Scotland, 1605

Alex MacLeod is going home to the Isle of Skye after years of lending his formidable sword arm to the cause of justice. His brother Rory, chief of the MacLeods on Skye, summoned him there for a mission. In his own mind, Alex feels he let the clan down once and owes them his life. When nearing the isles, sudden screams bring him to a halt. He's torn between continuing on and stopping to help. However, his nature won't allow him to ignore a woman's cry.

Margaret Mackinnon and her mother journey from Skye to Edinburgh to find a husband for Meg. In spite of her mother's urging to marry only for love, Meg knows what she owes her family and clan. She needs to find a strong, loyal man to guard and guide her sweet, simple brother when the time comes for him to succeed their father as chief of the Mackinnons. It's just starting to rain when her party is attacked; her own life and her mother's are in dire peril.

After a fierce battle, Alex and his men chase off the surviving ruffians and prepare to leave, but not before his blue eyes lock onto a pair of startlingly green ones in a small elfin face. When he learns the party he and his men rescued is from a neighboring clan on Skye, he rushes away. Rory's instructions were to come in secret.

Meg may not be the beauty her mother is, but she's bright, educated, and comes with an attractive dowry. She doesn't enjoy the life at court and is not impressed by the foppish Lowland Scots. She's considering settling for her good friend Elizabeth Campbell's brother Jamie, but a new arrival sets the court to buzzing and Meg's heart to racing. Can Alex MacLeod be the warrior who saved her life? He denies their last meeting and admits only to the time they met as children. Meg is more and more certain he is the man and determines to find out his secrets. Meg becomes a pest who could spoil the important mission that brings Alex to Edinburgh. While underneath it all, they both fight extreme feelings they've never before experienced.

HIGHLANDER UNMASKED has many layers. The romance between Meg and Alex is stirring, passionate, and amusing; it's also dangerous because Alex's mission is an important one, and Meg is not only a distraction, she pops up at the most inopportune times.

HIGHLANDER UNMASKED is set in interesting times. King James VI of Scotland had recently taken another throne as James I of England. Unfortunately, James was not a fan of the "barbarian" Highlanders and schemed to replace them with friendly Lowlanders. He had the idea that riches lay waiting to be made. The first attempt to settle noblemen (known as the Gentlemen Adventurers of Fife) and workmen from the Lowlands on the Isle of Lewis had failed, in no little part by the resistance of the Highlanders. Was another attempt to be made? And if successful, where would the next incursion be made? An early example of the Domino Theory?

HIGHLANDER UNMASKED uses actual events and real people as background to the fictional romance, so readers of this book get a double treat -- a first rate novel with rich characterization and a history lesson given in a highly entertaining manner. Ms. McCarty debuted in August to a warm welcome with the first book of the trilogy, HIGHLANDER UNTAMED, continues with the excellent HIGHLANDER UNMASKED, and finishes up in October with HIGHLANDER UNCHAINED. I'm looking forward to that one!

Jane Bowers