Highlander in Love
Julia London
Pocket, Aug 2005, $6.99, 384 pp.
ISBN: 0743465083

In spite of the Lockhart and Douglas families feud, Payton Douglas loans a large sum of money to his rivals. The Lockharts agree to repay within one year or their daughter Mared will marry Payton. To their shock and chagrin, the proud Lockharts cannot make remittance at the end of year so Mared will be their payment.

Payton is pleased that they failed because he treasures the spirited Mared and looks forward to having her as his spouse. However, everyone knows that courting the cursed Mared means misfortune and probably death so no one has dared try until Payton.

Mared knows the Douglas clan as horrid enemies so she does not want to take their surname as hers. She throws women at him to tempt him, and pretends to be simpleminded while incidents occur that would shake a lesser person now that the curse has been activated. Mared obtains a modification to the agreement; she will be his housekeeper for one year. When her family finds the heirloom and pays off the debt, she can go home, but if home is where the heart is, she belongs with Payton.

The sequel to the fabulous HIGHLANDER IN DISGUISE and HIGHLANDER UNBOUND is a fun romantic historical tale starring the sister of the two heroes from the previous novels. Mared knows family honor demands she marry Payton, but accepts humiliation to pay the debt without sleeping with the enemy. Payton is patient with the woman he loves as she pulls stunts so he will send her packing but he refuses to allow a curse or a stubborn Scotswoman from achieving his objective of marrying his beloved. This is a fine amusing Highlander entry.

Harriet Klausner