The Lady of the Lakes

August 22, 2016
Kilpack (Forever and Forever) crafts a vivid and highly engrossing tale of first love versus best love in this chaste romance that follows the tumultuous love life of Scottish poet and novelist Sir Walter Scott. From the moment in 1791 when Walter meets Mina Stuart, he is captivated. Though he is far beneath her station and has a limp, years of correspondence, occasional parties, and some stolen moments have convinced Walter, a hopeless romantic, that Mina will overlook their financial differences and they will eventually marry. Despite warnings from his family that he is headed for heartbreak, Walter remains steadfast until Mina admits that she has chosen another, shocking him to his core. Only after a year has passed and he meets 26-year-old Charlotte Charpentier, an independent, sensible Frenchwoman, does he begin to hope that he may still have room for love in his life. Kilpack weaves abundant research about Scott’s life with her own ideas of likely scenarios to create a seamless, lively, and entertaining account of this literary hero. Agent: Lane Heymont, Seymour Agency.

October 15, 2016
Young Scottish writer Walter Scott quietly courts the lovely Williamina "Mina" Belsches for years and expects to marry her, but the disapproval of her family threatens his dreams of a romantic happy-ever-after.After meeting Mina at a church service, Walter falls in love with her at first sight, and the two begin a quiet courtship that includes a romantic correspondence of letters and poems. While never establishing an official understanding, Walter believes Mina is as devoted to him as he is to her despite warnings from friends and family that the match might be out of his reach, since her titled family is far above his own solicitor roots. Plus, a childhood illness leaves him with a disfigured leg and a limp that keeps him from dancing, so even that social interaction with his beloved Mina is denied to him. After five years, Walter is devastated to learn that Mina is considering another suitor, and then, when she accepts him, Walter is hurt, furious, and brokenhearted, unsure how to move on. When he takes a trip to England and meets a lovely French expatriate who is trying to find her own place in the world, they may find that love can grow from regard and respect. Historical romance author Kilpack moves into romantic biographical fiction with this title that traces the early love life of Sir Walter Scott through his disappointing courtship of his first love and then the subsequent meeting of the minds and hearts he finds with Charlotte, the woman he marries. The story is interesting but slow-paced and without the intense conflict most fiction thrives on. The limited historical facts are fleshed out successfully, though stretching the tale out sometimes makes it lag. A low-key, slow-paced romance that may engage readers looking for a sweet, chaste historical read.

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November 15, 2016
From the moment 19-year-old Walter Scott encounters Williamina Mina Belsches attending church in Edinburgh, he knows she is his soul mate. However, the time that they can spend together is limited since Mina and her family reside much of the year at their home in the Scottish Highlands. Letters can only do so much to keep the romance alive, and Mina eventually finds herself falling for Walter's good friend William Forbes. While vacationing in the Lake Country, a now brokenhearted Walter finds his path crossing that of Charlotte Carpenter. Walter is immediately captivated, but can he risk losing his heart once again? An excellent choice for both historical-fiction fans and readers who crave sweetly romantic love stories, Kilpack's impeccably researched and vividly written novel, the latest in the A Historical Proper Romance series about the loves of true-life figures, following Forever and Forever: The Courtship of Henry Longfellow and Fanny Appleton (2016), will delight anyone who wants to learn more about Scott before he was the celebrated historian, poet, and novelist, and was instead simply a young man in love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)