In the Highlander's Bed by Cathy Maxwell

I first came across Cathy Maxwell's work in Four Dukes and a Devil, and I liked her story, so when I stumbled across In the Highlander's Bed, I said to myself, "why not?" I'm definitely going to check out more of her stuff!

In the Highlander's Bed starts out with Gordon Lachlan, traveling to Madame Lavaliere's Academy for Young Women with the intent of kidnapping Miss Constance Cameron. His plan is to trade her back to her brother-in-law for the Sword of MacKenna, a sword believed to give the holder power to lead his army to victory. Gordon is a rebel, fighting the English advancement into Scotland, avenging his father's death.

Little does Gordon know, Constance is planning to run away that very night. She is unhappy in England and wants to go back home to America. She plans to sneak away and ride to a ship that's sailing for America, but Gordon catches her and takes her back to his rebel camp.

It's a long, hard ride, and Constance rides with Gordon. She is upset that she finds herself attracted to the Scotsman, and tries that much harder to escape. She knows if she is ransomed back to her brother-in-law her sister will continue trying to marry her off to a nobleman - all she wants is to go home to America.

When the reach the camp, Constance sees it is in disrepair. No one is working together and it's a disaster. After trying to escape, she talks to Gordon and comes to understand his motives and decides she wants to join his cause. She rallies the women and improves the camp, and falls in love with Gordon in the process. He falls in love with her too, and the elephant in the room is what they're going to do when it comes time to trade her for the sword. When the time for the trade came, I was holding my breath!

This was a very enjoyable book. It is actually the third or fourth book in a series, Constance's sisters had the previous books I believe. I liked Constance and Gordon and wanted them to be happy. As each obstacle presented itself, I read on, hoping they would overcome it. I liked the ending and will definitely check out the rest of the series.