TheWell Bookshop

Series · historical romance

The MacLean Curse

by Karen Hawkins

The MacLean Curse series by Karen Hawkins has 6 known books (6 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with How to Abduct a Highland Lord (2007).

Books
6 known books (6 novels)
Published
6
First published
2007
Status
completed
Last checked

Start here: How to Abduct a Highland Lord (2007) — then read straight through in publication order.

Book one

Cover of How to Abduct a Highland Lord

How to Abduct a Highland Lord (2007)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. How to Abduct a Highland Lord

    Novel

    The MacLean Curse begins with How to Abduct a Highland Lord, published in 2007, the first of the series to be followed by To Scotland, With Love. It launches Karen Hawkins's premise that no MacLean can find happiness in love until fate forces the match, following the first of the cursed clan's siblings and cousins.

    View book

  2. To Scotland, With Love

    Novel

    To Scotland, With Love is the second book in The MacLean Curse, published in 2007 at 384 pages, continuing the family curse premise as another MacLean sibling fights -- and eventually succumbs to -- the pull toward an unlikely match.

    View book

  3. To Catch a Highlander

    Novel

    At 385 pages, To Catch a Highlander was published in 2008, the third book in The MacLean Curse, following another cursed MacLean cousin toward the match fate has apparently already chosen for them.

    View book

  4. Sleepless in Scotland

    Novel

    Between To Catch a Highlander and The Laird Who Loved Me, The MacLean Curse continued in 2009 with Sleepless in Scotland, keeping to Karen Hawkins's premise of a generations-old curse that only fate can break.

    View book

  5. The Laird Who Loved Me

    Novel

    Between Sleepless in Scotland and Much Ado About Marriage, The MacLean Curse continued in 2009 with The Laird Who Loved Me, the fifth of the interconnected Highland romances following the cursed MacLean clan.

    View book

  6. Much Ado About Marriage

    Novel

    Much Ado About Marriage (2010) is the longest book in The MacLean Curse by page count at 400 pages, and though published last, it is the prequel explaining the curse's origin -- best read to understand how the family's fate began.

    View book

About The MacLean Curse

The MacLean Curse follows the Scottish MacLean clan, cursed generations earlier so that no MacLean can find happiness in love until fate forces the match -- a premise Karen Hawkins uses to power five interconnected Highland romances plus a prequel. How to Abduct a Highland Lord (2007) and To Scotland, With Love (2007) launch the series, followed by To Catch a Highlander (2008), Sleepless in Scotland (2009) and The Laird Who Loved Me (2009) as successive MacLean siblings and cousins each get their turn fighting -- and eventually succumbing to -- the family curse. Much Ado About Marriage (2010) closes the series as a prequel explaining how the curse began, also doubling as book zero of Hawkins' companion Hurst Amulet series, since the amulet at that series' center is the object the curse becomes entangled with.

Much Ado About Marriage began life as Hawkins' actual first written manuscript, published in 2000 under the pseudonym Kim Bennett as One Lucky Lord for Love Spell's Wink and a Kiss line; Hawkins revised and re-released it in 2010 to explicitly tie the MacLean Curse's origins into the newer Hurst Amulet series.

Frequently asked questions

How many books are in The MacLean Curse series?

Six: How to Abduct a Highland Lord (2007), To Scotland, With Love (2007), To Catch a Highlander (2008), Sleepless in Scotland (2009), The Laird Who Loved Me (2009), and the prequel Much Ado About Marriage (2010).

What is the MacLean curse?

A generations-old curse on the Scottish MacLean clan preventing any MacLean from finding happiness in love until fate itself intervenes -- the premise driving each book's central romance.

Is Much Ado About Marriage really a rewrite of an earlier book?

Yes -- it began as Karen Hawkins' first manuscript, published in 2000 under the pseudonym Kim Bennett as One Lucky Lord, before she revised and re-released it in 2010 as the MacLean Curse prequel.

Is The MacLean Curse connected to Hawkins' Hurst Amulet series?

Yes -- Much Ado About Marriage, the MacLean Curse prequel, also serves as book zero of the Hurst Amulet series, since the amulet central to that series becomes entangled with the MacLean curse's origin.

Is a seventh MacLean Curse book planned?

None has been announced as of August 2026; the series appears complete.

Reading order last verified .