This HaBO is from Kathrin, who wants to find this historical romance:
Please can you help me! The book might have been a Harlequin historical romance. I read it a good 20 years ago.
The heroine is in the modern day and travels to Scotland to a castle, which has a portrait of an unknown woman. She somehow travels back in time, where she’s discovered by the hero who thinks she’s a spy (?). He takes her back to the castle and puts her in the oubliette (this I remember distinctly), but he feels bad and gets her out in the middle of the night. They stay together and she doesn’t go back to the present day.
The epilogue is a modern day tour of the castle and the guide then explains who the woman is as this is now known. It’s the heroine.
Can we HaBO?
I’m getting Lynn Kurland vibes from this. I haven’t read any of hers in at least 15 years but I vaguely remember the de Piaget family series. I believe there were many books in the series. Maybe one of them is your book. Good luck.
Could it be either of these?
Sword of the Highlands by Veronica Wolff
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2581194-sword-of-the-highlands#other_reviews
Time Kept Promises by Constance O’Day Flannery https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1892750.Time_Kept_Promises#other_reviews
I thought Lynn Kurland too – possibly a Dance Through Time? I remember picking up one of the Macleod series (which overlaps with the de Piaget family ones) called My Heart Stood Still. I was so confused at first because I hadn’t realised it involved time travel and there were medieval secondary characters who were popping up all over the place, some as ghosts wearing Micky Mouse ears! But I also remember enjoying them all. They were gentle fun!
A Dance through Time by Lynn Kurland has the oubliette and was written at the right time, but he calls her a witch not a spy.
Amazon has chapters 1 and 2 posted as the description: https://www.amazon.com/Dance-Through-Time-MacLeod-Book-ebook/dp/B00AFWP77O/ref=sr_1_1?crid=M5UJ58Y3798S&keywords=a+dance+through+time&qid=1695143012&s=digital-text&sprefix=a+dance+through+%2Cdigital-text%2C163&sr=1-1
Son of the morning by Linda Howard I think. I haven’t read it for many years. I think the time frame would be right too.
Am I the only one wondering what an “oubliette” is? And now that I’ve looked it up – yikes! I’m hoping someone solves this!