Promise of a Highland Rose by Ann Marie Scott

They can fool everyone but themselves. Clyde Munro could never imagine that returning home could be more painful than being on the battlefield. The warrior-Laird finds out that his betrothed, who was the very reason he has was fight for, has abandoned him… All he wants now is to find a way to get her back, and little did he know that his sister’s new friend, Cora, would have the answer to this riddle.

Cora Henderson lost her castle to enemies after her father was killed. The lass has now found shelter in Laird Munro’s place, but she needs a powerful husband to help her reclaim her lands and people. And since the Lairds wants to make his old betrothed jealous, she utters a most dangerous plan; the two will pretend to be a betrothed couple! This way, the Laird will gain his beloved’s interest, and Cora, safe for a while, will attend social gatherings with the Laird. She will have the chance to meet other noblemen, and hopefully, after the little game she plays with Clyde ends, she will have more than one men to choose from. However, the Laird has one objection.

Laird Clyde believes that Cora might fall in love with him, and he worries that she will not keep her part of the deal. But when Cora promises that under no circumstances will she fall for him, the plan takes flesh. Yet, what the two did not foresee is that besides their fake union, another unholy arrangement between their common enemies takes place under utmost secrecy. And as Clyde and Cora get closer to one another, they walk straight to a perfectly planned trap…