Jean S. MacLeod

It was spring, the season for new growth, new beginnings in the Highlands. And in Iona Cameron’s heart the sadness was lifting and life was beginning again until Charles Lathym came to the glen, a threat to everything she held most dear.

It was hard on Susan Danely when a stranger came to Coulourdale and took the place her family had held for generations. She and the overbearing Graham Courage could never be friends, she told herself, and she made no secret of her hostility. But as she came to know him better, she found, unwillingly, that her feelings were beginning to change - didn't they say that hatred was akin to love? But was it too late now? Or would she be given a second chance?

Had Harriet been wise to return? Against her better judgment, Harriet Voyle flew back to Rome when summoned by her former employer, the Contessa de Filippo. Harriet hoped the year in her native England had cured her hopeless love for the contessa's grandson, Tarquin. For he was obviously in love with the beautiful Emmy Luciano. But the moment she saw Tarquin again, every fiber of her being cried out that she loved him now more than ever before!

It seemed a great sacrifice when Alison gave up her hopes of a career as concert pianist to nurse her mother back at her Scottish home, Craigie Hill Farm - especially as her brother Robin refused to come back from Canada and face his responsibilities. But in the end she found a happiness beyond her dreams.

Jane Thornton's life was in ruins An accident had destroyed her dancing career, and her fiance and her own sister had fallen suddenly in love. Jane had the weight of more than one grief in her heart the day she went to High Tor to break a piece of bad news to Adam Drummond, her sister's fiance. When she arrived, she found that her task was even harder than she imagined. The road to Adam’s farm was punctuated by gates, blocking the way to intruders, and they seemed like symbols of the barriers that he put round his own heart to keep out love. But Adam didn't need her sympathy. He needed a fiance - and he insisted that Jane take her sister's place. Yet more than one woman, it appeared, wanted to find a way through his defences. Which of them would succeed?

Old Mrs. Abercrombie was a darling, and Elizabeth was delighted to land the job of escorting her from Australia around the world to Scotland. But the old lady's stern grandson Charles was another matter: first Elizabeth crossed swords with him, then she fell in love with him. But Charles, she knew, was going to marry someone else....

2837- Six years ago, an ambitious Andreas Phedonos had deserted his island home of Cyprus and his childhood sweetheart, Anna. Now he'd returned, a charming and successful businessman. Anna, independent and with a life of her own, was still bitter over his sudden departure. She couldn't help but be suspicious of this new Andreas and his reasons for returning. But neither could Anna stop the memories and feelings of the warm summer nights of their youth from coming back with him.

You can't go back! You can't go back! The train wheels repeated their message. yet after six years of comfortable living, an undeniable compulsion was drawing Janet back to the bleak, isolated Yorkshire farm. Back to Mark, whose young love she had rejected. Now she realized he was the only man she would ever love. But Mark had changed. Bitter and unforgiving, he was not interested in her own reasons for returning-- only that she was there to work.

Ross MacKerral wasn't her true love, he had no need to be. He had taken her castle, her beloved island away from her . . . She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. "Marry you?" Morvern repeated, as if in a daze. "I've never thought of marrying anyone." "Why not give it a try, in that case?" Ross asked audaciously. "You're still a child - a damned attractive one, I have to admit-but someday you'll have to grow up."`enter code here`

Vanessa was in the Caribbean for three months -- to work as secretary to the writer Alex Rossiter, not to have a romance with him, she assured everyone firmly. She might have felt more romantically inclined towards Alex's brother Max -- but Max had no room for a woman in his life. Not after Diane.

Fiona had left her home in the Highlands after the tragic death of Alex, whom she loved, but now her job with an American oceanographic survey was taking her back. Would she be able to find peace there - or would Deborah spoil things again as she had once before?

Years ago, Nora Bridge walked out on her marriage and left her daughters behind. Now she is a famous talk show host. Her daughter Ruby is a struggling comedienne. The two haven’t spoken in more than a decade. Then a scandal from Nora’s past is exposed, and Ruby is offered a fortune to write a tell-all about her mother. Reluctantly, she returns to the family house on Summer Island, a home filled with frayed memories of joy and heartache. Confronting a past that includes a never-forgotten love, a sick best friend, and a mother who has harbored terrible family secrets, Ruby finally begins to understand the complex ties that bind a mother and daughter—and the healing that comes with forgiveness.

"Successfully produced by the Group Theatre in New York City. In Fresno, California, lives a poet who kneels on a stool to write his poems on the head of a barrel, his son turns handsprings outside and wheedles bread and cheese from a stylized grocer. And an old, old man who is an actor and a trumpeter comes to live with them for a while and plays sweet old songs on his horn while the people of Fresno gather around. But the poet's poems come back from the "Atlantic Monthly" and the old man dies, rambling through Shakespeare. The boy is the center of this. He is a gay, ingenious lad and through him the author now and then wonders about life; or hints at wonderment. He hints, too, of war and of love and of the place of money and art in the world. This is a play filled with affection for small people, for the innocents of this world who long dimly for a beauty they but vaguely understand"--Publisher's website.

"I want you to return the coin collection." Charles Vincent allowed his gaze to dwell on Claire - and in that split second she was aware of his utmost contempt. What had happened to their marriage? Claire tried to remember, but the fog of amnesia concealed the truth. She only knew that Charles believed she had stolen the priceless collection. Why had she done it? Where were the coins? While the questions remained unanswered, could there be any place for her in his life?

The House of Oliver was divided when Fergus Oliver became the reluctant heir to "Oliver's Keep". When his cousin's widow, Helen, arrived from the Far East with a little boy, Fergus hoped that here was the rightful heir -- a son in the direct line. He was wrong. How Helen helped him to overcome his difficulties and regain his lost love, while finding a new life for herself, makes a poignant and tender story.

Caroline Norton had inherited her grandmother's farm jointly with her cousin Heinie, and she was determined to keep it in the family. Her cousin, though a charming man, was weak and irresponsible. The task of running the farm was going to be difficult without the help of their capable neighbor, Darval Pretorius. Unfortunately, Heinie disliked the arrogant Darval as much as Caroline had come to love him. Would he cooperate, or would the farm be lost? (Harlequin #1613 - 1972)