May is Scottish month on Historical Romance Review and I’m starting with a favorite author, or rather a writing team, Patricia McAllister and Fela Dawson Scott, otherwise known as “Brit Darby.” This is a fascinating, well-told story that has everything I like in a romance: historical detail, exciting scenes well-described and a worthy hero and heroine.
Set in the Scottish Marches (that area between Scotland and England that experienced cattle reeving and cross-border raids, it begins in 1604 as young Davena is being married to her childhood sweetheart, Adair Eliott. Hand-fasted a year earlier, they were finally sealing their vows. As they are celebrating, a band of brigands sweeps in to kill many, including Adair.
Eight years later, Davena (now “Davy”) is the mother of a 7-year-old daughter Fiomuala and she and Adair’s brothers have turned outlaw, preying on the rich English lords and living for revenge. Oh yes, and Adair, now a ghost, is ever with Davy keeping her out of trouble.
Major Tevish McBride, the fencing master of Prince Henry Stuart, is sent north to capture the outlaw Davy Eliott, never knowing the outlaw he seeks is a woman. Never anticipating he will be so attracted to her. Tev has mixed feelings about going to the border as it was the place of his birth—the place he’d fled as a boy. Unbeknownst to his comrades in arms, Tev is the second son of Sir Simon Fenwick, a man Tev hates as he does his half brother, Barclay, Baron Blackmuir.
This is a story with many twists and turns and a plot that will keep you turning pages. Darby brings to life the borderlands and the negative feelings the Scots had for the British. Some real historic figures make cameo appearances, including King James himself.
It’s a great read and highly recommended.
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