Haunted by a past and haunted by not having a past…

Synopsis

His past is forgotten…
Can his mysterious healer unlock his future?

When Royce wakes with no memories and suddenly blind, his situation seems dire. The only thing he remembers is being attacked by shadowy figures…but not the beautiful woman who came to his rescue. Now Iona MacKenzie’s every touch drives Royce wild. But when news of a manhunt for him reaches them, Royce must uncover his past if he has any chance of saving himself—and the woman he’s falling for…

My review

Iona MacKenzie is living rather secluded on the little island of Lismore. People are wary of her, claiming her even of being a witch, yet they do not hesitate to ask for her help as a healer when needed.
When one night she sees men picking over what appears to be dead body, Iona doesn’t hesitate to chase those thieves away. And to her utterly shock, she realizes that the man left behind isn’t dead at all.
She nurses him until he gains back his conscious, only for the both of them to realize that the man has lost his sight and his memory. He only remembers being attacked and that perhaps his name may be Royce…
With Iona by his side, Royce tries to remember anything about his life, especially when there now appears to be a manhunt for him. It’s a race against the clock to not only uncover his past and saving himself, but also the woman who stands by his side in the darkest moments… 

The blurb of this story intrigued me immediately. One of the main characters not only losing his sight but also his memory, it for sure seems a recipe for an exciting reading session for me! 

As a reader, and also as the title says it, Royce is a laird. He is determined to discover the truth about what happened to his younger sister Violet twenty years ago. (Don’t worry, this isn’t a spoiler, as this is told in the prologue!).
Obviously, it didn’t come as a total surprise that his quest didn’t go as planned, as Royce ends up on the Lismore shore, left behind for dead. 

I can only try to imagine the terror of waking up and realize that your sight is lost. To make things even worse, not even remembering who you are or what you are doing.
Even if I haven’t been in either of those situations myself, I can somehow understand the frustration and the anger of feeling helpless. 

Luckily for our Laird, Iona comes to the rescue. From her behaviour I could see why the people around her would call her a witch, but it was also rather unfair. Just because someone is living secluded, hiding, is a healer and is tormented by her past, doesn’t mean that she is a witch. It was also rather mean, as they avoid her as much as she avoids them, but when they need her healing expertise, they ask her for help… 

Yet how can you not like Iona? She not only rescues Royce from the men in first instance, she also does whatever she can to bring him back to health. And even later on, once he regained consciousness, she keeps on helping him out.
Iona is the kind of character that does good not because of an ulterior motive, but because she is good herself. And even when she doesn’t know what to do, she listens to the voice in her head/heart, directing her to do always right… 

Both Iona and Royce have their own baggage, Iona with a past that scarred and scared her, and Royce a past that he doesn’t know.
Yet it found it utterly sweet to see how these two somehow haunted characters found each other in a dark moment.
With Royce not knowing his past, the bond between Iona and him is a genuine one. and him not seeing, makes it easier for Iona to open up. 

I truly liked seeing Iona and Royce together, with Iona trying to help out Royce, with making him feel useful in her house, and Royce adamant on not being only a burden to Iona.
And while neither of them truly know Royce’s background, I admired Ioan’s protectiveness towards this complete stranger in her house, while there are people on a manhunt for him. 

There are so many sweet moments in this book too, intentional or not. Iona and Royce getting closer was absolutely one of them, but also Jack’s antics for sure gave me a few ‘aaaw’ moments! 

I have to admit though, the reason for Royce being on his search, did ring a bell in my mind somewhere. But it took me a while to link all the clues together, only to be over the moon when I realized that I have actually read already what happened to Royce’s sister! 😊 

But what I loved the most in this story was that the author perfectly wrote down how the heart can make you see what is standing right in front of you, even when your eyes won’t cooperate. And that helping someone is always the right thing to do, as you’ll never know who you are helping, or how in the end it will also be helping you!
Kindness and love never go unrewarded, and this book for sure showed that!