Part of Mackenzies & McBrides
First published 2020
It is Christmas Eve, 1747. Snow blankets the village of Calvine, north of Tay Forest, and Balthazar's Inn is the only shelter for miles along the road to Inverness. Eight months after Culloden shattered the Highlands, the land is still raw and the winter is brutal. Travelers crowd into the inn, each carrying their own burden. James de Lohr is searching for a brother lost at the battle. Fiona McDonald is trying to free Stuart Cameron from smugglers who hold his debt. Lady Elizabeth Easton is fleeing her own wedding, and Callum MacKinnon, presumed dead at Culloden, walks in to find a stranger has already claimed a room in his name. A Victorian photographer named Vanessa Latimer shares her only room with a ghost who refuses to leave. Tavish Crawford is racing to keep a sacred sword out of a treasure hunter's hands. And Thane Menzies has spent eight months plotting revenge against the Campbells, with Lady Sarah as his target. Six stories unfold under one roof on one winter night. The inn's blustery keeper and his quiet daughter watch it all happen. Love, debt, grief, and second chances fill every corner of Balthazar's Inn.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, fantasy, paranormal-fiction, historical-romance
Vibes: atmospheric, bittersweet, emotional, intimate, mysterious
Tropes: forced-proximity, found-family, ghosts, multiple-love-stories, second-chance
Setting: Balthazar's Inn, Calvine, Tay Forest, Highlands, Inverness, Scotland
Period: Christmas Eve 1747, Post-Culloden, 18th century, Victorian era
528 pages · Paperback · Independently Published
Content warnings: death, war