Murray Family

New York Times best-selling author Hannah Howell is a master of Scottish historical romance. In Highland Hero, she shares four of her finest short stories featuring heroes as wild and captivating as the Highlands themselves.

When destiny brought Sir Balfour Murray and his wounded brother down the same road as Maldie Kirkaldy, she offered her services as a nurse even as she tried to deny the desire this dark-eyed knight had ignited at first sight. Soon they discover that they both share a mission of vengeance, but Maldie cannot tell him her true identity - to do so would brand her a spy.

Nigel Murray saw through her masquerade from the start: a young woman trying to pass herself off as a page. It almost worked - until she was unmasked in battle with the English, at the point of a sword. Nigel recklessly saved the raven-haired beauty, whose secrets now endangered them both. He spirited her off to Scotland, determined to erase the terror he tasted in her kiss.

Eric Murray, the youngest of his brothers, is determined to gain his rightful inheritance after 13 years of bitter dispute with his father's family. Starting out alone to confront his tight-fisted kinsmen, he encounters a chestnut-haired beauty set upon by thieves. When she begs for Eric's protection for herself and her infant nephew, Eric promises to deliver them to the safety of her family.

Ten years ago, young Elspeth Murray rescued a wounded knight and lost her heart forever. Now a stunning beauty and gifted healer, she is reunited with Cormac Armstrong when he saves her from an unwanted suitor. But Cormac is promised to another, a woman who has blinded him to her ruthlessness. Now Elspeth must battle against the odds to claim a man and a love she will not be denied.Cormac is stunned by the desire Elspeth's kiss awakens - and cannot resist the temptation she offers.

When Cameron MacAlpin learns the identity of the golden beauty tossed before him as a debt payment, he can't believe his fortune! For cat-eyed Avery Murray is the perfect weapon to use against Payton Murray - Avery's brother - who dishonored Cameron's own sister. Yet his plan to deliver the same insult and avenge his clan is thwarted by spirited Avery herself, who tempts him to forget everything but the passion coursing through his blood. Still, a knight of the Highlands owes his allegiance to his clan before all else - even his heart.

Though she has yet to be courted by any man, spirited Gillyanne Murray decides the time has come to visit the dower lands gifted to her by her father's kinsmen. She arrives to find the small keep surrounded by three lairds, each one vying for her hand... and property. Though resolved to refuse them all, the threat of battle on her threshold forces her to boldly choose a suitor: Sir Connor MacEnroy, a handsome, daring knight of few words.

Sir Payton Murray's reputation as a lover is rivalled only by his prowess with the sword, yet it is the latter gift that has captured the interest of Kirstie MacLye. Fleeing a murderous husband who left her for dead, she vows to expose the man for the vile scoundrel that he is. She also knows it will take planning, cunning, and the help of a brave, arrogant, and willing champion. Kirstie only prays that Sir Payton will accept her challenge.

Sir Diarmot MacEnroy, deciding his illegitimate children need a mother and his keep needs a proper lady, now stands before the altar with a gentle bride he hopes is too shy to disrupt his life or break his heart. The nuptials, however, are interrupted by the appearance of a flame-haired beauty carrying two babies, boldly claiming that she is his wife and mother of his twin infant sons. Armed with her seven very large brothers, she has come to demand her due.

Fleeing an obsessed suitor, Fiona MacEnroy rides recklessly into Scotland's wildest hills and is captured by a horde of well-armed men. Instead of battling for her life, she finds herself swept away by a powerful stranger and carried off to a remote, forbidding keep. Oddly, here at Scarglas, a place shrouded in mystery and the black reputation of the rogue clan MacFingal, Fiona feels a strange, comforting sense of safety…and a consuming passion for its rugged laird.

Lady Jolene Gerard is running out of time - each moment she remains within the walls of Drumwich Castle she is in jeopardy. Her only chance lies with a prisoner chained to the dungeon walls, a Scotsman who, in return for freedom, helps Jolene and her young nephew escape her cousin's deadly snare. Pursued by murderous villains, Jolene is prepared to fight for her life. But in the arms of rugged Sigimor Cameron, she soon surrenders her heart... He was too late to save the Englishman to whom he owed a blood debt, but not the man's lovely sister.

Liam Cameron is certain he's died and gone to heaven when he opens his eyes to the angel before him. But the pain that wracks his body proves he is still Earth-bound. Keira Murray MacKail saved Liam's life - and he has some enticing ways he would like to thank her. Soon, lust gives way to a feeling much more profound for a woman whose battles he wants to fight…though he fears the most difficult one will be for her heart.

A reckless need to break free of his family led Gregor MacFingal Cameron on a quest for a rich bride, only to fall prey to kidnappers and be tossed into a cold cell. He is soon joined by a frightened young woman who makes him regret his mercenary search for a wife. After a daring escape, he gladly joins Alana Murray's quest to rescue her sister, and soon temptation leads to seduction, with unspoken promises easily made, but harder to keep.

Sir Artan Murray was right when he decided that the dying old man who bid him collect his niece didn't know her at all. The furious woman facing him is neither "sweet" nor "biddable." She demands the brawny Highlander return her to the wedding party from which he took her. But Artan has no intention of allowing so spirited and bewitching a creature to endure a loveless marriage to a ruthless lord for her clan's sake. He aims to woo the lass and to show her that true love also yields unforgettable pleasure.Cecily Donaldson knows a bond forged by danger and desperation cannot endure.

Beaten and left for dead, Sir Lucas Murray is a man wounded in body and soul. He has brought himself back to becoming the warrior he once was - except for his ruined leg and the grief he feels over the death of the woman he once loved...the same woman who led him into his enemies' hands. Dressed as a masked reiver, it is Katerina Haldane who saves Lucas as he battles for his life - and for revenge. Shocked that she still lives, Lucas becomes desperate to ignore the desire raging through his body.

Annora MacKay senses a disturbing evil in Dunncraig Keep, the estate acquired by her cousin, a cruel and ruthless man. Only her affection for the tiny girl he claims is his daughter stops her from fleeing. Then a mysterious woodcarver arrives at the castle, and she cannot stop thinking - or longing - for him. Once a laird, now an outcast, James Drummond wants what was stolen from him - his good name, his lands, and his child.

Someone is prepared to kill again and again until Tormand is found guilty and hanged. And his only hope of discovering the culprit lies with Morainn Ross, a reclusive, sensual beauty gifted with second sight. Branded a witch, Morainn has never met a man who accepted her strange talent, much less one who could so easily inflame her passion. There's no resisting Tormand's rugged masculinity - and no escaping the enemy, who grows more twisted every day.

Someone would see Ilsabeth Murray Armstrong hang for murder. When her dagger is found buried in the body of one of the king's men, there is little room for doubt-the perpetrator must pay with her life. But Ilsabeth is no killer, and only one person can help clear her name: Sir Simon Innes, a man so steely and cool that no danger can rattle him - and no woman in distress can sway his heart. Until now.

Once, Arianna Murray Lucette believed that she'd met the man she could always rely on. She was wrong. Now she is fleeing for her life, and when her enemies attack a ship bound for her only refuge, she believes that all hope is lost - until she awakens on Scotland's shore to a pair of the most entrancing blue eyes she has ever seen.When Sir Brian MacFingal first spots the sun-streaked beauty on the beach, he mistakes her for dead. Soon, however, he discovers a woman who is more full of life and vitality than he ever dreamed possible.

Betrayal taught Sir Brett Murray to make protecting others his only life. Still, the growing desire he can't help but feel for this entrancing widow makes him long to earn more than her trust. But in trying to save all she cherishes, he can't see how an honor-scarred knight can stay in her world and her heart - unless he risks everything to prove his love is now and forever always.