Pride of the Clan, Caledonia Chronicles Book #1 By Anna Markland. My ARC Review

Catastrophe changes Margaret Ogilvie´s life when her three older brothers drown . She undertakes a perilous journey across the Scottish Highlands seeking the protection of the man she was betrothed to as a child ; a nobleman she hasn´t seen for eight years. Shocked to discover his role in the assassination of a king has implicated her in his plot to take the throne, she finds herself in dire need of a champion.

Rheade Robertson is duty bound to aid his older brother, the clan chieftain ,in his sworn quest to capture the assassins of King James Stewart. Protecting Margaret from persecution will mean defying his brother. Can he bring the murderers to justice and save an innocent woman from the executioner´s axe? Or will family rivalry and a vengeful queen destroy his hopes for a future with the courageous lass he loves?. 

The start of what I know will be a fantastic new series . This time we are in the Scottish Highlands, with the Robertson Clan. 

Three men have conspired to kill the King. The Laird of the Robertson Clan has sworn to bring the Kingslayers to justice.  They are searching for the murderers when they come across a family on the road to the castle that belongs to the traitors.
After the deaths of her parents Margaret is being bundled off by her aunt and uncle ,to a man she has be betrothed since she was twelve years old. She has had no contact with him for eight years and fears he has forgotten about her.
Being the betrothed of a man known to have killed the King,  puts Margaret under suspicion of being involved.  Rheade is the second of the Robertson brothers.  His eldest brother being the Laird. No matter what he does his big brother is never happy with him, and when Rheade tries to protect Margaret things could come to a head.

This is a marvellous historical romance.  Our wonderful author paints such a detailed picture of her story I felt as if I had been transported back in time. Even the unpleasant parts of life in the era (like the lack of personal hygiene ) are so vivid. I don't know enough about Scottish history to know if the political happenings in the story are fact or artistic licence,  but I believed every word.

 Because I know this author's work I think I spotted where the series might go from here and I can't wait to read more.

I was born and educated in England , but I´ve lived most of my life in Canada. I was an educator for 25 years. It was a rewarding career, financially, spiritually and emotionally.

After that I worked with my husband in the management of his businesses. He´s a born entrepreneur who likes to boast he´s never had a job ! 

My final " career " was as Director of Administration of a global disaster relief organization. I then a embarked upon writing a romance, essentially for my own satisfaction. I chose the medieval period mainly because that genre of historical romance is one I enjoy reading.

I have a keen interest in genealogy. This hobby has had a tremendous influence on my stories . My medieval romances are about family honor, ancestry, and roots. As an amateur genealogist, I cherished a dream ( as do many) of tracing my own English roots back to the Norman conquest--an impossibility since I´m not descended from nobility! So I made up a family and my stories follow it¨s members through successive generations.

One of things I enjoy most about writing historical romance is the in-depth research necessary to provide readers with an authentic medieval experience. I based the plot of my first novel .Conquering Passion, on an incident that actually happened to a Norman noblewoman.