The Passionate One

Connie Brockway begins her magnificent Highland trilogy with the tale of a rogue no woman can resist—and a free spirit whose pleasures are strictly forbidden.

Restless, daring, proud—they are the Merricks: Ashton, the eldest, the passionate one; Raine, his younger brother, the reckless one; and Fia, their sister, the ravishing one. Born of bad blood, they were raised in the Scottish Highlands on lands that belonged to their mother’s kin, the McClairens—until their English father seized the ancestral stronghold for his own. Yet all are destined to find loves as wild and glorious as the isle they call home.

With a reputation for hell-raising and heartbreaking, Ashton Merrick seemingly cannot be tamed. But family secrets force Ashton to do his ruthless father’s bidding—which, in this case, means escorting his missing ward, Rhiannon Russell, back to McClairen’s Isle. As a young orphan, Rhiannon never once set eyes on her negligent guardian—but now that she’s grown into a delicate beauty, Ashton suspects his father intends to claim her as his fourth wife. What Ashton can never anticipate is the uncontrollable desire Rhiannon ignites in his own wary heart.