Part of Mackenzies & McBrides, book 9
First published 2017
Alec Mackenzie stands in front of a London drawing room and calls himself Mr. Finn. The name is a lie. He fought at Culloden, he is Scottish, and the English authorities would hang him if they knew who he was. Lady Celia arrives for lessons at her mother's insistence, sent to learn something useful after turning down every marriage prospect her family puts forward. She notices the accent first. Then she starts asking questions. She finds out his real name, his title, and what Culloden cost him. What she is not prepared for is the man she finds once the lies fall away: a father raising a daughter on his own, carrying grief for a homeland that no longer exists, and holding onto a loss that will not let go. Alec has his own reasons for staying close to Celia. He thinks she can help him find his missing brother. The search pulls them both deeper into danger, and Celia discovers that her heart is now just as exposed as her life.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, adult, historical-romance
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, melancholic, suspenseful
Tropes: fake-identity, forced-proximity, found-family, second-chance-romance
Setting: London, Scottish Highlands, England
Period: 18th-century, Post-Culloden
324 pages · Paperback · JA / AG Publishing
Content warnings: death, war