Betrayed by her new husband, lovely Scottish bride Iolanthe MacLeod dies by the sword in the fall of 1382 in a landlocked keep on the English moors, far from the sea she loves. Doomed to haunt the castle, little does she know that it will be nearly seven hundred years before the man of her dreams will come to rescue her. When Thomas MacLeod MacKinnon appears in 2001, Iolanthe isn't quite prepared to deal with her feelings for this modern man. And Thomas, although he grows accustomed to seeing and talking to ghosts in the castle, is stunned to realize that he's fallen in love with one of them.

Beautiful and desirable though Iolanthe is, he can't hold a spirit in his arms. Thomas has to find a way to go back in time and prevent her death--and he knows just how to accomplish the feat. Now if only saving the young Scotswoman's life proves to be as easy--and if he can rescue her, he'll be faced with having to convince Iolanthe that she loves him in another time and place. No medieval knight in shining armor ever had a quest quite this tough.

My Heart Stood Still is a tale that's absorbing, adventurous, and downright delightful. Kurland deftly juggles a cast of ghostly secondary characters with wonderful humor and a dry wit that makes for hilarious moments without losing the warmth and emotion of a compelling love story. All in all, an excellent novel. --Lois Faye Dyer


From Booklist
After an Englishman murders her in his castle in 1382, Iolanthe MacLeod gives up her dreams of a man coming to rescue her and spends the next 600 years haunting the place where she was killed. However, when American businessman Thomas McKinnon arrives to see the castle he has purchased in 2001, Iolanthe recognizes him as the man of her dreams. At first all Thomas wants to do is restore his crumbling old castle, but he soon finds himself falling in love with a ghost. Now all he has to do is find a way for Iolanthe to become a permanent part of his world. Written with poetic grace and a wickedly subtle sense of humor, Kurland's latest paranormal is the essence of pure romance. Sweet, poignant, and truly magical, this is a rare treat: a romance with characters readers will come to care about and a love story they will cherish. John Charles
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FROM OUR EDITORS

Lynn Kurland has created a hauntingly lovely, delightfully spirited ghostly romance. For 500 years, Iolanthe MacLeod has been known as Herself, The MacLeod, leader of the clan of ghosts that haunts a ruined Border castle. In life, Iolanthe had been sold by her father to a foul Englishman who killed her when she would not betray her family's secrets. Before her death, no man had touched her; afterward, none even knew her name￯﾿ﾽand her dreams of love died with her. But now the castle she bought with her death is in the hands of an upstart colonial who intends to restore it, destroying what little peace Iolanthe and her loyal band of ghostly warriors know. The castle's new owner, Thomas McKinnon, loves nothing better than a challenge. The handsome American has already earned two degrees, made more than one fortune, and tested himself against Mt. Everest. He fully believes himself to be capable of renovating the ancient castle that is his latest enthusiasm. Even his recent visions of a ghostly Scotsman in Mickey Mouse ears have done little to shake his confidence. But he's about to meet his match in a lady ghost whose claim to his castle, and to his heart, he finds impossible to ignore....

FROM THE PUBLISHER