Called back to England from his post on Dominica when he unexpectedly inherits a Scottish earldom, Dunnock Castle is the last place Thomas Sutherland wants to be. Discovering the castle is rented by reclusive gothic novel author Robin Ratliff, Thomas wants only to ensure his tenants are in good hands before returning to his army career. He’s shocked to discover the castle inhabited by Jane Higginbotham, formerly Jane Quayle, a young woman with whom he was once briefly infatuated.
Jane’s hiding several secrets… she’s not a widow and she is actually Robin Ratliff. She’s also dealing with threatening letters targeting her author persona. When Thomas reappears in her life and astonishingly claims to have been hired by Robin Ratliff to deal with the letters, she knows he’s lying… but she can’t reveal how she knows without exposing her own secrets.
I really loved this… I actually thought it would have been more interesting if the pair had never met in the past; it seemed pretty incidental to the main story. Thomas would still have been intrigued enough to stay on discovering Ratliff’s assistant was a woman. The chemistry between him and Jane was fantastic, and there were so many wonderful little touches, like Jane’s two cute dogs and the excerpts of her gothic novel. Susanna Craig is one of my favourite historical romance authors at the moment and she definitely doesn’t disappoint with the first in this new series. Five stars for a wonderful read!
Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this title via NetGalley.