Highlanders Hold Grudges — Julie Johnstone

He kidnapped her to save his clan, not to lose his heart. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and no one is more desperate than HighlanderAlasdair MacRae. His clan is on the verge of disaster, thanks to continuous raids from the thieving, murdering MacKenzies. Their latest strike has left Alasdair's family near starvation and his brother badly wounded. The time has come retaliate, and he intends to kidnap his enemy's daughter and use her to negotiate much-needed peace. His plan is simple: wed the lass. She's beloved by her father, and the doting Highlander certainly won't go to war with Alasdair's clan if he's wed to the man's daughter. Once the deed is done, he'll send her to a nice little cottage on his land, where she can live as she wishes, and he can live his as if he's not wed. But when an unforeseen obstacle arises, Alasdair finds himself fighting to protect the lass and questioning whether he's wooing her to see out his scheme or to truly capture her heart? When Maeve MacKenzie discovers her adoring father has denied his own heart's desire so that she may find hers, she resigns herself to stop delaying and finally honor the betrothal to her childhood friend. Their union will strengthen her clan and give her father a second chance at love. But when tragedy strikes, she's snatched from her home by Alasdair MacRae: the barbaricHighland beast who long ago awakened cravings in her that are impossible to forget. She has no intention of falling prey to his ploy to woo her, though, and every intention of escaping him. Except the blasted Highlander still possesses an extraordinary ability to kiss, and beyond that, he has the nerve to display seemingly honorable qualities at every turn. How's a lass to know if it's all simply a ruse by a cunning, too-handsome foe or if the man she believed to be her enemy is really her greatest hope?