STAND ALONES

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 He wanted a home...

1861. Highlander Lachlan MacQueen is a man who lives by his rules and no other. Reckless and rootless, he roams the border towns between Scotland and England, a mercenary for hire with an unspoken determination to regain all he's lost. By any means necessary.

When he inadvertently saves the life of Queen Victoria, she rewards him with a royal boon, the deed to a small manse nestled along the shores of Loch Ness called Secret's Gate and a stipend to ensure his outlaw days are over. But past sins demand payment and when the price becomes too high, Lachlan's untimely death becomes another skeletal ghost in an unopened closet.

She wanted to heal...

2017. Verity Harper's memories of Secret's Gate are hazy at best. Two months spent in Scotland 25 years ago echo with remnants of a mysterious, hasty departure home to America and fresh beginnings with her mother, Pamela and new stepfather, Archibald MacQueen.

Now, she returns to claim the legacy left to her by Archie; the very manor of her erstwhile childhood summer. But the free spirited, fun loving child that roamed the grounds with innocent glee has been replaced by a heartbroken woman full of remorse and shattered by regret.

And now, she's beginning to question her own sanity.

Can a lie that destroyed one life give another the truth it needs to be whole? 

Returning home after a seven-year trip abroad, an English rose finds herself the reluctant heir to a legacy that spans generations and puts her in the direct path of a killer desperate enough to murder to keep his secret safe...

Witch.
Actress Evermir Stark is one of Europe's most celebrated actresses, the daughter of a baronetcy and a woman with a troubled past. Born with the ability of precognition, the heritage of her mother's ancestors, Evie learned at a young age to first suppress then deny them in order to please her class obsessed father. When his love of status overcomes his love of family and he sells her to the highest bidder, she rebels, fleeing to Paris to escape his own brand of madness. But when her visions return with frightening, nightmarish intensity, she knows she can't run forever and returns home to find herself quickly embroiled in a murder investigation.

Wanderer.
Playing a fool on stage is all in a night's work for James Squire. An outwardly, merry, bumbling man with an infectious laugh and clumsy manners, his façade hides a darker secret. And purpose. After years spent tracking his prey, he has at last found her and played the fawning accolade for her pleasure. It's too bad his obsession couldn't be more blind to his obvious affections. But he won't let Evie get away that easily and when she returns home, he isn't far behind. Her surrender will be his ultimate salvation. One way or another.

Wicked.
Somber and dedicated Matthew McGreer is a man rising high in the ranks of Scotland Yard. A cunning, straight forward man, noted for his sharp acumen and inherent skills of deduction, he is helping to lead the team working feverishly to discover the identity of London's most notorious killer, The Whitechapel Murderer aka Jack the Ripper. The last thing he needs muddling his work ethic is the appearance of a saucy redhead who appears to have close ties to the killer. Family ties.

Thrust into a deadly game of cat and mouse, will Evie trust herself and her legacy enough to allow the sight to guide her true? Or will she lose her heart to one man and her life to another?