New York Times bestselling author Karen Ranney takes readers back to beautiful Scotland in the first novel in her breathtaking new series. Since she was a little girl, Jennifer Adaire, daughter of the Earl of Burfield, has loved Gordon McDonnell even though his station as the gardener's son made him strictly forbidden to her. After Gordon was forced from Adaire Hall, taking Jennifer's heart with him, he headed for London, intent on making a better life for himself. Though they've kept in touch through letters and Jennifer has waited patiently for him, it's taken Gordon five years to return to Scotland. Now Jennifer doesn't know if she can manage seeing again the man she loves-but can never have. In the time since his departure, Gordon has achieved the success he's always sought. When he learns that his father is dying, he returns home and discovers much to his surprise that the feelings he's always had for Jennifer burn ever stronger. But when a family secret surfaces, Jennifer and Gordon's chance at a future together could be threatened...

Ensnared in villianous plots, Sebastian, Earl of Langlinais, must turn to the wife he has not seen since the day they wed as children. He had not counted on being enchanted by her beauty, and soon wants her not only by his side, but in his bed. Convent-bred Julianna had spent her days learning the wifely arts, and her nights longing for the man she had wed so long ago. Summoned to join him, the native bride comes face-to-face with a man so virile, so powerful, she trembles in his presence.

Marshall Ross, Earl of Lorne, was a highly decorated diplomat with a terrible secret. His last mission to China failed abysmally and led to the deaths of twenty-six of his men. He can't forgive himself even now. Even though he had little choice as a prisoner of the Chinese, he also feels a deep shame for allowing himself to become addicted to opium. Opium is the reason for his hallucinations, for the visions that plague him and for his deeply held belief that he is going mad. Not exactly the right time to become a bridegroom. But he has an obligation to marry before his condition becomes worse, and he does, to an unlikely bride: a twenty-seven year old stranger, the daughter of his uncle's mistress. His uncle's mistress, however, is not all she appears to be.Theresa Robertson is Davina's aunt, and determined to provide for her niece. Almost as determined as she is to see Garrow Ross hang for his crimes. What began as a marriage of convenience between Marshall and Davina soon becomes a battle of wits and will as Davina McLaren decides that she wants more from marriage than Marshall wants to give. She hadn't wanted to marry, after all, but who would have known that such a union would bring her a mystifying, magnetic sort of husband, one who introduces her to passion with such skill?Although his habit of disappearing at night was disconcerting, she didn't believe that Marshall was insane. If he was mad, he was the kindest, most gentle, madman she'd ever met. Something, however, was going on at Ambrose. The mystery deepens as Marshall's hallucinations become more terrifying. When Marshall pushes Davina away for the last time, she leaves him, returning to Edinburgh with hopes that he'll follow her. Instead, Marshall is taken away to a private asylum, leaving Davina no choice but to mount a siege against the Black Castle to rescue her husband. Davina succeeds in her mission, Marshall is cured of his visions, and the mystery of why he believed himself going mad is solved.

Running from their pasts

Margaret Dalrousie was once willing to sacrifice all for her calling. The talented artist would let no man interfere with her gift. But now, living in a small Scottish cottage on the estate of Glengarrow, she has not painted a portrait in ages. For not even the calming haven in the remote woods can erase the memories that darken Margaret's days and nights. And now, with the return of the Earl of Linnet to his ancestral home, her hopes of peace have disappeared.

From the first moment he encountered Margaret on his land, the Earl of Linnet was nothing but annoyed. The grieving nobleman has his own secrets that have lured him to the solitude of the Highlands, and his own reasons for wanting to be alone. Yet he is intrigued by his hauntingly beautiful neighbor. Could she be the spark that will draw him out of bittersweet sorrow--the woman who could transform him from a Scotsman in sadness to a Scotsman in love?