The summer of 1679 is a dark one for the Covenanters, routed by government troops at the Battle of Bothwell Brig. John Steel is on the run, hunted for his part in the battle by the vindictive Earl of Airlie. And life is no easier for the hapless Sandy Gillon, curate of Lesmahagow Kirk, in the Earl's sights for aiding John Steel's escape.Outlawed and hounded, the surviving rebels have no choice but to take to the hills and moors to evade capture and deportation. And as a hard winter...

July 1680: Richard Cameron is dead, and John Steel and Lucas Brotherstone have only just escaped capture by government forces.The net widens to arrest anyone suspected of Covenanter sympathies, and the army becomes ever more brutal in its suppression of the rebels.To have any hope of survival Lucas Brotherstone must escape to Holland, and John Steel is determined to make this happen.Desperate Times is the third historical novel in Ethyl Smith's series, following Cha...

Scotland, 1685With Monmouth and Argyll planning to overthrow James VII and II, the Covenanters see an opportunity to further their own cause, but dissent among the faithful causes factions to start appearing.As tensions heighten and rumours of an invasion spread, John Steele must continue to evade capture in an ever-tightening net.From the shepherds and the farmer's wives of the Lanarkshire hills, to the innkeepers, the apothecaries and the washerwomen of the towns,...

Broken Times – Part IV in this gripping seriesScotland 1683As James Renwick returns to Scotland, accompanied by the young Jonas Hawthorne, in search of adventure, an undeterred John Steel is still living the life of a fugitive, hunted day and night by Claverhouse's men.When John and Jonas reunite, Jonas soon finds himself caught up in the intrigues of 17th century Scotland: amid accusations of witchcraft and almost constant acts of violence, it seems that no-one can...

Longlisted: Not The Booker Prize 20161679 - The Killing TimesCharles II is on the throne, the Episcopacy has been restored, and southern Scotland is in ferment.The King is demanding superiority over all things spiritual and temporal and rebellious Ministers are being ousted from their parishes for refusing to bend the knee.When John Steel steps in to help one such Minister in his home village of Lesmahagow he finds himself caught up in events that reverberat...

Scotland, 1685Part 6 in Ethyl Smith's Times series that eloquently portrays the lives of ordinary men and women in 17th century Scotland as they fought to survive in extraordinary times.Billy Kay, author of Scots: The Mither Tongue"As an Ayrshire man whose home town of Galston has a kirkyaird with a 17th century gravestone depicting a local man being killed by the troops of Bluidy Claverhoose, the stories of the Covenanters have alway...

Only love is strong enough to grasp what it was never meant to have.Elle can't deny that Ioan is handsome. That is, until he opens his mouth. How can someone so masculine and striking be so irritating? Yet part of her knows that if his sarcastic and teasing temper changed, she'd lose her heart.Ioan knows that Elle is untouchable. To protect his heart, he keeps her at arms length with incessant teasing and a quick wit. She can never know the truth. But like a moth drawn to t...

New York Times bestselling author Hannah Howell breathes life into the enchanting beauty of the Scottish Highlands in this epic romance between a strong-willed captor and the striking young woman he both confines and protects . . .The windswept Scottish Highlands hold great beauty, but also great danger. So when Aimil Mengue is abducted by a feuding clan, she is right to fear for her life—and her virtue. For Aimil’s keeper is the infamous warrior Parlan Ma...

When destiny brought Sir Balfour Murray and his wounded brother down the same road as Maldie Kirkaldy, she offered her services as a nurse even as she tried to deny the desire this dark-eyed knight had ignited at first sight. Soon they discover that they both share a mission of vengeance, but Maldie cannot tell him her true identity—to do so would brand her a spy.Sworn to avenge his family as chief of the Doncoill Clan, Balfour vows to destroy his greatest foe, with Maldie at his s...

SHE'S OUT OF HER OWN TIME.Scarlett wasn't really looking for love, but a chance encounter with a dark stranger sent her reeling back to the eighteenth century, into the arms of a Highland rogue.HE'S RUNNING FROM THE CURSE THAT TORE HIS FAMILY APART.Cailen left home years ago in search of his brother and the witch who cursed him. When a young woman barrels into his life, he's both surprised and enthralled by her. Though she can never belong to him, he's content with ...

New York Times bestselling author Hannah Howell returns to the breathtaking Scottish Highlands with the unforgettable Murray clan, and the stunning Annora MacKay who cannot resist the desire an alluring stranger offers . . .Annora MacKay senses a disturbing evil in Dunncraig Keep, the estate acquired by her cousin, a cruel and ruthless man. Only her affection for the tiny girl he claims is his daughter stops her from fleeing. Then a mysterious woodcarver a...

Peace in the glens means war in the bedchamber!Scotland. 1699. In a time of heroes, the greatest hero of all is Callum Mackinnon, Laird of Achnasheen. Brave, reckless, canny, and handsome enough to turn any lassie weak at the knees, Callum is a legend in the wild corner of the Highlands where he rules. Now the young laird is determined to choose a new path for his clan and end the violent feud with the Drummonds, a conflict that has painted the glens red with blood for centuries. T...