Hostage Brides Series by Tessa Murran

When he takes you in payment of a debt… Love is a weakness to brooding Jasper Glendenning. He has been burned in its fire and vows never to succumb again. When his unloving wife dies in childbirth, he looks for another hard-headed marriage to bolster his power as he faces evil forces stalking the West March. A power struggle between King James and the border clans is about to explode, treachery is everywhere, and an old enemy with scores to settle is set on murderous vengeance... moreWhen he takes you in payment of a debt… Love is a weakness to brooding Jasper Glendenning. He has been burned in its fire and vows never to succumb again. When his unloving wife dies in childbirth, he looks for another hard-headed marriage to bolster his power as he faces evil forces stalking the West March. A power struggle between King James and the border clans is about to explode, treachery is everywhere, and an old enemy with scores to settle is set on murderous vengeance.When he goes to collect a debt from a man he suspects has betrayed him, he encounters bonnie Rowenna MacCreadie. She stirs him with her red-gold hair and soulful brown eyes. Not only does Rowenna remind him of a woman who once tore his heart out, but she also wants nothing to do with him.There is only one way Jasper can have her – take her as payment for her brother’s debt and treachery.It’s not as if he expects love. He just needs the lass to provide him with an heir and he is doing her a kindness in raising her up from her squalid existence. As long as he doesn’t succumb to the weakness of loving her, all will be well.Rowenna MacCreadie is drowning in her family’s misfortunes. Her brother and father are hopeless drunks who have let the family estate fall into ruin. They pin their hopes on arranging an advantageous marriage for her sister Cecily. Then, one day, Cecily goes missing, and fearsome Jasper Glendenning comes calling, threatening to call in a debt. For some reason, he cannot stop staring at her.Soon, Rowenna finds herself under the power of an angry stranger who is by turns fierce and tender. She vows to survive within the poisonous Glendenning family, use Jasper’s power to find her sister and bear his bed as best she can. But her captor has bedroom skills she can only dream of, and he awakens a fire in her that burns her up. Soon, she is falling for a complicated and untrusting man, one starved of affection. But when Jasper Glendenning thinks she has betrayed him, Rowenna discovers just how he earned his fearsome reputation.Glendenning takes you on a sweeping adventure through hushed forests, forbidding castles and wild moorland as a heady mix of desire and possession grows into love. Escape to the lawless Scottish Marches with a wildly unsuitable and not altogether honourable Scot.Glendenning can be read as a stand-alone romance or enjoyed as part of my Hostage Brides Series. less