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Kathleen Morgan’s, Lady of Light, is book three in the Brides of Culdee Creek series chronicling the lives of the MacKay family and their wives. This is the first book I read in the series and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I am very eager to go back and read the one I missed and then the one that is just coming out.

Claire Sutherland swore she’d never trust a man with her heart and her future. That is, until she met Evan MacKay. From the first moment the tall, dark-haired American arrived on the parish church grounds, Claire found herself strangely drawn to this man and the close ranch community he describes to her. After a whirlwind courtship Evan and Claire journey to Colorado to begin a new life together as husband and wife. Though nervous at the prospect of leaving the familiar Scottish highlands, Claire yearns to be part of a real family for the first time in her life. But when confronted with her husband’s old flame, frustrated by her brother’s erratic behavior, and plagued by the haunting secret of her past, insecurities rush in and Claire wonders if she’s made the biggest mistake of her life. Wavering between desire to completely trust her new husband and family and fear that the whole truth will cost her everything, Claire struggles to find a faith that can sustain her. Only when she trusts God with her past and the people she loves will she finally be able to become a true Lady of Light.

I enjoyed this book and the Scottish flavour that permeats the story from the beautiful descriptions of the land to Claire’s quaint brogue. I very much enjoyed Claire and her spunky spirit. I appreciate the strong women that Kathleen Morgan creates in her books. Even the “soiled doves” are women of strength and character, caught in a demeaning profession and desiring to escape it. To survive in such a life naturally necessitates strength and tenacity and these characters depict exactly that.


The love story between Claire and Evan is lovely, filled with tension and romance as they struggle to make their marriage work in a world entirely foreign to Scottish Claire. Life on the dry and dusty Colorado prairie is very different from her lush Scottland hills, as is the food she must learn to cook and the cranky stove, old Bessie. Used to a cook fire and a kettle, learning to cook on the tempermental cook stove and for such a large contingent of hungry men, is intimidating in the very least. Claire’s pride is hurt and she fears she is letting her husband down when he decides to ask his former love to come and help Claire until she gets the hang of the American ways. With all these extra frustrations on her, Claire questions her faith and her decision to leave Scotland behind to follow this strong young man to America. Has she done right by her young brother? Will he ever find a place to fit in and feel like home?


This is another fabulous western story by Kathleen Morgan. The strong characters, fast pace, and memorable love story are all sure to entertain those who love historical fiction!