IN YOUR WILDEST SCOTTISH DREAMS – Karen Ranney
Avon
ISBN: 978-0-06-233747-4
February 2015
Historical Romance

Scotland – 1862

Glynis MacIain Smythe is back in Glasgow after her husband of seven years died while a diplomat in Washington D.C. As the wife of a British diplomat, Glynis traveled with Richard to a post in Egypt, and then to the States, where she got involved in both her husband's duties, as well as some she'd rather not think about. Her marriage was anything but happy, and Glynis knows now that her reason for leaving Scotland and marrying in haste is standing before her, and her feelings for Lennox Cameron haven't changed a bit. But the widowed Glynis is not going to let her heart melt for Lennox again. She is anything but the young girl who loved this man since childhood.

The Civil War in the United States is raging, and Lennox's shipbuilding firm is in the midst of building a speedy blockade runner for the Confederate states. With the arrival home of childhood friend, Glynis MacIain, though, Lennox is having a difficult time not thinking about her. Bemused by her sudden departure seven years before, he sees a different Glynis now. She's not the vixen he grew up with, the girl always in trouble, daring him and her brother, and the one he has adored since he can remember. Glynis is more serious now, and Lennox wonders if it's the fact that she lost her husband so recently, or if there is something else bothering her?

Lennox is preparing to turn his ship, the Raven , over to the Confederate Navy and its representative, Gavin Whittaker. Whittaker and his new bride, Lucy, who is English, are living in Lennox's house until the ship sails. Lucy is disagreeable, hates Scotland, and can't seem to find anything to be happy about, despite her loving husband who clearly adores her. Lennox also discovers that there is a Union spy in their midst who has been seen with Glynis, Matthew Bauman. Suspecting that there is something between them, Lennox sets out to find out what that could be.

Glynis can't get Lennox off her mind, despite the fact that she knows the secrets she hides will disturb him. When the rumor mill in Glasgow starts up, thanks, in part, to Lucy Whittaker and Glynis' friend Charlotte, Glynis must figure out a way to stop them, and to keep Matthew Bauman at bay. Can she trust Lennox with the truth? And what if he hates her when he hears what she's done in her past?

Another wonderfully written Scottish-based novel by Karen Ranney, IN YOUR WILDEST SCOTTISH DREAMS reunites two people who have loved each other all their lives. But misunderstandings and family matters have kept them apart. There are mysteries involving both Whittaker and Bauman, and the desperate need for Glynis and her brother to keep their cotton mill running with the American blockade in effect, all make for an engrossing story.

Jani Brooks