In this, the final book of the saga of the Sherbrooke clan, the youngest brother Tysen, a devout English vicar, widower, and father, learns he has come into possession of Kildrummy Castle in Scotland. He has inherited a title as well as the holdings, and is now Baron Barthwick. Feeling the weight of his new responsibility, he sets out to inspect his recently acquired property, accompanied--unbeknownst to him at first--by his headstrong and sage young daughter, Meggie.
Ill feelings abound among many of the folk who had been wont to visit the old castle when the former owner was alive. Tysen is viewed as an outsider and an usurper and, when he comes to the aid of a young woman in dire need of his protection, he finds the ire of the locals increasing tenfold. The plucky and steadfast bastard child of a “madwoman,” Mary Rose Fordyce expands the sober vicar’s once-narrow world to something infinitely more delightful, enlightening, and passionate.
The characters peopling this enchanting story came to life upon first introduction. I was captivated by the youngest child to the shabbiest villain. Ms. Coulter did not relegate her talent for depiction to persona alone, however, but firmly established the early nineteenth-century setting in this Scottish castle and the surrounding countryside, as well as the small village of Tysen’s vicarage.
Ms. Coulter writes with a gentle, understated humor that kept me reading with a smile constantly lurking at the corners of my mouth. It was not all amusing, however, but laced with sobering reflections, as well as a pair of chapters at the end of the tale which had me wanting to reach into the book and strangle the good vicar for being a fool––all of which was intended by the author, I am certain. I heartily recommend this book not only to fans of the Regency era, but to all who yearn to indulge themselves in a romance that makes one's heart skip in joy.
