Lady Mairi Dunwythie awaits the birth of her step-mother's
child for its gender will determine her fate. If the child
is a girl, Mairi becomes a wealthy heiress with vast lands
in Scotland. However, if it is a boy, Mairi only receives a
dowry. Mairi hides her impatience with her fate by adapting
a serene demeanor that betrays none of her inner turmoil.
In the midst of a crisis between the Sheriff of Dumfries
and her father, the Sheriff's brother abducts Mairi.
The Sheriff of Dumfries sends his brother, Robert Maxwell,
on an impossible task. He is to confront Lord Dunwythie and
demand he submit to the Sheriff's edicts. Rob desires peace
and attempts to find a way to outmaneuver his brother's
grab for power. When he meets Dunwythie's eldest daughter,
a solution presents itself. He kidnaps Mairi with a plan to
use her to bring peace to the clans.
Once again, Mairi's fate depends on the whims of politics.
She is a pawn in the power struggles of the clans. Her calm
deserts her and Rob is met with a fiery woman bent on
taking control of her life. Their attraction to each other
is immediate, but neither will jeopardize their clans'
future of peace. Together they must find a solution.
Readers fascinated with history and political machinations
will love Ms. Scott's newest tale. She incorporates the
political intrigue and the imminent danger of clan warfare
with Mairi and Rob's romance. This second book in the
trilogy leaves readers clamoring for the story of Mairi's
sister in TEMPTED BY A WOMAN.
A fair-haired beauty at 19, Lady Mairi is heiress apparent
to her father Lord Dunwythie's rich barony. He has carefully
taught her how to manage their estates, but a feud between
his clan and the Maxwell clan is brewing as the two families
edge toward a clan war - their dispute over money owed.
Mairi's father believes he owes nothing, and of course Mairi
sides with him.
When the impulsive and blue-eyed Rob
Maxwell chances to meet Mairi in a barley field, they feel
instant attraction, despite their families' antagonisms.
Knowing he must put his clan first, Rob enacts a plan to
force Dunwythie to pay his debt: Rob kidnaps Mairi, making
the abduction appear the work of a stranger; then he and his
sheriff-brother offer to help Dunwythis rescue his daughter
IF, and only if, he will pay them the monies due. Yet after
Rob captures Mairi's body, she captures his heart. When
Dunwythie summons the aid of the most powerful clan in all
Scotland (the Douglases), clan-tensions rise to a fever
pitch. Love takes its own feverish course, as Mairi and Rob
join forces to prevent a clash between hot-headed clans, and
to protect their budding love.