Secrets of the Highlander by Janet Chapman

Book Description:
He is the father of her child, but the secrets they are hiding are tearing them apart....

Megan MacKeage escaped the smothering protectiveness of the Highland MacKeage clan to work as a scientist on the Canadian tundra. But when fellow researcher Wayne Ferris breaks her heart by rejecting her, Megan returns to Maine alone.... Then she meets the town's new police chief, Jack Stone--the man she knew as Wayne Ferris. Instead of the quiet scholar he posed as, he's an aggressive private eye who's willing to fight for what he wants, just like all the overbearing men in her clan. So why is Megan still feeling a dangerous attraction? And though Jack claims he followed her here because he loves her, can she ever trust a man with so many secrets?

Another winner from Janet Chapman! I pretty much read this in a day - a snowy blizzardy blustery snow day off from work. Nothing like spending the whole day in your pajamas curled up in bed reading a romance that takes place in the snow in Maine! Perfect!

This is the official last book in the Pine Creek series of time traveling highlanders from the 12th century (not including her recent Christmas book, which is coming up on my TBR list) that wind up in present-day Maine running a ski resort. One of the highlanders, Greylen MacKeage, has seven daughters - and this book is about Megan MacKeage who finds herself pregnant and single. On top of everything else, she's not sure of how she's going to handle the fact that the father of her baby basically ended it with her as soon as he found out she was pregnant while working together in the tundra of Canada. Now, lo and behold, he has shown up in her home town in Maine as the police chief with a new name and new look to him - granted, a very attractive look - but, what's he up to??

To say the least, Megan is pissed off!

The man she knew as her nerdy boyfriend Wayne, has now morphed into rugged and attractive police chief, Jack Stone. And he expects her to come running - to forgive the way he humiliated her and sent her packing, breaking her heart and wondering what she's supposed to do with a baby on the way? Well, Megan starts out determined to send him packing instead, with a swift kick in the you-know-what, but soon she learns the truth about him, that he sent her off for her own good, and though it takes her a while to believe him, she begins to thaw when it comes to Wayne/Jack, and it doesn't hurt that her father likes him as well as everyone else!

As usual in Chapman's Pine Creek books, there is lots of paranormal and fantasy elements. This is no exception. There's a mysterious dragon-like creature breaking into bakeries and stealing doughnuts in addition to the subplot of who is after Megan to get some DNA samples she took in Canada. Plus, there's lots of Greylan and Grace (from the first book in the series - Megan's parents) and Winter and her husband Matt, and his brother Kenzie, who is mixed up in the mystery as well!

I found the plotline exciting and compelling, but most of all I loved the chemistry between Megan and Jack. No matter how much she resisted him at first, she couldn't stay that way forever. Not only does he explain away what he did and why, but he's a great guy in the end. Okay, so he's not over six feet, like all her relatives who were Scottish highlanders, but he's someone that you'd want to have with you if you're lost in the woods on a cold winter's night. Adept at survival with his own brand of magic up his sleeve he is a man after my own heart. He also has a wrenching backstory of his own of how he became orphaned at the age of nine, which is unforgettably sad. I really loved Jack, a great guy (plus the back picture of the book makes him look very yummy!)

I won't reveal too much of the plotline, but this was a great addition to the series, one of my favorites! I highly recommend this series! I'm sad it's almost over! :(

4/5

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