By Selena Simonetti

Mairi is the object of hate and scorn for Lady Agnes who has never been able to bear a child to term. Mairi discovers her stepmother is having an affair with a member of a rival clan, and Agnes in her rage, commits an unforgivable act of violence upon Mairi. While being tended to by her clan’s healer, Mairi becomes delirious, and begs the powers that be for deliverance. The fates have delivered their promise in the form of Finbar MacGowan.

Finbar MacGowan is chieftain to Clan MacGowan. The pleas of an impoverished rival chieftain to marry his daughter intrigue him, and he decides to take him up on his offer. However, he is plagued by visions and dreams of a scarred maid with a gentle heart–a carrier of two dark secrets. She is calling to him, but is the maid he is sworn to marry one and the same woman?

What They Are Saying About Mairi’s Magic

Selena Simonetti’s Mairi’s Magic is written like a complex, traditional Highlander Historical. What I really enjoyed about this book is that the red-headed heroine isn’t your typical stereotyped insolent, hot-tempered shrew. Even without an aggressive spirit she is blessed with strength of character.

In spite of her scars, Laird Ian Lachlan’s bastard daughter, Mairi, is wedded to a wealthy Clan Leader, Laird Finbar MacGowan. Her step-mother Agnes is so angry that she swears to have her revenge to take back the wealth and prestige she considers rightfully hers. She doesn’t care who gets hurt in the taking.

The heroine and hero are so real you can’t help but care what happens to them during their struggle to create a lasting marriage, and maintain peace between their two clans. However, Agnes isn’t their only enemy who is determined to help themselves to the heroine’s good fortune. When her laird is kidnapped, Mairi leads her husband’s clan to battle to win back the man she loves.

—JoEllen Conger

Rite Of Passage