Twice widowed Judith Cuthbertson is noithing but another unwanted mouth to deed in her miserly father's home--until he sells her off to a visiting Scotsman. Now, en route to the Highlands, Judith is forced to bury her fears and ponder her fate in an unknown land as the reluctant bride of a complete stranger. After the battle of Culloden claims his father and older brother, Alisdair MacLeod becomes the new laird of a once-great clan--and the unlikely savior of a proud people struggling for their survival. A widower himself, MacLeod suddenly finds himself wed to a sharp-tongued Englishwoman who defies him at every turn... except one.