The Thistle and The Rose

Passion and Peril in the Scottish Highlands: A Love Forged in War!
A heroine's quest for survival and a powerful warrior's unexpected love…
Celia Muir's life is at stake as she escapes a burning castle, hunted by English soldiers through the wild and rugged Scottish Highlands. With trusted allies at her side and the infant Kit in her care, she must risk everything—including her identity. Disguised as the mysterious Lady Caithness, Celia embarks on a dangerous mission, seeking the aid of the powerful and battle-hardened warrior, Colin Campbell.
Dangerous secrets, unexpected passion, and the fires of war…
As war ravages the hills of Scotland, Colin finds himself irresistibly drawn to the captivating Lady Caithness, despite the secrets that bind her to treachery. But in a land divided by violence, betrayal threatens to tear them apart, even as a love they never anticipated grows stronger. Together, they must navigate the tangled web of desire, deception, and destiny.
A journey of love that will change the course of history…
Celia and Colin's love must endure the ultimate test as they face betrayals, hidden enemies, and the harsh realities of war. Together, they will fight not only for their lives but for the future of a homeland on the brink of destruction. Can their love survive the storm of war—and change the fate of Scotland?
 Winner of two Golden Leaf Awards! 
 Top Ten List of the Best Romances of All Time!

May McGoldrick, Nik James,and Jan Coffey are pen names for USA Today bestselling authors Nikoo Kafi and Jim McGoldrick. Together, they have crafted over fifty fast-paced, conflict-filled historical, contemporary, and Western novels, and two works of nonfiction.
Nikoo's education and training was in engineering. She worked in robotics and submarine shipbuilding. Before earning a PhD in sixteenth-century Scottish and English literature, Jim pursued a hundred and one jobs, including a decade in submarine construction.
Storytellers at heart, Nikoo and Jim were always searching for careers that gave them time for both family and writing. Then, after thirteen years of marriage, they recognized each other's creative strengths. Nikoo is all about characters and feeling. Jim is about action and sense of place. Their first attempt in writing fiction together produced their award-winning novel, The Thistle and the Rose. Since then, their stories have touched the hearts and minds of millions of readers all over the world. Their work has been translated into over a dozen languages and counting.
Nikoo and Jim are four-time Rita Finalists and the winners of numerous awards for their writing, including a Will Rogers Medallion Award for Traditional Western Novels, the Daphne DuMaurier Award for Excellence, the Romantic Times Magazine Reviewers' Choice Award, three NJRW Golden Leaf Awards, two Holt Medallions, and the Connecticut Press Club Award for Best Fiction.
The authors make their home in California.