Love by the Stroke of Midnight by Raven McAllan (best historical biographies .txt) 📗

Table of Contents

Books by Raven McAllan

Title Page

Legal Page

Book Description

Dedication

Trademark Acknowledgements

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

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About the Author

Totally Bound Publishing books by Raven McAllan

Single Books

Hong Kong Heat

Taken Identity

Fairground Attraction

The Duke’s Temptation

The Viscount Meets his Match

Diomhair

Secrets Shared

Secrets Uncovered

Secrets Remembered

Secrets Dispatched

Secrets Learned

Secrets Dispelled

Daring Ladies

The Earl and The Courtesan

Anthologies

Bully for You: Chasing Charlie

Collections

A Little Bit Cupid: For One Night Only

Castle on the Loch

LOVE BY THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT

RAVEN MCALLAN

Love by the Stroke of Midnight

ISBN # 978-1-83943-491-4

©Copyright Raven McAllan 2021

Cover Art by Erin Dameron-Hill ©Copyright March 2021

Interior text design by Claire Siemaszkiewicz

Totally Bound Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Totally Bound Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Totally Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2021 by Totally Bound Publishing, United Kingdom.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors’ rights. Purchase only authorised copies.

Totally Bound Publishing is an imprint of Totally Entwined Group Limited.

If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book”.

Book one in the

Castle on the Loch series

History, family, fate. Accept it or deny it at your will.

The day you discover your boyfriend is using you as a free meal ticket—and a way to save his money—is the day you say bye-bye.

Marcail Drummond does better than that.

She sells up, plans the rest of her life and heads north. It’s time to go home, to a castle on an island in a Scottish loch, and face up to the fact she’s not quite the same as the rest of her family. They can see the past—and the future—and hear others. Heal the sick and help the broken-hearted.

She can’t.

After all, talking to yourself isn’t the same thing, even if one of the voices in your head is male and argues a lot.

As far as Marcail is concerned, it’s just her way of amusing herself.

To Paden, it’s more than that.

To him, it’s a matter of life and death.

Dedication

To June who is my go-to for all things paranormal.

To Ann, my fabulous editor.

To Paul as ever

And

To the RavDor Chicks who support me all the way

Thank you

Trademark Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Kindle: Amazon Technologies, Inc

Mini: British Motor Corporation

Uggs: Deckers Outdoor Corporation

Scooby: Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc.

Rhett Butler: Margaret Mitchell

Calor: SHV Gas Group

Eyes Wide Shut: Stanley Kubrick Productions, Pole Star Hobby Films, Warner Bros.

Prologue

April 1746

Scottish Highlands

The smell of death hung in the air. Morven covered her mouth and nose with her plaid, gritted her teeth and forced herself to look carefully at each Jacobite body. The stench of powder mingled with that of blood and entrails was unpleasant but there was nothing she could do about it.

Best to ignore it and concentrate on the job she had to do. Where was he? She had no intention of leaving without his body. Alongside her, other women were doing the same thing. Not prepared to leave their loved ones dead or dying on a bloody battlefield, alone…unloved…

“Over here, one’s alive.” The shout from an elderly woman a few yards away had several other women lifting their heads and moving towards the woman. Without a lot of hope, Morven followed them, and looked at the man in the bloodied plaid who was cradled in the arms of the older woman.

“He’s no long for this world,” the old crone said in a kindly voice. “We can at least give him our love.” ‘Until he goes’ were words unsaid but understood.

Morven gulped and forced herself not to cry.

“Rian… For God’s sake, Rian, my Rian.” She knelt by him and took his hand. “Rian, it’s me, your Morven.” Lord, he looked so bad. Grey, shivering, blood trickling from his mouth. She might be a witch, but her powers were not those of healing. Hers were of sight. And she knew… “Rian, will you be mine?” she asked urgently. “In front of these people here can we be wed?”

He opened his eyes. “Morven? My Morven?”

“That’s me, my love.”

“Then marry me, I pl…plight my troth to you, you and the bairn.”

“You guessed?”

“I…” He coughed. “I hoped. So I take you as my wife, my Morven. Now and for ever more.”

He handed her something round. Small, no larger than her thumbnail, cold and slippery and…and warm? Cold and warm? She didn’t have time to wonder what then. The man in front of her took all her attention.

“As my wedding gift to you.”

Her heart was breaking, but as the old crone next to her nodded encouragingly, Morven smiled. “To be your wife, mother of our child, to be your soul mate, is all I ever want. I’ll bring our bairn up to be proud of his or her pa. Rian McKinnon, I take you as my husband, I am yours. Your wife. Your love for ever.”

“Bairns, Morven,