The Stolen Hours

‘A dramatic start to a gripping new series . . . meticulously researched and beautifully told by one of our most prolific and talented writers’ - Santa Montefiore on The Last Summer A reluctant bride. A forbidden romance. An island full of secrets . . .It’s the summer of 1929 and Mhairi MacKinnon is in need of a husband. As the eldest girl among nine children, her father has made it clear he can’t support her past the coming winter. On the small, Scottish island of St Kilda, her options are limited. But the MacKinnons’ neighbour, Donald, has a business acquaintance on distant Harris also in need of a spouse. A plan is hatched for Donald to chaperone Mhairi and make the introduction on his final crossing of the year, before the autumn seas close them off to the outside world. Mhairi returns as an engaged woman who has lost her heart – but not to her fiancé. In love with the wrong man yet knowing he can never be hers, she awaits the spring with growing dread, for the onset of calm waters will see her sent from home to become a stranger’s wife. . .When word comes that St Kilda is to be evacuated, the lovers are granted a few months’ reprieve, but will a summer of stolen hours together just lead to more heartbreak . . . ?The Stolen Hours is Book Two in Karen Swan's bestselling Wild Isle Series. Praise for The Last Summer (Book One):'Powerful writing and a wonderful premise make this a novel you’ll simultaneously want to savour and race through. I loved it and can’t wait for the next in the series!' - Jill Mansell, author of Promise Me 'The most exciting, enchanting and evocative story of forbidden love I’ve ever read. I truly loved it and am waiting feverishly for the second installment.' - Cathy Bramley, author of The Sunrise Sisterhood

This sweeping love story gripped us from the start, so we can’t wait for the next in the series. Best historical romance of 2022, A dramatic start to a gripping new series set on the Scottish island of St Kilda. The Last Summer is meticulously researched and beautifully told by one of our most prolific and talented writers. It contains all the ingredients of a wonderfully satisfying read: love, passion, drama, violence, menace and peril, and characters you fall in love with - and some you hate! Happily, this is the start of a series so your longing for more will be fulfilled., I so enjoyed The Last Summer by Karen Swan, which provides fascinating details about life on St Kilda prior to the evacuation of its inhabitants from the island. Powerful writing and a wonderful premise make this a novel you’ll simultaneously want to savour and race through. I loved it and can’t wait for the next in the series!, The most exciting, enchanting and evocative story of forbidden love I’ve ever read. I truly loved it and am waiting feverishly for the second instalment, A delicious romantic tale of wild 1930s Scotland . . . perfect for everyone dreaming of summer

Karen Swan is the Sunday Times top three bestselling author of twenty-six books and her novels sellall over the world. She writes two books each year which are published in the summer and at Christmas. Previous summer titles include The Spanish Promise, The Hidden Beach and The Secret Path and, for winter, Together by Christmas, Midnight in the Snow and The Christmas Postcards.She lives in Sussex with her husband, three children and two dogs.The Stolen Hours is the second book in the historical Wild Isle series, based on the dramatic evacuation of Scottish island St Kilda in the summer of 1930.