s South Bridge. Worked relentlessly, Kate has little chance to secure a different way of life for herself and her brother.

Then one day Richard Hope walks into her life. An upper-class student training to become a doctor, Richard knows that he and Kate come from very different worlds. Instantly smitten, Richard vows to do whatever it takes to spend his time with her. But as the romance develops, not everyone is happy for the young lovers.

Can their fragile relationship survive the pressures of family betrayal and society’s disapproval, or will they be forced to part?

♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

Victoria Vane is one of the few authors whose contemporary romances I read.

Source: I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

(Hotel Rodeo, #2)

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Cover Blurb:

A COUNTRY BOY

Maybe having a hot and heavy affair with the boss’s daughter wasn’t the smartest move. But country boy Ty Morgan didn’t regret a moment with city girl Monica Brandt…until she left Las Vegas to return to her life in New York. When devastating news sends her running back, Ty can’t help but open his arms. His heart, however, is another matter.

AND A CITY GIRL

Now that Ty has what he’s always wanted—controlling interest in Hotel Rodeo—Monica is certain their time together is at an end. Then Ty asks her to come on board as a partner. Maybe it’s just her money he needs, but the chance to stick close to the sexy wrangler sure could make work a whole lot more interesting.

GET READY TO TANGO

Their partnership doesn’t come without a heap of problems. The two can’t agree on anything—except their iron-hot attraction. As the hotel’s Grand Opening approaches, the truth is all too clear: Ty and Monica must find a way to mix business with pleasure if they have any shot at dancing off into the sunset together…

Expected publication date: February 16th 2016

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WENDY’S FAVOURITES – REVIEW: ONE SWEET MOMENT BY MAGGIE CRAIG

Genre: Historical Romance (Regency 1822-1824, Epilogue 1872)

Cover Blurb:

A romantic tale of young love and old Edinburgh from the pen of a consummate storyteller and acclaimed Scottish historian.

It’s 1822 and Scotland’s capital is a city of both splendour and squalor. Kate Dunbar is worked like a slave all day and preyed upon at night in the gloomy vaults that lurk under the Old Town’s South Bridge but never gives up hope of a better life for herself and her beloved young brother Andrew.

When wealthy young medical student Richard Hope walks into her life, Kate knows that his interest in her could lead them both into danger. Yet it’s not long before the two of them have fallen head-over-heels in love.

Others are watching the young lovers. Radical booksellers Peggy and Nathaniel Henderson have Kate and Andrew’s best interests at heart. Their greedy and grasping uncle doesn’t, and he soon soon starts laying his own evil plans.

Kate and Richard’s passionate and poignant romance intertwines with the richly-imagined colour and pageantry of King George IV’s historic visit to Edinburgh in 1822, and culminates in the heart-stopping drama of the Great Fire of Edinburgh of 1824.

Can their love affair have a happy ending or will fate, the evil that threatens them and the rigid rules of class and society allow them only one sweet moment of happiness?

♥♥♥♥♥♥

How do I to begin to review one of the loveliest and most compellingly written books it has been my pleasure to experience?

I listened to the audio version, narrated by Lesley Mackie, who has the most melodious voice. A Scott herself, her narration is perfectly pitched and cleverly vocalised so that the listener is never in any doubt which character is talking at any given time. There is a lot of the Scottish vernacular used and this adds depth and great feeling, as well as showing the difference in class of the wonderful mix of characters. Ms Mackie differentiates expertly between male and female, rich and poor alike, and it is a very professional performance indeed.

The story begins with a quote from Robert Louis Stevenson:

“To look over the South Bridge and to see the Cowgate below, full of crying hawkers is to view one rank of society from another in the twinkling of an eye”

which pretty much sums up the difference in the class structure of the time.

The title One Sweet Moment and also the brief synopsis suggest just another love story.  I don’t mean this in any derogatory sense but, as a lover of history as well as a finely written romance, I was delighted to find that this wonderful book was so much more than was suggested; in fact, it’s depth and content is greatly underplayed.

This was my first Maggie Craig novel and it was purely by chance that I discovered it on ITunes for audio download. I thought it might be a nice book to listen to whilst out walking, but instead found myself ignoring everyone and grabbing every moment I could to devour this thoughtful and beautifully moving story. It’s written by a lady who obviously knows her stuff – the history of Scotland, Edinburgh and the people of that city.

The book (with a perfect epilogue which winds the story up in the most poignant way) spans approximately 50 years. It is the story of Kate Dunbar, a brave and defiant young woman of the lowest orders, living in abject poverty in the vaults of Edinburgh’s South Bridge with her young physically handicapped brother Andrew. Orphaned and at the mercy of their maternal Aunt and her vile husband, they accept and live in the most degrading manner, with little chance of escape from the daily, tyrannical and abusive behaviour doled out by this uncaring and evil pair.

One evening into the Pearl Fisher, the Oyster Bar kept by Kate’s Aunt and Uncle and where she is obliged to work without payment, come three young privileged medical students, one of whom is immediately attracted to Kate. Richard Hope, handsome and wealthy, is as far outside Kate’s world as it is possible to be. His family is rich and well connected but still he persists in gaining an acquaintance with her. He finds his intentions are entirely honourable and he treats Kate and the other occupants of the vaults with respect and eventually she comes to like and love him, and he her.

This is a time of radical political stirrings. It is only 70 years since the great Jacobean uprising. The people of Edinburgh are split in their views, some wishing for independence and Kate has some such friends. Richard becomes embroiled with Kate’s champions, book shop owners Nathaniel and Peggy Henderson, and finds himself looking at the poorer inhabitants of Edinburgh from a different, and more sympathetic perspective.

This is such a wonderfully meaty book, full of intrigue, romance, abuse of the worse kind and body snatching. The Edinburgh of the time, beautiful but also poverty stricken, is captured in this magical tale. Maggie Craig is a consummate story teller; her extensive research and love of her homeland and its people are obvious. Her prose flows with twists and turns and captures the imagination. I hated the villains and desperately wanted Kate and Richard to find their happy ending. As I have said previously, this tale was so much more than ‘just a love story‘. It is a must read for all HR lovers and for anyone who loves a wonderfully compelling story.

This was one of those ‘let’s buy it, it’s cheap and sounds intriguing‘ purchases but Maggie Craig is now one of my top five authors. This is a definite keeper for me.

I later went on to read Gathering Storm, which is another absolutely superb historical set in Edinburgh during the time of the Jacobean uprising – not to be missed for lovers of history.

MY VERDICT: A beautiful and compelling love story.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

 

REVIEW RATING: 5/5 STELLAR STARS

SENSUALITY RATING: WARM

 

Footnote: The author has recently commented “Fair chuffed to discover that Edinburgh City Libraries have added One Sweet Moment to their literary map of books set in the City”….I’m personally not surprised, well deserved! And earlier this year I visited Edinburgh and followed her trail…a clever author/historian who can make a place and people so real.

 

 

 

 

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NEW BOOKS ADDED TO MY BOOKSHELVES

Maggie Craig is a new-to-me author but I downloaded this book because it came highly recommended by my friend, Wendy Loveridge., who shares the same taste in books as myself.

Source: Purchased from Amazon Kindle

Genre: Historical Romance (Regency)

Cover Blurb:

A romantic tale of young love and old Edinburgh from the pen of a consummate storyteller and acclaimed Scottish historian.

It’s 1822 and Scotland’s capital is a city of both splendour and squalor. Kate Dunbar is worked like a slave all day and preyed upon at night in the gloomy vaults that lurk under the Old Town’s South Bridge but never gives up hope of a better life for herself and her beloved young brother Andrew.

When wealthy young medical student Richard Hope walks into her life, Kate knows that his interest in her could lead them both into danger. Yet it’s not long before the two of them have fallen head-over-heels in love.

Others are watching the young lovers. Radical booksellers Peggy and Nathaniel Henderson have Kate and Andrew’s best interests at heart. Their greedy and grasping uncle doesn’t, and he soon soon starts laying his own evil plans.

Kate and Richard’s passionate and poignant romance intertwines with the richly-imagined colour and pageantry of King George IV’s historic visit to Edinburgh in 1822, and culminates in the heart-stopping drama of the Great Fire of Edinburgh of 1824.

Can their love affair have a happy ending or will fate, the evil that threatens them and the rigid rules of class and society allow them only one sweet moment of happiness?

♥♥♥♥♥♥

Last year I read and loved FOREVER BETROTHED, NEVER THE BRIDE, the first book in Christi Caldwell’s Scandalous Seasons series. I already have book 2, NEVER COURTED, SUDDENLY WED and so I’ve bought the remaining books in the series.

Source: All purchased from Amazon Kindle

(Scandalous Seasons, #3)

Genre: Historical Romance (Regency)

Cover Blurb:

Geoffrey Winters, Viscount Redbrooke was not always the hard, unrelenting lord driven by propriety. After a tragic mistake, he resolved to honor his responsibility to the Redbrooke line and live a life, free of scandal. Knowing his duty is to wed a proper, respectable English miss, he selects Lady Beatrice Dennington, daughter of the Duke of Somerset, the perfect woman for him. Until he meets Miss Abigail Stone…

To distance herself from a personal scandal, Abigail Stone flees America to visit her uncle, the Duke of Somerset. She finds herself helplessly intrigued by the hard, too-proper Geoffrey. With his strict appreciation for decorum and order, he is nothing like the man she’s always dreamed of.

Abigail is everything Geoffrey does not need. She upends his carefully ordered world at every encounter. As they begin to care for one another, Abigail carefully guards the secret that resulted in her journey to England.

Only, if Geoffrey learns the truth about Abigail, he must decide which he holds most dear–his place in Society or Abigail’s place in his heart.

(Scandalous Seasons, #4)

Genre: Historical Romance (Regency)

Cover Blurb:

Miss Juliet Marshville is spitting mad. With one guardian missing, and the other singularly uninterested in her fate, she is at the mercy of her wastrel brother who loses her beloved childhood home to a man known as Sin. Determined to reclaim control of Rosecliff Cottage and her own fate, Juliet arranges a meeting with the notorious rogue and demands the return of her property.

Jonathan Tidemore, 5th Earl of Sinclair, known to the ton as Sin, is exceptionally lucky in life and at the gaming tables. He has just one problem. Well…four, really. His incorrigible sisters have driven off yet another governess. This time, however, his mother demands he find an appropriate replacement.

When Miss Juliet Marshville boldly demands the return of her precious cottage, he takes advantage of his sudden good fortune and puts an offer to her; turn his sisters into proper English ladies, and he’ll return Rosecliff Cottage to Juliet’s possession.

Jonathan comes to appreciate Juliet’s spirit, courage, and clever wit, and decides to claim the fiery beauty as his mistress. Juliet, however, will be mistress for no man. Nor could she ever love a man who callously stole her home in a game of cards. As Jonathan begins to see Juliet as more than a spirited beauty to warm his bed, he realizes she could be a lady he could love the rest of his life, if only he can convince the proud Juliet that he’s worthy of her hand and heart.

 

I also bought this prequel novella to her latest series, The Heart of a Duke.

(Heart of a Duke, #1)

Genre: Historical Romance (Regency)

Cover Blurb:

Author’s Note: This is a prequel novella to “The Heart of a Duke” series by Christi Caldwell. It was originally available in “The Heart of a Duke” Collection and is now being published as an individual novella. ***It features a new prologue and epilogue.

Years earlier, a gypsy woman passed to Lady Aldora Adamson and her friends a heart pendant that promised them each the heart of a duke.

Now, a young lady, with her family facing ruin and scandal, Lady Aldora doesn’t have time for mythical stories about cheap baubles. She needs to save her sisters and brother by marrying a titled gentleman with wealth and power to his name. She sets her bespectacled sights upon the Marquess of St. James.

Turned out by his father after a tragic scandal, Lord Michael Knightly has grown into a powerful, but self-made man. With the whispers and stares that still follow him, he would rather be anywhere but London…

Until he meets Lady Aldora, a young woman who mistakes him for his brother, the Marquess of St. James. The connection between Aldora and Michael is immediate and as they come to know one another, Aldora’s feelings for Michael war with her sisterly responsibilities. With her family’s dire situation, a man of Michael’s scandalous past wlll never do.

Ultimately, Aldora must choose between her responsibilities as a sister and her love for Michael.

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