A Bound Heart

Lark MacDougall is in charge of the bees and the medicinal garden at Kerrera Castle, in the remote western isles of Scotland. Young, pretty, and poor, she captures the attention of smuggler Captain Rory MacPherson, but her heart still longs for Magnus MacLeish, her childhood companion who is now laird of the manor. Lark's simple life is turned upside down, however, when a noblewoman takes one of her herbal concoctions with disastrous consequences. Exiled to the Virginia colonies, Lark must find an inner strength to survive both the voyage and her indenture. First focused solely on survival, she soon tries to recover hope and possibly love. With an eye for both the sweeping march of time and mundane historical details, Frantz (the Lacemaker; A Moonbow Night) pulls readers into a mid-18th-century adventure spanning continents. Each character, no matter how minor, is nuanced and believable. VERDICT Fans of Julie Klassen and Jocelyn Green will want to start reading Frantz's epic stories. With this book, she delivers another solid historical, Christian romance, in which the setting and time period shine.--Christine Barth, Scott Cty. Lib. Syst., IA

January 1, 2019
Magnus MacLeish is miserable. He is the laird of a struggling island, married to an unhappy wife, and still without an heir. Only his childhood friend, lovely Lark MacDougal, brings moments of cheer to his days. When tragedy results in Lark being framed for murder, Magnus defends her at the cost of both being banished to the American colonies as indentured servants. Their desire for each other reawakens on the journey, but hope wanes as the New World's challenges threaten to sever their lifelong bond and extinguish any chance for a future together. Frantz's (The Mistress of Tall Acre, 2015) latest historical romance is set in 1752 on the Isle of Kerrera during an era of Scottish free-trader smuggling. She creates a wonderfully vivid sense of place and a community of compelling characters seemingly with natural ease. Lark is patient and uncompromising, making her an admirable heroine readers will cheer for. The rich Scottish dialect, all-senses descriptions, and the deferment of romantic desire culminate in this fine novel about persistence in the face of loss.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)