The Highlander’s Holiday Wife

A widow and a doctor pair up to solve a mystery in Kelly’s page-turning fifth Clan Kendrick novel (after The Highlander’s Irish Bride). In November 1826, Lady Samantha Penwith’s search for who killed her late husband, Roger, takes her and her bodyguard, Donny, to the dangerous neighborhood of Old Town, Edinburgh—and they arrive just in time to save Dr. Braden Kendrick from would-be assailants. Donny is injured in the fray, so, when Braden learns the identity of his savior, he volunteers to join her on her nightly excursions as her protector. Their quest to find Roger’s killer soon dovetails with a mystery about children disappearing from an orphanage run by Roger’s Penwith Philanthropic Foundation. The suspense and danger increase along with the romance as Samantha and Braden discover love where they least expected it. The Yuletide background is subtle, but the holiday celebrations do provide a nice contrast to the undercurrent of mystery. Fast-paced and tension-filled, this adventurous Regency will have readers hooked. Agent: Evan Marshall, The Evan Marshall Agency (Oct.)