The back blurb for this book is somewhat misleading. First off it’s not a medieval Highlander romance but more of regency kind of historical with HighThe back blurb for this book is somewhat misleading. First off it’s not a medieval Highlander romance but more of regency kind of historical with Highlanders. You’re not really told either way in the book summary but I felt that the tone leant more to the medieval side than the regency side so this was a little confusing to set the story at the beginning. Apart from that, yes you’ve got your sexy, dangerous Highlander who abducts the proper, duty bound English bride of his arch nemesis from a rival clan but what you don’t really have is the sharp-tongued English bride described. You’re led to believe that a lot of sparks are going to fly between these two because she’s supposed to be Miss Lippy and he’s supposed to be a take-no-crap alpha. Well the sparks are more like hand-held firecrackers that sputter and die more times than not so if you’re expecting a tug of war love/hate theme you won’t be getting that here. That said, it’s relatively well-written for the most part.
To save her family from ruin Emma has to marry the octogenarian laird/earl of the Hepburn clan. He’s an icky geezer and she’s a pretty young thing. While at the wedding service Jamie Sinclair from the hated Sinclair clan storms the abbey and kidnaps the bride. He keeps her in the highlands until his ransom is met. As time goes by the attraction starts to build and slowly they realize that they want to be with each other but Jamie has some nasty old ghosts plaguing him so it’s mighty hard to forget that and decide to live the HEA with Emma. While they’re dancing the “get to know you” jig, the earl is planning his revenge and he’s a slippery old goat that one with more than a few surprises in store for them .
For nearly half of the book the story moves along well, building some good sexual tension between the h/h, but once you hit that halfway marker it's very predictable and follows the same ol’ same ol’ pattern that all the other kidnapper/hostage romances seem to do. What keeps the story interesting is the mystery behind how Jamie’s parents died. That was good and quite moving at times. There are some parts that are funny and some that are a little sad or they tug at the heart strings but it’s never quite enough, only touching on something that could’ve been developed just a bit more to be really good. Sometimes the writing is a long on the narration but it’s more of a show than tell style which saved it from feeling endless. The steam scenes are very well-done with just enough description to make you catch your breath a time or two and the build-up to them will also have you sighing. Jamie is a fabulous whisperer ;) The epilogue was good in that it came full-circle and repeated the start to the book. It’ll no doubt put a big smile on your face especially the old bitties and their blow like the wind chattering.
Out of the two main characters I really liked Jamie. He’s a slow, sizzle and burn kind of hero who goes after what he wants most of the time and doesn’t let things stand in his way. There’s the odd wavering but he quickly gets back on the straight and narrow and takes matters into his own hands. As for the heroine, she has her moments but I’d have liked to have seen more independence or fighting the attraction she had for Jamie a little longer.
So the story has some good parts and if you haven’t read a lot of romances you may really like it, but if you have read “a few” you’ll likely have that tired “seen it all before” feel making this just an ok+ read. ...more
This book had sooooo much potential : strong, brooding, emotionally unavailable Highlander; smart, feisty, go-getter heroine, too bad it’s bogged downThis book had sooooo much potential : strong, brooding, emotionally unavailable Highlander; smart, feisty, go-getter heroine, too bad it’s bogged down in mind numbing narration and filler which totally kills the story :-/
Marketed as a love/hate theme, this doesn't last long and suddenly the h/h, Cole and Ellenor, become friends and then some. That’s disappointing because the chase/build-up is dead in the water fast. Cole says he can’t have anything to do with Elle for various reasons from his past but he doesn’t really do anything to stay away and she’s very available to him. She’s also too clingy from the start –not quite the love/hate described on the back blurb. So plodding along through the book I guess you could excuse that part as the love story develops, unfortunately though there’s so much additional crap that you forget where this love story actually is because the author has taken to focusing on him maybe becoming laird, his enemies, rebuilding the new clan castle blah blah blah. Nobody cares, where’s the story about the relationship between the two people????
Another big problem is the alpha hero who’s unsure of himself to the point where it’s the heroine who has to take charge and tell him that he’s the man for the job – a kind of “Little Engine that Could” encouragement. I like my heroes who know what they want and go and get it without pussy-footing around in uncertainty. It takes away from their “alphaness”. That’s a personal preference of course and many readers may enjoy a heroine who’s stronger than the hero but not me. He’s not a beta or anything but he’s not the kind of alpha he’s described as being.
There are too many pages of dense narration which reminded me of Monica McCarty’s novels. If you like that kind of writing you’ll likely enjoy this book. I don’t like books that tell a story instead of showing it to you. They’re arduous to read and you suddenly find yourself skimming paragraphs to get to the end instead of enjoying the story. The last 100 of pages or so of this book –that could’ve been edited out entirely-- I could barely skim read because it was so boring. There was the stereotypical bit of trouble near the end once the h/h got together which is so annoying because you expect it seeing as the author has nothing else to do with the characters. It’s not a book that’s well put together. It felt like the author didn’t know how to end it so it wavered and then suddenly there’s the syrupy epilogue, bang we’re done.
If tight book binding irritates you then there’s another reason not to pick up this book. The writing is too close to the spine that you really have to crack that baby open to read what’s in the middle. At 400+ pages that’s a headache because you just want to rip it in sections so you can actually read with some comfort being that the type is already quite small. Don’t publishers think of these things????!
I love Highlander novels but it’s one genre that is virtually impossible to find a decently written story apart from say Julie Garwood. Michele Sinclair is just another to cross off the list if her other books are like this one. ...more
All the elements of a great story were supposed to be in this book: love-hate theme, reclusive hero, I-follow-my-own-path-and-the-world-be-damned heroAll the elements of a great story were supposed to be in this book: love-hate theme, reclusive hero, I-follow-my-own-path-and-the-world-be-damned heroine and all taking place around a foreboding castle in the Scottish highlands. Well, all that’s there but the h/h are rarely together throughout the story and when they do get together it felt like the author was running out of pages and finally decided to smack them together with the I Love Yous. It’s as if you’re reading the beginning of a book that sets the scene for the story but it’s over 250 pages.
Margaret Dalrousie lives in a little cottage on the land of the great and powerful laird Robert McDermott who’s been absent for years. A famous court painter for the Russian aristocracy she had to flee Russia after something horrible happens to her. She lives in virtual isolation, apart from a housekeeper and a caretaker that also look after the castle, spending her days doing nothing and trying to forget her past. She also refuses to paint which is an integral part of her. Finally the laird returns with a sad past of his own that he’s trying to get through. He can’t seem to put the death of his wife and daughter behind him so he neglects his home and lives elsewhere. The two finally meet accidentally, dislike each other on sight and end up spying on each other for about three quarters of the novel because they’re both sort of interested in the other.
You’d think with that kind of a plot line some big love story would come of it but no matter how many pages you keep turning not much ends up happening. It’s such a dismal, miserable read from start to finish. There’s way too much dense narration with trivialities that are just page fillers and when the h/h finally do get together it’s so out of nowhere that the HEA in the end is totally unbelievable. One good thing the author can do is make colours come alive as Margaret starts to paint again. The description is very well-done and you can nearly see the different hues from how she mixes her paints to the final work on canvas. At the end of the novel the author provides an info page on how paints were quite dangerous back in that period and often artists risked their lives to get those vibrant colours.
Aside from the author’s note at the end, this book is sheer boredom and very difficult to get through which is amazing considering all the good pieces there but unfortunately they aren’t woven together well and remain individual pieces which makes for a truly lackluster story. ...more
4.5 stars and it could’ve been 5 if there was just a smidge more “unglossed” steam, otherwise it’s beautifully written and the characters bounce off t4.5 stars and it could’ve been 5 if there was just a smidge more “unglossed” steam, otherwise it’s beautifully written and the characters bounce off the pages. It’s the type of story you can lose yourself in and forget where you are –despite the annoying microscopic print!
Garwood does a fantastic job with the language in this book. She twists and turns simple things to make them all complicated and in the end it’s hilarious. There are so many parts left vague or unsaid and you keep on reading because you want to know what’s happening –it’s all done on purpose to keep the reader interested. If you like some unique playing around with sentences then you’ll love the hero and the heroine. They exchange these short one-liners throughout the story that are absolutely perfect. There’s quite a bit of sexual tension and the hero is reluctant to admit his feelings for the heroine, but there is hardly any arguing mostly one-upmanship with sharp wit and even sharper banter which makes this story a true gem.
Iain, Laird of clan Maitland, tries soooo hard to act all cool and be Mr I’m In Control of My Woman only to end up doing exactly what she wanted him to do before the war of words started. He is her pillar of strength. Judith is an excellent heroine because she can hold her own and still be vulnerable. She's audacious without being vulgar or silly. Iain is so very lost without her. It’s very moving how she treats the other women in the clan also and what happens as a result.
This isn’t your run of the mill medieval. Welcome to the smart person’s historical –how refreshing :) ...more
This was a disappointing read. I love a good alpha Highlander story and had high hopes for this one, but it was a below-average-couldn’t-wait-to-finisThis was a disappointing read. I love a good alpha Highlander story and had high hopes for this one, but it was a below-average-couldn’t-wait-to-finish-it kind of read :-/
It took a long time for the h/h to get together once they could actually be together and there were long scenes where they were never together which made the story annoying. Too much attention was paid to boring details about other people that no one cares about. Even the steam was blah.
When the heroine’s neaderthal brothers arrive ready to kick some butt over their sisters' honor (they had sex before getting married see –and this is a contemporary not a historical romance [!]) it was just silly. I kept asking myself “Why? Where’s this coming from?” There are too many of these “why?!” scenes to make this a good book IMO.
What started out well quickly spiraled into a borderline clichéd, syrupy and poorly put-together story. ...more
Cry baby spoiled heroine and hero who acts like a doormat and takes it all. He should've left her from the get go!Cry baby spoiled heroine and hero who acts like a doormat and takes it all. He should've left her from the get go!...more
This book was very predictable and boring. There is endless repetition that acts like filler just to get over 300 pages (how many times does the readeThis book was very predictable and boring. There is endless repetition that acts like filler just to get over 300 pages (how many times does the reader have to read how emotionally damaged Sin is and how beautiful and wonderful Callie is???), nothing really happens after you've hit the half way mark, it's touted as being witty/funny but there is very, very little humour and what is there is ho-hum, the love story is gag worthy--all your stereotypical bad romance story inanities, the language doesn't match the period (I don't really think they were saying "Oh you wish!" way back in medieval times), and everything is extreme--so beautiful, so angelic, so sad, so horrible...it's like the author didn't know any happy medium.
If you want a lack-lustre story with nothing interesting and the same old same old, then this is the book for you. ...more
Eesh was this book bad and I was so looking forward to the dark and mysterious Dageus MacKelter. It rates up there with the first book in the series BEesh was this book bad and I was so looking forward to the dark and mysterious Dageus MacKelter. It rates up there with the first book in the series Beyond the Highland Mist . Yet another formulaic KMM Highlander read, which can happen in a series, but I really felt like I was rereading parts of Kiss of the Highlander all over again. This book though has to be the worst so far in terms of excessive over the top filler narration. Just pages and pages of the stuff adding to the boredom.
The story goes that Dageus the Druid left his medieval Scotland via time travel magic to the present day US in an effort to save the world. Initially he used time travel to help his brother be with the woman he loves (ref book 4) which got him into heaps of trouble with the fairies who pretty much rule the world from afar. The bigger problem is that having done this he now has a bunch of evil Druids living inside him biding their time until he goes wacko to take over the world. To calm down the nasty Druids he has to have a lot of sex. He traipses around town stealing/borrowing Scottish relics and museum pieces hoping to discover how to rid himself of the curse. This is how he meets the very, very, very TSTL Chloe. Another brilliant mind who does and says the most idiotic things contrary to how the character is set up. This must be a trend of sorts for KMM because I can’t really say I’ve liked any of her genius/ditz heroines. They’re too clingy, cloying and unsure of themselves to the point where you just want to holler “for god’s sake get a life already sister!” Their phony bravado also grates on the nerves. Then there’s Dageus. The author does pique your interest in book 4 and holds it for the first few pages of book 5 but then we’re back to the cookie cutter romance where nothing really original happens. There are some funny moments when the flustered Chloe meets Dageus for the first time and he holds her prisoner but that’s not enough to make for an enjoyable read for me. There’s also too much info on Scottish fairy legend that could’ve been put in an author’s note at the end of the book because it just took away from the story. As for the steam, it’s alright but Chloe just went gushingly overboard with her feelings for Dageus all of a sudden while he’s unsure and then sure and then unsure round and round we go. Some of the characters from the previous book also make an appearance. Drustan and Gwen return with Gwen playing the role of the “ever knowing wife” who passes out advice 24/7 on men and how to handle them (cue the gawwd and eye rolling) :-/
Overall I found the story way too long, ooey-gooey, awww look how nice and happy everyone is. I like a good HEA but I don’t like the ones with the sticky sweet shiny happy people at the end. This book barely makes a 3 star rating for me. ...more
This is a strange series for me. I keep thinking it’s going to get a lot better and it just gets modestly better or considerably worse. Luckily this oThis is a strange series for me. I keep thinking it’s going to get a lot better and it just gets modestly better or considerably worse. Luckily this one falls under the modestly better category.
Here we have the story of Drustan and Gwen. Drustan is a Highlander Druid living way back when while Gwen lives in modern times. In a weird and wacky moment she finds herself in a very interesting “position” the first time she meets Drustan. He finds himself thrown into the 20th century trying to get a grasp on everything around him from then on. Gwen thinks he’s a bit off his rocker but tries to help him out nonetheless. Some of that is funny, not laugh out loud hilarious or anything, but it’s got a bit of a cute side to it all.
Like many of KMM’s highlander romances, the heroine is beyond brilliant and the hero is nearly too gorgeous to look at. Problem with this: the heroine rarely acts smart even though she’s described as genius material, has a great job doing genius-like stuff but isn’t really all that invested in it and is always dissatisfied big time with her love life. They all want to find the great guy and have lots of babies right off the bat with them. Same holds true with Gwen. That’s all well and good but it turns into a cookie cutter formula romance by the third book in a series. As for Drustan he’s too beautiful for words and that got annoying because it’s repeated so many times. Sure he’s hot but he’s borderline boy toy sometimes because of his excessive hotness. It could’ve been toned down somewhat and more focus given on other things he could do. The love story between the two though is generally good and the steam is very hot but it drags in some parts –despite Drustan being a fabulous kisser, Moning highlighted that attribute quite well ;) Drustan’s Druidry and the Highland legends mix well to give a fairy-tale fantasy kind of world that’s continued from the first book. It was interesting but there was too much narration about it dragging the book down more often than not.
There are a few side stories that start to develop between Drustan’s dad Sullivan and the housekeeper Nell as well as Drustran’s dark and mysterious brother Dageus. The main story though always remains the focus so these additional stories don’t detract from that and don’t feel like filler either. Both time periods are well represented and there are some funny moments with Gwen in his century and Drustan in hers.
The ending is too sugary sweet for me but overall the story is alright so it just makes a 4 star rating. If you liked Circenn’s story in The Highlander's Touch this one is about the same. ...more
**spoiler alert** Book 3 in Moning's Highlander series is better than 1 and 2 but still lacks some oomph. There's too much narration and not enough di**spoiler alert** Book 3 in Moning's Highlander series is better than 1 and 2 but still lacks some oomph. There's too much narration and not enough dialog at times. Circenn Brodie (great name!) is one sexy Highlander! Think of the most beautiful marble sculpture you've ever seen and that's Circenn--pure eye candy! The one off thing about him that he's 6'7! That's gigantic even if he is an immortal!
Lisa, the heroine, is a bit drab and some of the things she says or does reminded me a toddler stamping their feet in frustration. It seemed strange that she could go back to 14 century Scotland and suddenly start speaking in an older formal English when she's from the 20th century--it's like she didn't miss a step after the initial "shock" wore off. A bit too quick I thought. Circenn is what keeps this book afloat.
The steamy-scenes missed the mark each time--almost there but just out of reach of being really good. Even the first time they were "together" wasn't particularly satisfying and seeing as she was a virgin I thought a little more could have been said about her first time. It's almost as if Moning is embarrassed to go into more detail during the love scenes so she side-steps around it. The emotional connection they had was interesting and helped avoid "the big misunderstanding" that plagues too many romance novels.
Duncan is a great secondary character--plays the randy male very well! Even Adam comes out looking good when in Book 1 he was such a horrible mean fairy.
The ending is what really saves the whole book. A bit of a twist on the time travel romance. Leaves you feeling happy with a smile on your face :)...more
This book was ok like the first one. It's more of a 3.5 stars than a 4. It's a bit ho-hum in terms of highlander stories. The writing is not always "hThis book was ok like the first one. It's more of a 3.5 stars than a 4. It's a bit ho-hum in terms of highlander stories. The writing is not always "historical" which takes away from the historical feel and the stories aren't all that original. Several people say it's a fantastic series so I'm hoping they'll get better....more