Woman’s World Book Club

Thanks to the breakaway success of Outlander— the dreamy Scotland-set drama starting its third season this week—everyone is having a Highland fling! And its breathtaking landscapes, romantic castles and mysterious legends (plus those handsome gents in kilts!) make Scotland the perfect backdrop for a good book! ✤ Curl up with a cozy mystery! Plaid and Plagiarism by Molly Macrae. On the eve of the Inversgail Literature Festival, four women pool their money and fulfill their dream of opening Yon Bonnie Books, a bookshop in the Highlands. But before they’ve even sorted the stacks, they happen upon a dead body: Local advice columnist Una Graham has been stabbed with a sickle. Can the bookworms succeed as amateur sleuths and get back to the business of bookselling? If you enjoy this read, the followup, Scones and Scoundrels, is out in January! Did you know? In Scotland, tartans—the plaid patterns found on kilts—are passed down through clans and shared by people in the same region. Traditionally, red tartans were associated with battle, yellow with agriculture, blue with lakes and green with forests! ✤ Start a heartwarming romance series! To Scotland with Love by Patience Griffin. In Book 1 of the Kilts and Quilts series, former journalist Caitriona Macleod flees a disastrous marriage in Chicago to return to her birthplace, the idyllic town of Gandiegow. All Cait wants to do is reconnect with her gran over some quilting and walk by the sea. But when a mysterious movie star hides out in town, her reporter’s instinct kicks in and she’s desperate to know his secrets.

✤ Read a hauntingly beautiful bestseller! The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley. Novelist Carrie Mclelland decides to set her latest book in 18th-century Scotland and rents a cottage in the shadow of Slains Castle to absorb the local lore. But when she discovers that the story she’s invented is historically accurate, she realizes she may be experiencing ancestral memory. Is she the only person alive who knows about a centuries-old betrayal?

✤ Be touched by this true love story! The Lady of the Lakes by Josi S. Kilpack. Famed Scottish poet Sir Walter Scott was captivated by Mina Stuart, a young woman high above his station. Can the hopeless romantic convince her that their passionate temperaments and love of literature make them a perfect match? Or will she spurn him for someone more suitable?