cover image Lilacs on Lace

Lilacs on Lace

Linda Ladd. Topaz, $5.99 (368pp) ISBN 978-0-451-40556-2

In Scotland of 1691, Ainsley Campbell, ward of a powerful earl named Hugh Campbell, has been harshly raised in a convent, where she is labeled a witch for her unusual eyes and healing powers. One night, a handsome stranger whisks her away, supposedly to meet her betrothed, an English lord. To Ainsley's horror, her captor is actually Rodric MacDonald, a member of the enemy clan whom she believes murdered her parents. Rodric tells her she has been given to him in marriage by her father, whom he claims is still alive. At first disbelieving, Ainsley learns, upon reaching the Isle of Skye, that she is the child of a liaison between warring clans and that she has a critical role to play in their power struggles. Except for a slow-paced middle in which the heroine's protracted refusal to consummate her marriage strains credibility, Ladd (White Orchid) writes a rousing story filled with vivid emotion, plot twists, memorable characters and period color, including surprising encounters with William and Mary of England. This romance is the first of a planned Scottish trilogy. (June)