The Kindling Heart

Two hotheaded Highlanders, the offspring of feuding lairds, are tricked by the King's Regent into a desperate choice: marry or die. Bhaic MacPherson is more disposed to lead his clan into battle than stay married to the daughter of his enemy. But perhaps the intensity of his feelings has more to do with desire than hostility. Ailis Robertson wanted a husband, not a savage - but when her family was faced with a deadly ultimatum, she had no choice.

Annabel was about to take the veil to become a nun, when her mother suddenly arrived at the abbey to take her home... so that she can marry the Scottish laird who is betrothed to her runaway sister! She knows nothing about being a wife, and definitely nothing about the marriage bed. But from the moment Ross MacKay sets eyes on Annabel, he is taken with his shy, sweet bride... and the fact that she's blessed with lush curves only makes him utter his own prayers of thanks. But when an enemy endangers her life, he'll move the Highlands themselves to save her.

Darach MacKenzie vowed never again to let a woman near his heart after his betrothed betrayed him. It sparked an intense feud between his clan and the Frasers, and now he can't be distracted - not even by a sweet and charming lass who desperately needs his help. When Darach rescued Caitlin MacInnes from the clutches of vile Laird Fraser, she vowed to never let men or misery rule her life again. With Darach and the MacKenzie clan, Caitlin finally feels safe.

Fleeing with only her bow, horse, enormous pet wolf, and the cryptic clues hidden in her mother's medicine journal, healer Meg Boswell gallops north towards freedom, running from the man who falsely accused her mother of witchcraft. Cursed with magical healing abilities, Meg knows that if she's captured, she will die like her mother-atop a blazing witch's pyre.

Ian Mackintosh and his bride, Rose, return to McLaren Lands to rebuild all that was destroyed by the previous laird. Believing bad times and evil men are behind them, they've let their guard down. Ian's world is turned upside down one cold winter's night when Rose is kidnapped.

Loki Grant's first memories are of living in a crate behind an inn in Ayr, struggling to survive. Clan Grant saved him from his lonely existence and took him in as one of their own. But though the Highlands have become his home and he loves his adopted parents, Brodie and Celestina, Loki feels lost. Part of him is still that scrappy wee lad who relied on his wits to survive the streets, and he is not sure he belongs.

Maggie Ramsay has never forgotten Randall Baines, the English lord who tormented her beloved sister when they were children. After her sister is injured in a senseless accident, she decides to make Baines pay for what he did...only she gets more than she bargained for. Her brother's mysterious friend joins her as soon as she leaves her clan alone, insisting on keeping her safe, and when they reach Baines's castle, she learns the lord is now an earl and his cruelty to women and lassies has only escalated. The discovery fills her with a fire that will not be banked.

Bastard daughter to the king, Rosamunde was raised in a convent and wholly prepared to take the veil...until King Henry declared she would wed Aric, one of his most valiant knights. Suddenly she found herself promising to love, honor, and obey. Rosamunde's education had not covered a wedding night, but the handsome warrior she was now bound to seemed intent on giving her a lesson in the art of pleasure. In no time, Aric was certain she would surrender to the irresistible passion he promised.

Highland warrior Alexander Macpherson has lost his wife. When he agrees to take Kenna Mackay as his bride to advance his clan's power in the north, he expects a bit of an adjustment. He doesn't expect the sharp-tongued beauty to run away on their wedding night. Still, Alexander wants his runaway bride...and he has the sneaking suspicion that she wants him, too.

On the run from a dangerous man, Ava Sutton flees to the Isle of Mull off the coast of Scotland. Masquerading as a titled, English lady, Ava must convince the cynical and darkly handsome chief of the Macleans of Aros to wed her before the devil tracks her down. Tor Maclean, the new chief of Aros Castle, has sworn off marriage after his first wife tricked him into it. Despite his efforts to scare away the Englishwoman, his father arranged for him to wed, Tor is drawn to her fire, courage, and beauty.

After losing his betrothed, Ceana, to a Lowlander, Laird Gabriel MacKinnon is charged with saving her cousin along with a brood of children from an impenetrable castle. Though the lady he's been tasked with protecting has been accused of a heinous crime, Gabriel has no fear of her. In fact he's a little irritated at the prospect of delivering her to her kin. But this hardened, cold warrior just may find his heart melting, for the hellion brings out a passionate side he'd thought long buried.

While Kyla is grateful for the Scottish laird who saved her from marrying a loathsome man, she is just as furious that Galen has claimed her for his bride. But when they share an unforgettable night of passion, will it lead to a marriage of the heart, or will an enemy tear them apart?

Descended of the legendary sons of MacAlpin, Iain MacKinnon refuses to bow to the English. When his young son is captured by a minion of the English king, the fierce Scottish chieftain vows to stop at nothing to secure the lad's return. Retaliating in kind, he captures the daughter of his enemy, planning to bargain with the devil. FitzSimon's daughter has lived her entire life in the shadow of the man she called father--yet never would she have imagined he would forsake his only daughter.

When the infamous King Richard dagger is stolen from Highland chief, Dugald MacKerrick, he will do whatever it takes to reclaim it, even abduct the wife of the aristocratic thief, but what if his beautiful French hostage isn't who he thinks she is? Deep in the rugged Scottish Highlands, Dugald discovers not only is his captive, Camille Bouchard, more than he expected, so is the passion raging between them, threatening everything he thought mattered to him.

Ariana Fitzroy has lost her family and her fortune. The fight for survival leads her to the shadowed card games of court, where she discovers she has quite a talent for slipping cards into her favor. While the winnings are enough to sustain her at present, they will not last forever.... Connor Grant, trainer of the fallen women from the English court and personal assassin to the king, is just as broken as the women he trains. After losing his own land and all his people in a brutal attack from a trusted friend, he has no choice but to rebuild any way he sees possible.