A Devil in Scotland

Starred review from November 20, 2017
Enoch’s heady third No Ordinary Hero historical romance (after My One True Highlander) is a scalding tale of pent-up desires finally unleashed. In 1806, roistering Highland laddie Callum MacCreath stormed out of his Inverness home because his boyhood buddy Rebecca Sanderson had decided to marry his stodgy but titled older brother, Ian. Callum decides to build a new life and a successful distillery in wild Kentucky. He’s drawn back to Scotland in 1816 by the news of Ian’s death, which makes him the new Lord Geiry. Callum suspects Ian was killed in a plot that might have involved Becca, who’s now the wealthiest widow in Scotland. He launches a vendetta against Ian’s shipping business partners, the dastardly Duke of Dunncraigh and his conniving son, Donnach. When Becca first sees Callum, she faints. Callum nearly swoons himself, undone by six-year-old Lady Margaret, his niece and legal ward. As he comes to trust Becca and the two of them learn how to share in Margaret’s upbringing, they commit to bringing Ian’s killers to justice and mesmerize each other into passion. Enoch weaves together sly humor, a convincing supporting cast, and explosive erotic encounters between a hero who feels being civilized is a nuisance and a heroine who both matches his ardor and outplots his plans for vengeance. The combination is sure to keep romance fans enthralled. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary.

January 1, 2018
Murder and intrigue shadow a second-chance romance in 1816 Inverness.In her third No Ordinary Hero novel, Enoch (My One True Highlander, 2017, etc.) tells the story of the reunion of childhood friends Callum MacCreath, the younger brother of a Scottish earl, and Rebecca Sanderson, an English transplant to the Highlands. Callum returns from America after news of his brother's accidental drowning reaches him in Kentucky. He had left after a furious argument over his staid sibling's engagement to Rebecca but now vows to hunt down those he believes killed Ian--even if that includes her. It's not long before love for his niece begins to compete with his anger, however, and his widowed sister-in-law's presence reminds him that his exile was fueled by a broken heart at being spurned by her. Lest we flinch at the pairing, Enoch pointedly has him remind Rebecca (and us) that levirate marriage, the practice of a single man marrying his brother's widow, was acceptable in the Highlands. While Rebecca is initially dismayed at his return and dismissive of his claims of foul play, there is no mistaking that they are drawn to each other and that he will do anything to protect her daughter. As evidence of murder mounts and they join forces, their fierce arguments change to passionate lovemaking (though a sex scene at a ball after which Rebecca returns to the dance floor to join a quadrille is a bit wince-inducing, hygienically speaking). The villains are known from the start (of the series and the novel), so the intrigue plot is less a whodunit and more about how the final vengeance will unfold and whether our protagonists will be hurt in the process. Less angst-y than Elizabeth Lowell's Redwood Empire or Sherry Thomas' My Beautiful Enemy, this lost-love-regained romance will appeal to fans of alpha-male Scots in kilts.A carousing young Highlander turned into a formidable man, a practical widow who balances love and levelheadedness, a precocious child, a pet wolf, and a sneaky Skye terrier--a recipe for an entertaining read.

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