A revenge story with a twist. I'm usually not a huge fan of paranormal happenings in my novels, and I wasn't sure how they would impact the story. However, one scene involving the heroine Margaret, her unique ability, and another character brought tears to my eyes. I've read a few stories with border reivers in them; what a hard life it was for many. The hero, Angus was my favorite. He was intelligent, compassionate, and good thing for Margaret, he was a "sticky fly". Hamish the dog was pretty great, too. After everything that happened, realizing that vengeance can be a hollow victory at best, and the destruction of one's soul and life at worst, is thought-provoking indeed. This book is well-written and well-edited. Julie Daines is a gifted writer.

"From Ash and Stone" is a romance set in 1543 along the border of England and Scotland during the border wars. Margaret's family died in one of the raids common at that time, and she's left with the curse that every time she touches her bare skin to someone else's bare skin, she knows their thoughts but she's left with a bad headache. She wears gloves and avoids human touch, which has left her lonely and miserable. She decides to use the curse to discover who killed her family in the hopes that killing their murderer will lift the curse. And if she dies, at least she will be with her family again.

Two kind and caring neighbors, Angus Robson and his brother, help her with things like food and their watchful protection. She rejects their help and asks them to leave her alone, but their continued kindnesses slowly work on her heart. She cannot marry with her curse, so she's even more determined to get her revenge. Yet Angus repeatedly tries to stop her in order to save her life.

The characters were complex and likable, and I cared about what happened to them. The story was interesting and showed what life was like in the area at the time. The romance develops slowly. The two challenged each other to become better people and find healing from past hurts. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this novel.

Great story, set in the time of Henry VIII, Margaret Grey is the only survivor of a reiver raid on her home in the Border Marches. Her whole family was killed by fire and she was only saved because she had stolen away to meet a boy.

She was accosted by the leader of the revivers, he stuck her, and she fell against the standing stones and hit her head, now she cannot touch anyone skin to skin, as she can read their minds.

This and the tragic deaths of her family have cursed her, she doesn’t let herself get close to anyone. She escaped to London and has lived on the streets and then in a convent, biding her time and nursing thoughts of revenge. She has come to seek out this man, and to kill him, whatever the cost. She is content to die in the attempt.

On her way to the pele tower at Hartfell, that is all that is left of her family home, she is accosted by 3 reivers from the Hall clan, they are threatening her, when she is rescued by Angus Robson, second son of the Earl of Linkirk, and his mute younger brother. He asks her name and business, but she refuses to answer, and makes her way to the tower. He follows her, and she rebuffs him again, but he leaves her with his dog Hamish for protection, and some provisions, when she refuses his hospitality at his home. Angus and his family live in the Scottish Borders.

Margaret stars to make the tower habitable and slowly ventures to town to try and ask people for the identity of the revivers who torched her home. Anugus and his brother continue to help and look out for Margaret, even though she constantly says she does not want any friends, by bringing her furniture and food. Eventually she discovers that the English Warden, William Dacre, who is pledged to protect the people is the leader of the reviews she seeks. She starts to plot his downfall.

Margaret is badly injured when she rescues a young girl called Osanna from a group of young boys, she becomes delirious and Angus takes her to his home to heal. She becomes closer to Angus against her will, and returns to the tower, to put some distance between them and get back to her quest. She attempts to kill the warden, firstly to poison him, and then to shoot him, and is foiled both times by Angus.

Eventually the warden realises who she is and captures her and Osanna, Angus and his family raid the wardens keep to rescue her and Osanna, and they take them to the Scottish estate. When there Margaret realises her visions have stopped, and she relinquishes her desire for revenge, they finally confess their love for each other and get their HEA.

This was really well done, I loved Margaret’s independence and competence, I also loved how Angus did not try and dominate her, but supported her, and shielded her from folly when necessary. He was also able to be flexible and grow and adapt, as was she. The conflict and adventure in the story was very well handled, and kept me invested throughout, the paranormal element of her ability was handled well, and kept believable, and I enjoyed the secondary characters of Gillis and Osanna and Hamlisch the dof too. Recommended.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Also posted on goodreads

Lady Margaret Grey's family was killed by reivers, who looted and burned her family's home. Although Margaret escaped, one of the reivers smashed her head into a rock, in a special stone circle, and ever since, whenever Margaret touches someone, she can sense his or her thoughts. For six years, Margaret has kept apart from others, not touching anyone, and has managed to survive on the streets of London. Now, though, she is ready to seek revenge on those who killed her family and heads home to the borderlands. She hopes that is she can find the killer and kill him in return, she will be able to break her curse and finally be free from knowing others' thoughts. She is counting on running into a Scotsman, Angus Robson, who makes a nuisance of himself by constantly turning up at her home, bringing her food and thwarting her plans--both her plans to seek revenge and to keep the wall around her heart intact.

This book hooked me from the very beginning. I love Margaret; her need for revenge and the wall around her heart are so realistically portrayed. I also loved seeing the cracks in her wall and how she couldn't help but care about certain people. I also loved Angus; I loved seeing how determined he was to help Margaret even when she didn't want him to, and he also made me laugh. The setting was so interesting; I'd never heard of reiving before and appreciated learning more about that period of English/Scottish history. The plot was quick and moved along well. Really enjoyable!

I read an ARC via #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I have really enjoyed Julie Daines previous books so I was utterly delighted to read her newest one but it just didn"t measure up to her previous books. I found the story line predictable and dull, the main characters were not very engaging, I got annoyed how everyone went on and on how gorgeous the heroine was and yet she somehow survived on the streets of London unharmed? The romance didn't have much spark and I did not like the witch craft that was talked about, consulting the bones.etc. After some outstanding works this was a big disappointment.

This was a history/paranormal romance story. Takes place in Tudor England and Scotland on the border in the lawless borderlands. This is not a very believable story and it was hard for me to get into, especially the more I read. It started out great but then grew flatter as things just became more unbelievable. The idea that a lone girl at the age of 15 or 16 could leave her home and go to London of all places and live on the streets for 6 years unharmed is crazy. She had no friends and no protector. She also is not as skilled as she thinks she is, I can't tell you how many times in the book she was disarmed, hurt and bested by all the people she fought. The whole idea tho was great. The story line and characters were good but not fleshed out enough. I wanted so much more from this story!
I would let my teen read this. A little talk of violence and a couple kisses. a death. Her goal is to get revenge.

Set during the time of King Henry VIII, Margaret (Meg) Grey is set on revenge. Her family has died at the hands of Border Reivers, who were known to raid and steal from properties along the borders of Scotland and England. She finds herself alone, with only her dark memories of the events. Her plan is to kill the man responsible for the death of her family, and only then, will she find peace. I found this story particularly interesting, as I had little knowledge of the historical events of the time, and the detail provided, is well described and made for a fascinating read. Combined with this, is the fantasy component, which didn’t overshadow the romance between Margaret and Angus, nor the historical events.
The characters are well defined, and I particularly enjoyed the characters of Angus (who could not fall in love with him) and his brother, Gillis. Angus is such a solid character and a perfect fit for the headstrong, Meg. The story and its characters had me engrossed and the style of writing, made this an easy read.
I received an advanced review copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was a nice, easy read! It was very enjoyable, though a little predictable. I liked the characters (Margaret was a little annoying, but Gillis and Angus more than made up for that) and enjoyed the backdrop for the story.
I am usually put off by books that have any mention of a 'handsome Scotsman' because they make me cringe too much. I was a little apprehensive that this would be the typical 'overly romanticised, kilt wearing, highland warrior type that runs around in the heather' type of garbage that makes me want to sink into the ground. Thankfully, there was very little of that and I was able to enjoy the read without cringing. It was a little over romanticised (and names like Angus and Hamish didn't really help - I'm surprised their surname was Robson and not McRobson in all honesty), but it is a romance novel so I guess it's to be expected. But yeah, this was a very enjoyable read, even though the overall story was fairly predictable. I appreciated the wee revelations and character development throughout the relatively short story and thought it was well written!