Gabriella Patterson and three other women were kidnapped and were going to be hunted. Gabriella was planning to die by falling off a cliff rather than be caught. When the hunt started, they scattered and ran as fast as they could in different directions.
Hector, who was Laird McCullough discovered that these hunts were being held on his land so he and three other lairds decided they were going to try to free them. They were in the hunt and were successful in capturing the four girls. Hector kept Gabriella and each of the other lairds kept the ones they caught. Their plan was to free the girls, but all of them were in bad shape because they had been starved and beaten, so they medical treatment.
The girls were terrified and did not know what was going to happen to them. They did not trust any men. When Gabriella arrived at Hector’s castle, she could not understand why he was treating her kindly and what his expectations were, thinking he had another plan in mind. She was trembling.
Hector took her to the healer and treated her with kindness but she still mistrusted him. Hector had a bad experience with a fiancé in the past. The potential marriage was arranged for an alliance, not for love. Lady Caitlin Grant was her name and she dumped him for another laird, so, he also had a mistrust of women but really was attracted to Gabriella. He also struggled with the responsibility of being a Laird, taking care of his people and didn’t want to be distracted.
Louis Hogg, who recently bought a tavern where Gabriella worked used it as a base to procure girls and was the key person in kidnapping women and arranging the hunts. He was incensed that the lairds had rescued them and vowed revenge. Those lairds were messing with his lucrative plans.
The story was a sweet one that was engaging. The characters were great and I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. I loved the book!