Besieged, set in 1630's Ulster area of Ireland, is the first of Small's Skye O'Malley series I have read which is a matrilineal historical romance series. It tells the romantic story of Skye's granddaughter Fortune Lindley and Kieran Devers, she a Protestant and he a Catholic, in a very intolerant world. They are faced with the classic “A fish could marry a bird, but where would they live?"

While Small does a fairly good job of portraying the conflict between the local Irish Catholics and their new Protestant landlords, Fortune's family is painted as the only tolerant Protestants in the book. The noble Irish under the cruel Protestant yoke makes the story a bit one sided. Kieran's brother William is a nasty, obsessive villain as is his stepmother, Lady Jane Devers, who marries a poor Irish lord for his land and covets Fortune's large estate.

It is in romance where Small excels and Fortune and Kieran are inspiring lovers. Their passion and devotion are well-portrayed. Her sex scenes are excellent examples of women's erotica, although they are less prominent in this book than they are in works like Love Slave.