This is another book with a long lost hero, though in this case it was his own choice to disappear. This book, third in the No Ordinary Hero series by Suzanne Enoch, is set in Scotland where Callum MacCreath discovers that his older brother Ian, Earl of Geiry, is set to marry Rebecca, a childhood friend. While Callum isn’t exactly ready to settle down himself, he realizes that he wants Rebecca and confronts her about it. A family fight ensues, and Callum finds himself shunned from the clan and he escapes to America.
Fast forward ten years, and he’s done extremely well in Kentucky with his distillery business and has no plan to return to Scotland. However, he discovers that his brother has died unexpectedly from a drowning accident, leaving him the inheritance. Callum isn’t sure he wants that responsibility, but he also doesn’t feel that his brother’s death was just an accident. So he heads back to Scotland, accompanied by his wolf, Waya, that he rescued as a cub. (I tried not to think of the logistics of taking a wolf on a ship for several weeks, as that part seemed implausible!)
He arrives to find Rebecca unimpressed to see him, and practically engaged to another man whose family had helped her after she became a widow. There was something shady about that family, and evil business deals going on that Callum picked up on immediately, but he and Rebecca don’t see eye to eye on what happened. There’s also her daughter, Margaret, an extremely precocious six year old, who immediately falls in love with Waya, and becomes part of the wolf pack. Callum also adores Mags (as she prefers to be called) and it’s not long before Rebecca begins to thaw towards him as well. There is immediate sparks between them, and you can tell their old chemistry is still there.
Rebecca had chosen the responsible brother, and their marriage had been safe. But Callum is nothing like he used to be in terms of his drinking and womanizing – he’s still a manly Scot, preferring to have things his way, but he’s intelligent and resourceful, and intends to ferret out what is going on. And he’s determined that his love for Rebecca will win her over as well despite her initial resistance. The two of them have some steamy encounters along the way, the evil villains get their comeuppance and the wolf pack is pretty adorable.
This is the first book I’ve read by Ms Enoch, and I might check out some of the others in her back list. It was entertaining, and well written, and I enjoyed it despite the few nitpicks I had.