The Winter Sea by Susanne Kearsley.
The first half of the 18th century in England was a tense political time. The last of the Stuarts, Queen Anne, was on the throne, but with no direct heirs, the crown would pass to the Hanover's of Germany. England and Scotland had been united in 1707, but much tension and dissent remained.
How the Scots Invented the Modern World by Arthur Herman and The Scottish Nation: 1700- by T. M. Devine.