Looking back to that day in 1989, when the idea for writing the Mackinnon books was born, I am amused at how innocently I thought I would write a trilogy—three books and then I would move on to something else. Never did I dream I would spend the next eight or nine years writing seven books—an entire series—about one family. We are told one should never underestimate the power of a woman. The same is also true of readers, for they are more powerful and influential than they realize, for what writer can resist overwhelming response from their readership? So, when you began to request I do a story about all the brothers, I gave in and wrote two more.

When I finished Heaven Knows, the fifth and what I thought of as the "last of the Mackinnon's," I put a heartfelt letter in the back of the book, saying, "I never knew it would be so difficult. How do you say goodbye to a family you have lived with for eight years? Working with the Mackinnon's was like having children. One day they were little and playing around my feet. The next day they were grown and gone."

Out of this experience, I learned two things about putting letters in the back of books: First, don't ever say you are through with anything, because your readers will prove you wrong. Second, do not—no matter how often the insane idea occurs to you—publish your address at the end of such a letter if you don't want to spend the next two years of your life answering the same question. I was overwhelmed with letters asking . . . no, telling me I was not through with the Mackinnon's. My mailbox was stuffed. My next book advance went to buy stamps. My readers were adamant . . . as one reader said, "You can't leave us out there in La La Land. We want to know what happened to the sister."

Always a softie when it comes to my readers, I gave in and wrote the last two books in the series, never dreaming my readers would thank me in such a profound way—by responding with an exuberance that propelled Margery's story, If You Love Me, which was the last book in the series, onto the New York Times Bestseller List.

I know that some of you who missed out on the original publication of each book are exasperated that my earlier books, including all of the Mackinnon books, are out of print. Be assured that my agent and I are working to obtain the rights to these books. Once that is done, they will be reissued.

Angel In Marble

"I want you, you beautiful little witch! So much I'd do almost anything to have you. You remember that the next time that fop kisses you. The ghost of his lovemaking has stood between us too long," he said, dropping to the floor and taking her with him. Trailing kisses across her throat," he whispered, "Now you can deal with another ghost as well." Shipbuilder Nick Mackinnon is temptation incarnate, but Tibbie Buchanan vows to never allow a man to get close enough to weaken her resolve. For five years she's lived in a self-imposed prison, hiding from the past that betrayed her. But now something inside her is yearning for release, for the freedom to live and to love. And day by day, Nick is chipping away at her defense, at the wall around her body, her heart, and her soul, determined to release the passionate woman inside and make her his own. Read Chapter One

ANGEL IN MARBLE - Reissue Edition Out of Print Mass Market Paperback March 1998 Fawcett Books ISBN: 0449150550

Large Print Edition September 1998 Thorndike Press ISBN: 0786215534

Hardbound September 1998 Random House ISBN: 078621553

For All the Right Reasons

He saw Katherine step off the ship. A knot twisted in his stomach. An agonized expression froze the features of his face. He would never understand how he had done it, but it was enough that he knew that he had. Drunk, he had written to the woman he loved. He had asked her to marry him. But he had written her sister's name by mistake. And now her sister was here, ready to marry him... Katherine Simon never stopped loving her childhood sweetheart, not even when he comes home from the war to marry her sister. But all will change with the call of Gold from California—a call for Alex Mackinnon to make his fortune and for an irrepressible woman to make a daring journey of the heart...

FOR ALL THE RIGHT REASONS - Reissue Edition Out of Print Mass Market Paperback November 1998 Fawcett Books ISBN: 0449150534

Large Print Hardcover March 1999 Wheeler Publishing ISBN: 1568956371

Somewhere Along the Way

She knew nothing about intimacy, but she was gathering some mighty strong clues from the places where her blood ran thick and warm. She was hot. She was cold. She wanted to say yes. She was thinking no. She must stop this. Now. Weakly she said, "Stop it some more," and heard his soft chuckle. Lady Annabella Stewart lived a pampered life in Scotland. Then handsome, blue-eyed Texan Ross Mackinnon turned her sheltered world upside down. He arrived in Scotland to claim his ancestral home; instead, he found a beauty who would claim his heart. While she was already betrothed to a man she didn't love and destined to live in a place she hated, Annabella couldn't resist Ross's rebellious spirit and the passion in his soul. Ross would do anything to help her escape. But first he had to accept his birthright—a title that could stop him from winning his lady of the Highlands. Read the Prologue

SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY - Reissue Edition Out of Print Mass Market Paperback January 1999 Fawcett Books ISBN: 0449150542

Large Print Edition July 1999 Wheeler Publishing ISBN: 1568957459

So This is Love

Maggie turned to look at the portrait her husband, Adrian, had painted of the woman he loved. She had been right. This never-ending feast for the eyes in crimson velvet was Katherine—Katherine, ghostly and yet so very real. She was just as Maggie would have imagined her, a woman of extraordinary elegance, a being of beauty seen in a tender light by the man who had loved her. A dream whose voice haunted and robbed him of sleep. "This," she said softly, "is what stands between us. This is where it all begins." Maggie Ramsay was alone, homeless, and widowed with three children. In desperation, she agreed to marry Adrian Mackinnon, a California timber baron she'd never met. He wanted a jewel to his crown, but what he got was a fearless woman who won the hearts of every man at camp and tackled a business no ordinary woman would dare. Then, to her surprise, Maggie found herself in love with her husband. But the closer she got to Adrian's aching heart, the harder he pushed her away. He was determined to prove he needed no one—until greed and passion threatened all he owned. SO THIS IS LOVE - Mass Market Paperback July 1993 Gold Medal ISBN: 044914860

 

Heaven Knows

Two hours after Lizzie Robinson got a bosom, she lost it... That in itself wouldn't have been so humiliating if Tavis Mackinnon had not been standing at the bottom of those ill fated steps at the exact moment the pull of gravity had gotten the best of her. HEAVEN KNOWS features Tavis Mackinnon, who abandons his wife on their wedding night in anger, not knowing that eventually his bitterness will turn to love. HEAVEN KNOWS - Mass Market Paperback April 1994 Gold Medal ISBN: 0449148610

If You Love Me

"Ahhh,” she said. “That is why your heart is heavy.” My heart isn’t heavy,” he replied. “Your heart is heavy,” she said. “I can see it in your eyes. However, I understand now that it is the English way to say your heart is not heavy when it is heavy.” She frowned. “I do not understand all of this yet. Perhaps, in time, I will be English like you, and I will learn to say what I am not thinking, and to think what I am not saying, and to hid my thoughts and feelings, like a doe hides her young." A man driven by despair and an unwillingness to forgive, William Woodville fled his native England, his title, and his duty. In the American wilderness he found the perfect vengeance: A woman. She was a captive handed from tribe to tribe in an odyssey of despair until William purchased the untamed innocent on the auction block; married her, bedded her, and defiantly presented her to his father in England before he turned and left...alone. Abandoned by the man she loved, Margery Mackinnon let the pain of betrayal make her strong and blossomed from a primitive wildflower to the woman she was destined to be. When William returned, he was captivated by a beguiling woman unwilling to forgive him. Now the man who abandoned love must fight to reclaim it... IF YOU LOVE ME - Reissue Edition Mass Market Paperback February 1997 Gold Medal ISBN: 0449150054 Fawcett Books ISBN: 0449150062

When Love Comes Along

"Everywhere I touch you're so delightful. I'm like a kid with his hand in a candy jar. I don't know what to try next." "My mouth," she whispered. "Wanton," he murmured. "Beguiling witch. You seduce me with your innocence, with your child's mouth." Adrian Mackinnon's stepson, Fletcher Ramsay, returns to Scotland to avenge the death of his father and to regain the title of Duke of Glengarry that was rightfully his. He never dreamed he would fall in love with Cathleen Lindsay, the granddaughter of a gentle minister or that he would be the cause of his death. Determined to unveil the secrets of his family's past and to take back the title from the man who stole it, Fletcher and Cathleen end up running for their lives—from the highlands of Scotland to the coast of France—until the final piece of the puzzle is found and Fletcher regains what is rightfully his, with the help of the woman he loves. WHEN LOVE COMES ALONG - Mass Market Paperback November 1995 Warner Books ISBN: 0446602124

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