Tag: Highlander

#BookReview: The Highlander’s Sword (Highlander #1) by Amanda Forester

4 Out of 5 Stars

A soon-to-be nun is forced to marry a Highlander to strengthen her father’s allies and find out who is trying to kill her family.

It was good and fill of tension, but the ending did not live up to the rest of the story.

An Author’s Romance #AAR Preview

Rushes of angry foreign words as the priest keeps glancing back at me and Jolene before turning his head back to the man who came to the door.

“Jessabel, I don’t like this.” Jolene called to me from the window.

I went across the room to her side, “What’s going on?” I looked out and had to grab the edge of a table to steady myself. “Shit. That’s a lynch mob.” My worst fear has come true.

“Jessa, it gets worse. Look who is leading it.” Jolene pointed to two figures on a brown and white horse. They turned just right so we could see the woman’s face, “Coira.”

“Double shit. I think she is still ticked about the other night and the marriage.” I turned to the priest, fell to my knees and begged for our lives. “Father, please grant us sanctuary. Please. I promise we are not what they think we are.”

He glared back at us, “I know exactly who you are, Witches! I carry the proof!” He held up the battered and stained diary he was just reading to us allowed. “You will get a trial by water, may God have mercy on your souls.”

The gruff man who knocked and a companion from the angry mob rushed forward with lengths of rope. They tied us up and dragged us outside. Jolene’s screams ring in my ears as we are thrown over horses, precariously balancing like teeter-totters, forced to hope we didn’t fall as the riders sped off at a full gallop. The crowd of people jeering and laughing all the way to the pond.

Find at: https://books.pronoun.com/an-authors-romance/?ebook_referrer=true

#BookReview: Highland Barbarian by Ruth Ryan Langan 4/5 Stars

Overview: Lowlander Meridith MacAlpin’s father has been murdered and making her the new Laird. Days after his funeral, she stands at the alter to be wed for the good of the clan. The accused murderer flies in killing her new husband and steals her away to his home in the Highlands. The more she struggles to get home, the more she is forced to see how the rumors of the “Highland Barbarian” are wrong. Even Mary, Queen of Scots, believes him to be a fair and honorable man. Meridith also learns the true nature of her dead husband’s family and their plot to kill her sisters and steal the family land. Though her heart belongs to her captor, she sneaks out in the dead of night and rides for home. With a minor detour she arrives safely just for a short rest before heading off for Edinburgh to speak with the Queen and settle all matters pertaining to her estate. Trouble follows her through the castle as she falls victim to one of Mary’s games, that sends Meridith home with a wound to her throat.

Opinion: The beginning is a little rough, but once you get into it, it is good. Sometimes it seems a bit heavy on the action, and sometimes there seems to be more that could have been done. It definitely keeps you on your toes and guessing about what is going to happen next. The few romantic sex scenes were short and a bit clumsy but that seems to be the biggest downfall.

Recommend: Yes

#BookReview: The MacKinnon’s Bride by Tanya Anne Crosby 5/5 StarsAnn

Overview: Iain MacKinnon is Laird of the MacKinnon clan and full of guilt. His mother died giving birth to him, and then on the day his son was born his wife declared that she would rather die than have him touch her again. Then promptly leaped out of the tower window on to the jagged rocks of the moor below. Page is the daughter of a noble Englishman, and plagued with more than guilt, self-loathing. From the first moment she can remember, her father hated her and made it well known. He would hit her and treated her no better than he did a servant. Making it easy for her to sneak out at night for a swim, where she is kidnapped by the MacKinnon’s in hopes of retrieving Iain’s own kidnapped six year old son. Offering to trade the daughter for his son, Iain confronted Fitzsiomon, but soon learned he did not care what happened to Page. Threatening the life of the King, her father quickly handed the boy over and exclaiming he would kill his daughter if Iain brought her back. Not wanting to sacrifice her to that fate, or tell her what her father said, Iain told Page he was stealing her and taking her home with him. A long ride home, the two fought their own demons and growing love for each other. Both silently saying one could not love the other because of their pasts, not knowing the man who kidnapped the little boy was in their traveling group. Once home, passion ensues and all seems well for a few days, then everything explodes. Glenna, the midwife, locks herself in her home refusing to see anyone. Fitzsiomon comes to take his daughter back, bringing the Scottish King along to quell any trouble and the original kidnapper is revealed in a plot to kill both Page and the young boy.

Opinion: Loved it. The characters were so painfully real, that they almost seemed like satirical caricatures of real emotions. I laughed, I cried, became angry and frustrated. It is not often that one can find themselves so attuned to a character in a book, but for inexplicable reasons, I have found myself in this book and have no words for how much I love this book. Full of action and danger, it is not just a romance novel it is a thrill ride.

Recommend: Yes