The Highland Temptress Series by Tessa Murran

She made a deal with the Devil. Now she must pay his price.Esme Govan is burdened by a wanton temperament and a past folly she is trying to live down. When that folly returns from war, in the shape of her stepbrother Slaine, old passions ignite. With him comes Bastian MacNeil, a sword-for-hire as dark as the Devil. Bastian’s mocking smile makes Esme nervous, and she is relieved that he is just passing through... moreShe made a deal with the Devil. Now she must pay his price.Esme Govan is burdened by a wanton temperament and a past folly she is trying to live down. When that folly returns from war, in the shape of her stepbrother Slaine, old passions ignite. With him comes Bastian MacNeil, a sword-for-hire as dark as the Devil. Bastian’s mocking smile makes Esme nervous, and she is relieved that he is just passing through.One winter’s night, Slaine’s twisted devotion takes a sinister turn, leaving Esme and her sisters Cara and Sorcha cast out and separated. Esme swears to find her family, and there is only one man who can help her - brutishly handsome Bastian MacNeil.When Bastian demands payment for his services, a shameful bargain is struck. Soon Esme must confront Bastian’s secrets, and choose vengeance or love, for her body is not the only thing that she has bargained away. Esme’s heart is also in danger of succumbing to Bastian as they come together with the passion of the truly sinful. But enjoying him won’t get her sisters back, will it?When Bastian MacNeil is hired as bodyguard to Slaine Govan, he expects to earn a fortune in gold. What he does not expect is Slaine’s stepsister Esme, the object of an obsession that has not dimmed while Slaine has been in exile. The raven-haired lass may spark Bastian’s desire, but he thinks her a vain little fool with a bad character.But Bastian is about to find out just how determined a lass can be when Esme makes him an offer no red-blooded man could refuse. If Bastian agrees to find her sisters and take vengeance on Slaine, he can have her virtue.Esme’s Warrior Laird is a scorching, enemies-to-lovers, captive Highland romance sweeping the reader from the snow-scoured Highlands to the storm-battered Isle of Mull.Get set for adventure with a swoon-worthy, rough-at-the-edges hero and a single-minded, lushly beautiful heroine. It may be winter in Scotland, but things are about to get hot!Esme’s Warrior Laird is the first in the Highland Temptress Series but can be enjoyed as a stand-alone novel. less

He is a beast consumed by darkness. Can she lead him to the light?Sorcha Govan wakes in a snowy ditch surrounded by wolves. Lost and alone, with no idea who she is, she stumbles into the clutches of rough men who sell her into servitude. Sorcha is terrified of the hard-faced old man and his hooded companion who buy her and drag her north. But fate has something worse in store for Sorcha when she reaches dismal Knockhell Castle, home of cruel Laird, Balloch Roth... moreHe is a beast consumed by darkness. Can she lead him to the light?Sorcha Govan wakes in a snowy ditch surrounded by wolves. Lost and alone, with no idea who she is, she stumbles into the clutches of rough men who sell her into servitude. Sorcha is terrified of the hard-faced old man and his hooded companion who buy her and drag her north. But fate has something worse in store for Sorcha when she reaches dismal Knockhell Castle, home of cruel Laird, Balloch Roth. What kind of horror lurks in the lonely tower, deep inside the ancient forest bearing down on his keep? Strange howls of anguish rend the night, and Sorcha soon finds herself sacrificed to a wrathful beast of a man. Folk say Lucan Roth is a demon who brings a plague down on his house, causes the crops to fail and bad fortune to stalk the land, and they are not far wrong. Lucan Roth has become a twisted soul, tortured by his past and scarred by fire and blood. He dreads returning to his clan and his monstrous father, Balloch. Journeying home, he encounters a lass who seems to have lost her wits and is in danger of being denounced as a witch. It is folly to rescue her, but his last shred of honour compels him to. He retreats to the woods surrounding Knockhell Castle and shuns everyone until his father forces the lass to be his servant, companion, and, if Lucan desires, his bed-warmer. To survive, Sorcha must rescue the dark and troubled Lucan from drowning in a well of self-hatred, while struggling to remember who she is and why she keeps having such terrifying nightmares. Sorcha’s Dark Captor is a raw and passionate, captive Highland romance set in a shivering winter forest swirling with dark secrets and witchcraft.It is the third and final book in the Highland Temptress Series, but each book can be read as a stand-alone novel. less