‘Days of Gold’ by Jude Deveraux

  Writing a prequel to a previous novel can be tricky sometimes.
  In “Lavender Morning,” author Jude Deveraux introduced her readers to the quaint Virginia town of Edilean and the people who lived there. In her latest book, “Days of Gold," the prequel to “Lavender Morning,” Deveraux takes her readers back in time to tell the story of the people who founded Edilean and their adventurous journey to America.
  Angus McTern was the laird of his clan in Scotland, but he did not own the land for which his family worked so hard. That had been lost long ago by his grandfather, and Angus now works for the besotted Englishman who owns all that once had been the McTern’s. Angus is content to care for his people and his former homeland until a beautiful English lady swoops into his life and turns all he once knew upside down.
  Soon to be 18, Edilean Talbot had been brought to Scotland by her uncle to marry one of his boozy and lecherous cronies so he could control her inheritance. Desperate to escape her crazed uncle’s home, she turns to the one man everyone looks up to, Angus McTern, and begs him to help her escape. A plan is hatched, and in a whirl of events involving deceit, kidnapping, theft and a false marriage or two, Angus and Edilean soon find themselves aboard a ship headed to America and a new life.
  But life in the Colonies is not as sweet as the couple had hoped, and Angus is forced to leave Edilean in capable hands as he seeks to clear his name and make a place for himself in the new world. But his thoughts never stray far from the English beauty who captured his heart, and Angus knows that eventually he and Edilean will be together and able to make their dreams of a peaceful home in a quiet town a reality. He just didn’t realize how much bloodshed and anguish they and their new country would have to go through to get there.
  Well-known for her lavish romances, Jude Deveraux once again spins a beautiful tale of love and adventure with a dollop of American history in “Days of Gold.” Although I would highly suggest it, the reader doesn’t need to have read the first novel in order to enjoy the feisty fun found in the story of Edilean and Angus.