Billie's Kiss

It begins with a kiss. And a leap across cold, dark waters.

In the spring of 1903, the sheltered Billie Paxton, her older sister, and brother-in-law are sailing to their new home on a remote Scottish island. But just as the ship draws into port, there is an explosion. Many of the passengers and crew drown in the icy waters of the harbor. Young, pink-haired Billie is among the few survivors–clumsy, illiterate, and suddenly alone.

Brooding and resolute, Billie’s fellow passenger Murdo Hesketh has been robbed of many people he loved in life–and the ship’s explosion takes one more. He is determined to see the guilty parties brought to justice. Billie falls under immediate suspicion, by refusing to explain why, moments before the explosion, she leapt from ship to shore.

As she attempts to come to terms with an uncertain future, Billie acquaints herself with the eccentric inhabitants of Kiss Castle: the enigmatic Lord Hallowhume, who owns the island; his beautiful wife and worldly children; Geordie Betler, a spinsterish gentleman’s gentlemen; and the fierce, fair-haired Murdo Hesketh, who inspires in Billie equal amounts of rage and passion.

Beautifully written–and reminiscent of the work of Emily Brontë and Jane Austen–Billie’s Kiss is a darkly romantic tale of love and loss, mystery and tragedy.