Thief, by Linda Windsor, Brides of Alba Series

This is book number two that I ordered and have been waiting for!  I read book number one, Healer, a while ago and I  really loved it.  So I went to The Treasure House and ordered numbers two and three.  Three became available first and I just couldn't wait so I read it before I read number two.  And now, Book number Two, Thief has come in.  I picked it up at the bookstore and have been avidly reading ever since. 

In Thief, outcast Caden is living in a hell on earth.  He doesn't see a way past his personal pain but finally the priest tells him that they way out would be to focus on helping someone else.  After almost dying and being nursed back to health, he agrees to set out and find the long lost daughter of the woman who nursed him.
Sorcha, is just trying to get buy.  The money lender is after her, she is betrothed to a man twice her age and her future step-son is lusting after her.  Can it get any worse?  Yes, apparently, because soon she is in even more trouble than she was. 
Throw in a plot against her fiance, a dead woman come back to life and a bunch of orphans in need of rescue and you have a novel that will keep you awake at nights reading just "one more page". 

This was well written and I have said more than once that Linda Windsor is in my list of favourite authors.  And I think what I really love is the reason she knows so much about this particular time period.  She wrote a small personal testimony in one of her books about how she reached out to her daughter through this historical search and they connected on their love of history.  She was able to woo her daughter back to Christ. 

I will be looking for more of Linda Windsor in the future!  Of course I recommend this book!

Rebel, by Linda Windsor

This is the third in the 'Brides of Alba' series.  I have read one and three so I'm pretty confident when I say that they can be stand alone's.  I read number one, having downloaded it (from Amazon for free) to my kindle and enjoyed it so much that I went to my local Christian bookstore and sought out one and two.  They didn't have number two so I went ahead and bought number three.  And I wasn't disappointed.  I will likely buy number two very soon!

In this series finale, we find Alyn, a "disallusioned, somewhat hopeless, non-priest, not quite scientist"~ man who just wants to go home.  It's about 6 AD and, sadly, Alyn arrives to find Merlin has died and Arthur is now accepting counsel from Cassian, a druid who seems to have his own best interests at heart, rather than what is best for his country.  Alyn also finds Kella, a scribe, a girl he grew up with who is no longer a girl but a feisty young woman who still doesn't listen to him.  She is as frustrating as she is beautiful.  Together the two must carry out orders from the queen.  Kella's heart is breaking.  Having found out her fiance is dead and her father is missing, the secret she harbours near bursts from her mouth the minute she first sets eyes on Alyn, the boy she loved as a youth.  She places her hope in him, hoping Alyn will help her find her loved ones. 

I love this series.  Linda Windsor's writing is terrific.  She kept me hooked the entire book through.  Her descriptions are complete while not being overly wordy.  I like that she has really done her research and even offers hints and tips at the end if you'd like to read more about that time period. 
Because I have read parts of two series now, I did see some reference from one to the other which I thought was intriguing.  I will definitely track down the ones I am missing.  Highly recommend!