An English rose they called her, fair and strong; but the Grey Thistle Knight's thorns are sharp enough to pierce a Sassenach heart.

Ever since she was a little girl, Emeline was taught by her father, Lieutenant Arthur Thorne, to fear the Scottish. Therefore, when her father dies the night he announces her betrothal to Laird Ian MacLeod, Emeline is as devastated as she is shocked. Now, she has no choice but to follow through with the marriage, planning to escape her arranged fate at any given chance along her journey.

But in the dark, hostile Highlands, death, fire, and ruin make life harsh and unforgiving. And when Emeline arrives at the MacLeod Keep, a cruel twist of fate has it that instead of the gentle Ian, she must marry his brother, Manus, a beastly Highlander who hates the English with a deadly force. A man who has taken Ian's place as the Laird and makes her blood boil, but not solely with anger…

The lost heir of clan MacLeod, Manus, goes by the title of the Grey Thistle Knight. After his family's castle was attacked by an English raid and his father was killed before his eyes, Manus was snatched away by a band of mercenaries, who raised him as one of their own. Years later, discovered by his true clan and his brother, Manus cannot adapt to his new life.

But when his brother is brutally murdered in his bed, Manus will have to accept the title of Laird and take his brother's place in the betrothal – an alliance between clan MacLeod and the English. Marrying was never part of his plans, and the Sassenach lass rubs him the wrong way, but Manus would rather die than see more innocent blood spilled, especially the blood of a lady he finds irresistible against his every will and instinct.

"The Thorn in her Side" is a standalone prequel to the series, "The Rose and the Thistle," packed with breathtakingly action, secrets, twists, passion, and sizzling romance, set in the tumultuous Scottish Highlands!

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