THE STOLEN MACKENZIE BRIDE by Jennifer Ashley is Book 8 in the wonderful MacKenzies and McBrides series. While I don't think any book will ever topple THE MADNESS OF LORD IAN MACKENZIE from its status as my absolute favorite Ashley book, THE STOLEN MACKENZIE BRIDE comes in as a very close second. Set in 1745 Scotland, this book is about the ancestor of the current (Victorian age) MacKenzies who are featured in Books 1 through 7. Malcolm (Mal) MacKenzie is the youngest of five Scottish brothers born to the Duke of Kilmorgan.

Lady Mary Lennox is the daughter of an English earl who is a strong backer of King George of England. She is placidly engaged to a crony of her father. But Mal spies Mary across a ballroom and is determined to make her his. Mary quickly falls for the honorable and dashing young Scot, but the turbulence of the political climate makes their burgeoning love treacherous. I love the rough and tumble Mal and his wild brothers. They epitomize the braw Scots that romance readers adore reading about.

THE STOLEN MACKENZIE BRIDE feels much more strongly historical to me than the other MacKenzie books with its loving attention to historical detail. Caught up in the turbulent times of Bonnie Prince Charlie, the events leading up to the titanic Battle of Culloden are thoughtfully and grippingly laid out as the compelling backdrop against which Mal and Mary's love plays out. I very much appreciate historical romances where more than token attention is paid to the details of the period, so this book is catnip for me. Ashley's THE STOLEN MACKENZIE BRIDE has great depth, captivating me with a wonderful mix of Jacobite uprising history and forbidden love. I hope the next MacKenzie book is as satisfying and enthralling as this!