Sold to a Laird [Mass Market Paperback]

Karen Ranney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 24, 2009

Lady Sarah Baines was devoted to her mother and her family home, Chavensworth. Douglas Eston was devoted to making a fortune and inventing. The two of them are married when Lady Sarah′s father proposes the match and threatens to send Lady Sarah′s ill mother to Scotland if she protests.

Douglas finds himself the victim of love at first sight, while Sarah thinks her husband is much too, well, earthy for her tastes. Marriage is simply something she had to do to ensure her mother′s well-being, and even when her mother dies in the next week, it′s not a sacrifice she regrets.

She cannot, however, simply write her mother′s relatives and inform them of her death. She convinces Douglas - an ex pat Scot - to return to Scotland with her, to a place called Kilmarin. At Kilmarin, she is given the Tulloch Sgàthán, the Tulloch mirror. Legend stated that a woman who looked into the mirror saw her true fate.

Douglas and Sarah begin to appreciate the other, and through passion, Douglas is able to express his true feelings for his wife. But once they return to England and Douglas disappears and is presumed dead, Sarah has to face her own feelings for the man she′s come to respect and admire.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Karen Ranney wanted to be a writer from the time she was five years old and filled her Big Chief tablet with stories. People in stories did amazing things and she was too shy to do anything amazing. Years spent in Japan, Paris, and Italy, however, not only fueled her imagination, but proved that she wasn't that shy after all. Yet she prefers to keep her current adventures between the covers of her books. Karen lives in San Antonio, Texas.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon; Original edition (November 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061771759
• ISBN-13: 978-0061771750
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #762,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Karen Ranney was first published in 1995. Since then, she's gone on to write dozens of historical romances, most of them set in Scotland.

Her books have been described as evocative, intensely romantic stories featuring characters who leap off the page.

In addition to historical romance, she also writes mystery and suspense under the pseudonym of Katherine Storm.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disagree, November 26, 2009

By 

MaryS (Birmingham, Ala) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sold to a Laird (Mass Market Paperback)

I disagree with the above review. I also love Karen Ranney and there are a few of her books that did not click with me. I really loved this one. The heroine was not cold, she protected herself by reining in her emotions. She was vulnerable and she needed a hero who could break through that shield and get to the person beneath. Douglas was a great hero. The Duke was a bit of a caricature, but it still worked.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm with reviewer MaryS on this one., November 29, 2009

By 

Old Latin teacher (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sold to a Laird (Mass Market Paperback)

The biggest complaint I have lately with Karen Ranney books is the cheesy covers she allows the publisher to put on them. The one on SOLD TO A LAIRD was almost enough to turn me off but I like Karen Ranney enough not to judge a book by its cover. No, the heroine is not cold, but rather repressed by her upbringing and the hero is to die for. Sensitive and a hunk. What more could you want? The author develops the romance and love slowly with none of that unrealistic immediate sex in a closet kind of situation. Ranney makes you feel the love developing and it is romantic, not just lustful. And she writes far better than the majority of romance novelists.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Touching Love Story!, December 2, 2009

By 

Amy C (New York) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sold to a Laird (Mass Market Paperback)

I have only recently began reading Karen Ranney, the first being Devil Wears Tartan. And since that book, two more have released and I've rushed out to buy both...A Scotsman in Love (which by the way, is one of my top historical reads. Loved that book!) and now this one, Sold to a Laird.

In Sold to a Laird, Lady Sarah is the daughter of a Duke. Her father raised her with fierce strictness and no love at all. She is forced by her father to marry a stranger, Douglas Eston, in order to spare her dying mother from a trip to her homeland of Scotland. Lady Sarah appears cold and emotionless, but Douglas Eston warms her bit by slow bit. It's a sensual game that Eston plays with Sarah, and one that undoubtedly left me in awe of the amount of emotional intensity some of their scenes are filled with.

Sarah struck me as an honest, innocent young woman. Her fears and emotions towards Eston didn't feel like they were coming from a naive woman, but an unknowing, inexperienced one. I've read books where the heroine had no clue what took place between a man and a woman or the desires that could rise up and consume them and they seemed a bit much. A bit over the top. Not very believable. But in this book, I found myself saddened by, and wholly believing Sarah's lack of knowledge and her fight to deny the passions Douglas begins to fill her with.

This book, as with the previous two books I've read, has such a somber mood that really makes your heart ache for the characters. Douglas was the epitome of heroes for Sarah, holding her and comforting her when she most needed it, simply being there for her, understanding her. He took into consideration her upbringing and accepted her for who she was. And Sarah, I loved that she never grew angry with the liberties Douglas took, the way he, at times, pushed her. He did it in just a way that gave her time to think through the turmoil of feelings swirling through her.

Another fantastically done, heartfelt and moving romance between two people that need each other, especially Sarah. And Douglas Eston is her perfect match. The two meld together beautifully. This is another book that I'll look back on with a warm heart remembering the gentle, soothing touches Douglas bestowed on his Lady Sarah.