Praise for MONICA MCCARTY and her New York Times and USA Today bestselling Highland Guard series!

“Against a richly historical and violent backdrop, McCarty deftly weaves a surprisingly moving love story that demands a skillful writer’s touch. Her exquisite prose makes this a book readers will treasure.”

—RT Book Reviews

“The characters leap off the pages and into your heart. With a stunning plot that has enough twists and turns in all the right places, McCarty has created yet another captivating story that is sure to please!”

—Fresh Fiction

“Passion and politics abound in this exceptionally well-researched romance that skillfully interweaves fiction with history and sheds new light on a particularly fascinating and violent time.”

—Library Journal

“Readers who deplore ‘wallpaper historicals’ will appreciate not only the romance but McCarty’s efforts to go beyond the superficialities of historical Scotland.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Spectacularly entertaining. . . . McCarty is a master of blending fact and fiction.”

—Romance Junkies

“One of those amazing books that captures your attention right from the get-go. . . . McCarty has written a tale fit for a king.”

—Coffee Time Romance

“Thoroughly enjoyable. . . . Cleverly interwoven plot twists . . . kept me on my toes!”

—The Romance Reviews

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To all the readers who have been with me from The Chief to The Ghost—thank you!

Acknowledgments

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

WHEN I FIRST came up with the idea for “Special Ops in Kilts” (which is how I initially pitched the Highland Guard series), finishing twelve books seemed a long way away. Now, six years since the publication of The Chief in 2010, and I can’t believe it’s all over. Writing this series was pretty much a dream come true. I’ll never forget sitting in Bella Andre’s living room with Jami Alden (my critique partners) circa 2003, and telling them all about my “big” idea. It took me a while to feel confident enough to take on such a large project, but fifty single-spaced pages of an outline for all twelve books later, and I was ready. Getting it ready for you guys, however, took a lot of additional firepower.

Thanks, as always, to my fabulous agents, Annelise Robey and Andrea Cirillo at the Jane Rotrosen Agency, who believed in this project from the start. Thanks also to Kate Collins and the rest of the team at Random House for getting the series going, and to Lauren McKenna, Elana Cohen, Nancy Tonik, Faren Bachelis, and the rest of the editorial and production team at Simon & Schuster for finishing the series with such a fantastic bang. I feel extremely fortunate to have had such wonderful and talented people to work with over the years, and Lauren, I am really looking forward to what comes next.