Patricia Potter

Scotland was hellish for Jacobite families after the battle of Culloden Moor. The Duke of Cumberland ordered his soldiers to slaughter every man, woman and child whose family had fought against the English crown. It was awful and it really happened in history.


This story begins as the battle is ending. Rory Forbes had answered his father's call to arms and fought against the Jacobites. The battle was over in moments but instead of taking prisoners, Cumberland ordered that they kill everyone. Rory walked away while his father and brother yelled at him.


Rory pretends to be a flamboyant philanderer who likes to drink and gamble. His father and brother died in the weeks following Culloden Moor which left him as the unexpected marquis and lord of his clan. He ignores his responsibility and let's his cousin run everything.


He has a secret life. He is the Black Knave who helps Jacobites by getting them out of the country.


But Cumberland has ordered that he marry a daughter of a Jacobite. He can't figure out why Cumberland or the king would care what happens to a Jacobite but knows his reputation as doing anything for money and being biddable is why he was chosen but a wife will make it hard to live his secret life.


The Black Knave's adventures were what made this book. The romance was weak and intimate scenes were ruined by too much introspection. Anyone who reads my reviews knows I hate when authors have characters go on and on with their inner thoughts, especially when they repeat these thoughts over and over. It annoys me so I just start skipping over paragraphs.


It was a good story and I'm getting ready to read the second book in the trilogy.… (altro)

Neil Forbes is the new Marquis of Braemoor after the staged death of his cousin. Neil hadn't liked his cousin until shortly before he left Scotland and faked his own death. He had thought he was an uncaring womanizing gambler but in truth he had a secret life. He was the Black Knave, a man who smuggled Jacobites out of Scotland because the English were hunting and killing them.


Neil had always worked hard and dedicated himself to Braemoor. He was born a bastard but his uncle had come for him when he was a child to serve as his son's companion. He learned that he was nothing more than a servant when he fell in love with a lady but his uncle scoffed at him and told him he can't marry because nobody wants to marry a bastard, especially one whose mother was crazy. He told Neil madness ran in his mother's family. As a result, he broke up with Janet via a note that said her dowry wasn't large enough.

Janet had loved Neil with all her heart but his cruel breakup letter had changed that. She waited many years before marrying. She only did marry because Alasdair Campbell seemed charming and she fell in love with his three little girls. But Alasdair was a monster. He beat her and the girls. Janet gave him a son but he was still horrible.

When Alasdair suddenly dies, his family accuses her of murdering her and tries to take over guardianship of her son, the heir to Lochaene. She only has one person to turn to, Neil Forbes.

At first, I wasn't sure if I liked Neil. I thought he was kind of boring but then I realized he was exactly the kind of man I like. I love the quiet tortured types.

I did not like Janet. I know she was a good mother but she was so ungrateful and so bitter that I just couldn't stand her.

This was a good story but there was just too much of it. There was too much introspection and it moved too slowly to keep my attention. I took a lot of breaks from reading it.

I'm going to read the last book because the story is interesting. It is just has too much filler.… (altro)

The historical timeline and events were excellently done in this book and the entire trilogy. I gobbled that part up. I even enjoyed the romance in this last book more than the others but there were things that annoyed the hell out of me.

Nothing ruins a romantic moment more than too much introspection and repeated thoughts. Who has all those thoughts while in the heat of the moment? And FYI authors, we readers get the gist of things like worries and trepidations the first time you have the character think them. You don't have to pound it into our heads by repeatedly writing it over and over. It just makes me want to throw the book.

I also think the story could have been shortened. I think sometimes it just gets monotonous to have to go through every detail of every adventure. I think the actual romance suffered because of this.

Despite my complaints, I did enjoy the book.… (altro)

Terrific book. It's time for a new veteran to experience the healing effects of Covenant Falls. This time it's army nurse Andy Stuart. She is an army nurse who survived an attack that killed her doctor fiancé and others in her unit. She suffered injuries that have made it impossible to continue in her career, and memories of the attack that give her no peace. Upon the recommendation of her doctor, she accepts a therapy dog and use of the cabin in Covenant Falls until she decides what to do with her future. The first person she meets is Nate Rowland, fellow veteran and resident of Covenant Falls. He's committed to helping fellow veterans, but Andy gets to him like no one else ever has.

I loved the slow and gentle progression of their romance. There is attraction between them from the beginning, but neither wants a relationship. Andy is still grieving the loss of her fiancé, and the thought of wanting someone else feels like a betrayal of Jared's memory. Besides, who would want someone as damaged as she is, physically and mentally? Nate is right there with her. He's been burned once, surviving a marriage that shattered his trust in his own judgement and in relationships in general. I loved seeing Nate draw Andy out of her isolation and into the life of Covenant Falls. I loved his sensitivity and compassion when she suffered a flashback, and how he helped her through it. Andy has her own effect on Nate, as the pain of his ex-wife's betrayal is overcome by his growing feelings for Andy. I especially loved Nate's patience, as he lets Andy know that he won't push her for more than she is ready to give, but he also doesn't hold back on showing her how he feels. There are some really emotional scenes as each of them shares their pain with the other. I loved the ending, as Andy realizes that her heart has found a home.

Once again, I loved seeing the people of Covenant Falls take another veteran to their hearts. I loved Eve's instinctive matching of Andy with the perfect project, using her love of history to draw her into helping to promote the town. It was fun to see Andy's acceptance of the challenge, and how it expanded past everything they could have imagined. I loved how she drew Al and his wife into it, helping to heal the rift between him and the town. I really liked how the other veterans provided support for each other, with as little or as much as was wanted. I enjoyed Andy's introduction to the "support group", and how her first meeting there went. It was so much fun to see the entire town get involved in the project (camels!), and Andy's amazement at how much she enjoyed it. I loved the surprise at the end and what it meant for Andy's future.… (altro)