Once Upon a Plaid

Starred review from September 1, 2014
Marlowe’s second Spirit of the Highlands 16th-century romance (after Plaid Tidings) glows with warm and powerful emotion. After multiple miscarriages, Katherine, Lady Badenoch, decides it’s time to leave her husband, William. She requests an annulment so that he can marry someone else and get the heir she can’t give him. But Will is not ready to give up, and he proceeds to court her back into his arms. It is heart-wrenching to see two people who love each other so much also hurt so badly and feel unable to comfort each other. Kat’s despair over not being able to carry a child is deep, and Marlowe doesn’t gloss over the pain or provide a pat miracle ending. Against the backdrop of a threatened siege and the joys of Christmas, Will and Kat forge a stronger bond that makes all the tears worthwhile.