Lessons in Loving a Laird

Marcos continues the saga of the Slayter children, branded as traitors and orphaned after their father is falsely accused of abandoning his clan in the face of battle. Twins Shona and Willow Slayter are indentured to Conall MacEwan, a Scotsman educated in England and only recently returned to claim his inheritance. Conall quickly finds Shona’s help invaluable in bringing his new holdings back to a profitable, rent-paying state. The class differences between the two provoke constant conflict. Shona plans to win Conall’s heart and her freedom with it, and her plan looks likely to succeed until Conall is forced into marriage with the noblewoman his wastrel brother Stewart has seduced. The result is a satisfying story of Scottish love overcoming all obstacles, with the reader solidly rooting for fiery, funny Shona. Agent: Mel Berger, William Morris Agency. (Mar.)