An Englishwoman, a Scottish laird … a love that will surpass all borders. A sumptuous romance in the spirit of Diana Gabaldon and Darry Fraser. 1402, the Anglo-Scottish border.
Lynelle Fenwick is the daughter of an English lord, but was deemed cursed when her mother didn’t survive childbirth and has been an outcast all her life. Raised by the village healer, who has since died, Lynelle truly … village healer, who has since died, Lynelle truly is alone. When her younger half-brother is captured during a Scottish raid, she sees a last chance to redeem herself to the father who rejected her, and offers to be held captive in his place.
Across the turbulent border, Lynelle strikes a bargain with William Kirkpatrick, laird of Closeburn. She will spend two weeks inside the clan’s castle tending William’s younger brother who is in need of a healer’s care. The laird has his own family curse to deal with, along with a deep distrust of healers – and Lynelle has exaggerated her healing skills to obtain her half-brother’s freedom.
Despite their differences, William and Lynelle are drawn to each other … then an unexpected foe threatens to divide them forever … Enemies by birth and circumstance, they can only succeed together.
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I do love a trip back to the Scottish Highlands in the 1400’s, a man in a kilt and a laird yes please and this one was a beauty, beautifully written, fabulous characters and a story of born enemies finding a love so strong, I loved getting to know Lynelle Fenwick and Laird William Kirkpatrick, I hope you do as well.
Lynelle has lived as an outsider in her own home, shunned by her father and everyone who lives there she has lived with the healer for as long as she can remember cursed they say, but Lynelle learnt a lot living here and she would do anything to get her father’s respect and when the chance comes before she even thinks she takes off only to be captured by the enemy. She convinces the laird that she is a healer and will accompany his injured brother back to their home Closeburn for two weeks, and a lot changes in these two weeks Lynelle shows her strength and her healing skills.
William has only one brother left and he is determined to keep him safe, living under a curse that has troubled his clan for many years, even if he doesn’t believe in it they all do, so when his brother is injured he needs a healer to help with his journey home William has an aversion to healers but when he meets Lynelle although not happy he needs her but there is a pull that he feels towards her and the next two weeks changes him very much as he loses his heart.
I loved this story from page one what a page turner, there is a lot going on and Lynelle finds a way to get William to open up and her healing skills become very real and she becomes very popular with the clan, but their journey to a beautiful HEA is fraught with ups and downs and their trust needs to get better. I do highly recommend this story, it really is fabulous, thank you Allison Butler for such a great story.
Thanks you to Harlequin HQ and Harper Collins for my copy to read.
This book is a first time read by this author for me and what a lovely way to be introduced to this authors writing. As a lover of all thanks Scottish this book was a very nice read with a little bit of drama at the end to have you wondering where the author was taking us all. As I am writing this review I realise there is a book two, I will just have to go take a look at what that book as to offer me.
I have read the recently printed publication of the book with a new cover. The cover of this book is outstanding but I do question the picture of the castle used as it doesn’t portray Closeburn Castle or the Castel Loch.
I fond the flow and the language used within this story to be the perfect mix to make the reader fully submerged with the pages of this world. There where many interesting characters with this story that warmed your, heart.
I was not overly impressed. The plot moved slowly and the romance seemed to come out of nowhere, the build wasn’t well conveyed. The twist at the end was a redeeming quality and I look forward to the other books in the series.