A highlander on the run in colonial America…

Rory Macleod is a roguish Scot who has been exiled to the colonies for supporting the Jacobite cause. When he and his two brothers escape from servitude and head west over the Appalachian mountains, they quite literally fall into the charming and stubborn Mercy Barnett, an outcast who uses her skills with healing to save his brother. He pledges to stay the winter and repair her homestead, knowing that he is putting both his brothers and Mercy in danger. The real danger for Rory, however, is how quickly Mercy is stealing his heart.

An outcast who desperately wants to belong…

Mercy Barnett, a “witch” healer, has been taking care of herself and her sister for as long as she can remember. Though her herbs and potions catch only paltry sums, she is determined to survive in the harsh colonial backcountry, even if she does have to share her small farm with three giant Scots for the winter. When her neglectful father dies, however, and Mercy is suddenly a young woman with no protection, she agrees to a sham marriage to Rory Macleod. The trouble is, she’s starting to fall in love with her husband, and she knows that come the first spring thaw, he’ll need to be gone.

Fans of Outlander, Tessa Dare, Ellen O’Connell, and Maya Banks will love this mid-steam, reluctant allies-to-lovers, marriage-of-convenience story! Mature content intended for readers 18+

Trigger warnings: alcoholism, parental neglect, threat of sexual assault, violence, guns, imprisonment, death, and racism.

Kathryn Greenbrier’s great grandmother was a “granny witch,” a healer from Appalachia, and many of Mercy’s herbal treatments are based on those of her family.