Visiting family is Scotland sees the hero transported back in time via a gateway. There, he saves a young girl from 3 attackers who mean to rape her, injuring them severely but receiving a bad knock o the head in the process. He wakes up to see literally the woman of his dreams standing before him. For 3 years, he's dreamt about the beautiful heroine, tormented by the vision of them entwined with each others arms and knowing there's no possible way she could be real. But here she was, vibrant in life and more stunning then he could have ever imagined. But he doesn't belong in this time and place and his time with her is short and ticking away. So, he tries his best to deny himself the pleasure she offers. The heroine has dreamt of the hero just as passionately and to have him here finally yet find he's still so very far away is slowly tearing her up inside. She turns down a suitor, the heir to the lairdship and a man who could make her content in life for the possibility of love, however fleeting. The hero tries to stay away. He divides his time training with the other man and spending time with the heroine, exchanging valuable medical knowledge, but both tasks are down half heartedly. He really is just biding his time until fate sends him back to the future. Then the heroine suffers a loss of a friend and in her grief, the hero sees the error of his ways. It's selfish of him not to use his medical training to help those in need just because he's lost his passion for healing. From that moment on her devotes his entire effort into everything he does and becomes passionate about his trade again, getting himself out of the slump he put himself in. And he finally succumbs to the love he feels for the heroine and they become lovers. But even if he wanted to stay with her to make her his wife, he knows fate is coming for him to take him away. So, he knows he must give her up, to make their parting easier. He allows himself to be beaten by her other suitor and friend to save her the embarrassment of having sex out of wedlock and he distances himself from the temptation. But he's a fool to imagine he could ever willingly let her go and even if it kills him, he refuses to go without a fight. I thought this book started out slow but it certainly picked up steam. I was a little confused as to why a surgeon had training with swords and had enough skill to fight with the man in the fields but it made him more interesting as a character. That dynamic of being a lost dispassionate healer, doubting himself and letting fears rule him as well as a warrior and a man willing to learn from his mistakes and make strives to better himself. The forbidden love affair between them, made forbidden not because of social culture but instead about fate and powers that have taken control of the hero's options and backed him into a corner, was real and passionate. I loved the give and take of the two healers coming together and learning from on another and at the same time battling their desires before succumbing to something deeper than fate can withhold. It was a nice book and an interesting book with developed characters and a thought out plot with a lot of heart. I really enjoyed this book as it's much more than a typical chessy time travel romance. ( )