ARC REVIEW Highlander Ever After by Paula Quinn

The MacGregors: Highland Heirs #8, I jumped into this series at the halfway point but it was okay because each book pretty much reads as a standalone. I love Paula Quinn's writing style it's part of the reason I keep coming back to her books, whatever trope she's using she has the MacGregors make it their own. Another reason I keep coming back is that I love this family. The MacGregors' are warm and welcoming to friends and are just as fierce warriors as they are fiercely loyal to those who prove they are worthy. The family also has very close, very secret ties to Queen Anne so when she orders Adam MacGregor, the reluctant heir of the clan, to marry one of her ladies in waiting they have no choice but to follow her orders. Melusina de Arenburg was raised for court life she was a trusted Lady in Waiting and the bastard daughter of the heir to the throne; part of keeping her safe was keeping her unclaimed. Sina looked upon Queen Anne as a best friend and an almost mother like figure so she couldn't understand it when Anne orders her to the Highlands to marry someone from a very infamous clan rather than the man she wants to marry.

Sina is pretty much a spoiled brat when she gets there, acting like she's the only one who had her life disrupted, once she realizes they aren't the barbarians she thought they were and that her new family isn't all that bad she starts to open her heart to Adam, who she finds attractive as much as she hates that she does. Adam is nothing but patient with her, he gets aggravated and pissed off but he sympathizes with her and he likes her. Eventually they start to warm up to each other and fall in love unfortunately Queen Anne dies not to long after the wedding and soon enough Sina's father sends for her and she has to go back to London where the marriage will be annulled.

The second half of this book takes place in London where Adam tries to prove he's worthy of staying married to Sina, but under the disguise of someone else. Sina also along the way learns some very disturbing news that makes her long for Adam all the more. Normally I don't care for the books that take place in the King/Queen's Court with all those people and their power hungry machinations and backstabbing not knowing who to trust but there are a few exceptions and this is one of them.

Overall, this was such a good book. I hate to see the MacGregors go I really hope this isn't the last of them and that maybe the next generation will be up to a few adventures. 

ARC REVIEW Highland Wolf by Hannah Howell

The Murrays #15, Originally published in '07 this edition has a new cover, I love the new cover. I liked this one more than the last Howell book I read. This one was just fine to pick up and read even though I haven't read the first 14 books. I truly enjoyed how this one played out and the characters were well written. Three years ago James Drummond was accused of murdering his wife; cast as an outlaw he went into hiding biding his time before he can come back prove his innocence and claim his land and his daughter. Annora MacKay the poor relation who was born on the wrong side of the sheets was moved Dunncraig Keep to take care of her cousin's daughter.

Donnell MacKay is a selfish brute of a man who worries more about fancy living than the tenants of the Keep and village, his second is no better. Annora knows something is not right with Donnell's story and even though he tries to alienate her from the rest of the people they still like her and trust her more than they like Donnell. James needed access inside the keep to search for proof that he was framed. Under the disguise of a French woodcarver he easily gains entrance. With the help of Big Berta, the cook, James starts his search but Annora is there to tempt him. Once Annora finds out the truth about James she starts to help which pays off for they soon discover the truth but they still need concrete proof for the King's man to take action against Donnell. Their timetable is forced to move up when Donnell announces that Annora has to marry his second in command. James having already fallen in love with her won't let that happen.

Overall, it was a good read. I liked the characters and the plot. The romance between James and Annora pretty much instintaneous the sparks flew and by the time they gave in the chemistry between was combustible. Meggie, James' daughter, was adorable and wise beyond her years. Big Berta is a force to be reckoned with. It had a heartwarming and funny ending.  

ARC REVIEW Between a Highlander and a Hard Place by Mary Wine

Highland Wedding #5, A quick fun read that can be read as a standalone. The ending does have a bit of a teaser for the next book but everything involving Athena and Symon story is concluded. This is only my second Mary Wine book but I enjoyed this one much more than the other. The story was good, the characters were likable and I liked how they interacted with each other. You could tell this is part of a series but the previous characters didn't play an active role in the story.

Athena was a typical young lady, well not quite typical her parents married for love; her mother's family was from trade and her father from a titled family. They disowned him for it and when Athena's mother died in childbirth he abandoned her and went back to his family leaving her to be raised by her uncle. Athena thought she was in love but it turned out Galwell just planned to make her his mistress. With her uncle's help she flees Galwell and the terrible fate that that awaits her if he catches her. Dressing as a boy she joins a traveling merchant to make her escape to Scotland vowing never to be submissive to a man again.

Symon Grant is a widower, his wife died in childbirth with the child. As the Laird and the last of his line he must get married again and have children but all of the daughters presented to him are too affable, for him. His first wife was bidable and genteel and this time around he wants more. On May Day when the young girls of Scotland would run around in the morning dew Symon spied a golden haired beauty. Athena was happy to run around as a girl for a change but Symon wasn't the one to notice her and now she's not only running from Galwell but now also the blackguard who is set on selling her to the highest bidder. Symon is determined to protect her and maybe convince her that their chemistry is a unique and powerful thing and that marriage to him can protect her. Only now the young King James may have something to say about that.

Overall, this was a good read. I really enjoyed the banter between Symon and Athena. I love just how completely devoted to he was almost from the moment he saw her. I definitely want to catch the next book seeing how the teaser at the end is about Brenda and Bothan, I really want to know what's going to happen.    

ARC REVIEW Highland Conquest by Alyson McLayne

The Sons of Gregor MacLeod #2, This can be read as a stand alone. This is my first Alyson McLayne book and it won't be my last, I want to read the first book in the series because that brother sounds just my type of hero. Lachlan McKay is a good character, I love how he got awkward around Amber when he would give her little trinkets to try and win her over. Lachlan is the second born son he wasn't supposed to become the Laird to his people but then his brother and sister in law were murdered, Lachlan has never given up looking for the murderer and now it seems he finally tracked him down. Amber is smart and stubborn and hates to her own beauty, it's caused her nothing but trouble. She's even more so stubborn when it comes to Lachlan because she's trying to guard her heart. Amber Macpherson has spent the last five some odd years protecting her clansmen and herself from the evil Machar Murray who killed their Laird, all his lieutenants, and anyone who stood against him; including Amber's father. For the first couple of years Amber had her grandmother there to help her thwart off Murray's unwanted attention, pretending to a witch and threatening to curse Murray kept him away from Amber. After her grandmother's death Amber was only able to fend him off for so long and now she's faced with leaving her clansmen or Murray finally getting his hands on her.

Amber cuts her hair and dresses like a boy and manages to escape over the keep's walls. Amber's escape is waylaid by a group of big highlanders who were getting ready to storm the keep and kill Murray, Amber has no problem with that she just doesn't want them to either hurt or kill her people. Still thinking she's a boy and a risk to their mission leave her tied up. That doesn't hold her she gets back to the keep just in time to learn Murray's escaped. Lachlan feels oddly protective over the woman who dressed as a boy, he admires her skills as a healer and how she treats people and he wants her more than anyone else. With Murray gone the MacPherson's finally have their home back but no laird, Amber kind of bullies Lachlan in to the job, but since he is still trying to kill Murray and Lachlan knows Murray's obsession with Amber is going to keep him close so he becomes the MacPherson's new Laird. They devise a plan to lure Murray back but Murray is smart and sneaky and has had five years to make an escape plan, and all that just makes you hate him more.

The romance between Lachlan and Amber is kind of funny, the attraction is there and Amber almost doesn't know what to do with it after fighting off Murray she has started to view intimacy as a form of abuse, she's scared of it. Lochlan sees how she treats her other men in the compound when they give her things and so Lochlan tries to be smart about it and just ends up acting like a teenager with his first crush, it's adorable. They can't help but fight with each other and it really build up the sexual tension between them. Lochlan little by little shows Amber by action and by words that she can trust him with everything even her heart.

Overall, it really was a great read. It was funny and romantic, and there were some scenes in there involving Murray that were pretty intense. I loved the writing, the active setting was well done the character building really brought them to life and the dialogue was witty.         

ARC REVIEW The Scot's Bride by Paula Quinn

The Scot's Bride is book 6 of The MacGregors: Highland Heirs series. This book in particular can be read as a standalone. Patrick MacGregor likes his life as is and unlike his many family members falling in love is the last thing he wants, he enjoys traveling from town to town fighting for money seducing a pretty woman when the need strikes. Charlotte "Charlie" Cunningham doesn't want to fall in love either, she fell in love once already only to have him taken from her at the hands of her father. Since she now knows the depths of her father's cruelty and hatred for their sworn enemy she does everything possible to disobey him and right the wrongs her Father and her brother do to their tenants.

On his way to visit his mother's family Patrick comes across a beautiful raven haired woman, and because he didn't heed her warning ended up getting hit by a rock from her sling, tied up in the barn, and randomly getting punched by her brother's. He does listen when she tells him not to admit to being a Fergusson, if he is one. When another local clan comes and tries to take Charlie and force her into a marriage with their Laird Patrick comes to the rescue and wins over Cunningham, not necessarily Charlie or her brothers, Hendry and Duff, but at least he's not tied up any more. Patrick is enthralled with Charlie, she is like no other woman he's ever met before. Charlie is hesitant to like this stranger but everything he does shows her there a lot more to him than what she initially thought. Especially since he helped find something to ease her younger sister's breathing, and stood up to Hendry on behalf of the tenants and pretended to be a monster slayer for a little girl. The longer Patrick is there the more he doesn't want to leave but the secret he been keeping from Charlie may ruin any chance he's has with her.

Overall this was a really nice read. I loved the characters and the whole progression of the story line.

ARC REVIEW My One True Highlander by Suzanne Enoch

Book two in the No Ordinary Hero series by Suzanne Enoch, My One True Highlander has a serious undertone to the cliched almost comical storyline. Kidnapped English Lady and the rugged Scottish Laird, what makes this more serious than other stories is the situation behind it. Laird Graeme wants to be loyal to the clan his family swore fidelity to but the chieftain of the clan just wants to make war with the Englishman who inherited the land and refused to sell it. Graeme just wants to live in peace and have his family and his tenants happy and healthy but with the increasing tax and the threat to be thrown out of the clan looming over his head Graeme is just trying to survive. Graeme is the guardian to younger brothers and when they get the idea that kidnapping the Englishman's sister and giving her to the chieftain and be given a reward for her and Graeme is stuck between a rock and a hard place.  He knows giving over the English woman won't solve anything and will endanger her life, but if her brother finds out his life is pretty much forfeited because he will cover for his brothers stupid mistake. He is even more confused by his feelings for the English miss.

Marjorie is tired of being on the sidelines, she went from a ladies companion to a Duke's sister in the matter of seconds and he newfound status didn't win her any friends she in fact lost the few she did have. When Marjorie get a letter from her brother stating he's getting married and will send for her sometime in the spring she makes the decision to leave now. The large age difference between them kept them apart for most of their lives and Marjorie is determined not to miss another major event in his life. Together with the companion she hired to see her into society she travels up to Scotland without incident until they almost get they get within a day's journey of her brothers new estate. Marjorie gets kidnapped. Misconceptions and presumptions between Graeme and Marjorie lead to the initial dislike between them. Marjorie thinking they are a bunch of barbarians and Graeme thinking she is a spoiled London Miss. But over time they learn the truths about each other, especially after Marjorie covers for Graeme and his brother by posing as a tutor for the youngest brother. At that point she stops being a prisoner and becomes a willing guest and Graeme lets her write a note to her brother telling him she's okay. The letter however is intercepted by Sir Hamish Paulk, who is not a nice man and wants to bring about the doom of Marjorie's brother.

Despite the seriousness of the story there is a very cheesy romance feel to the book the Marjorie and Graeme romance, once they get over the whole English Scottish kidnapping thing falls into place fairly easy, but by then Marjorie gets kidnapped again. Overall, it was a good read, I enjoyed it. It's read fine as a stand alone so you don't have to worry about reading book one to understand what's going on.          

ARC REVIEW Kill or be Kilt by Victoria Roberts

I have really enjoyed this series I'm so glad Walsingham a big family. Book three in the series takes place three years after the last book and sixteen year old Elizabeth Walsingham has grown up and is now a beauty and has convinced herself that she is over her childish crush of Laird Ian Munro. I very much enjoyed this one just as much as the previous two; secrets and lies, murders and mayhem, and just the right amount of romance and seduction. I know I have a good book whenever I pick up a Victoria Roberts book her writing is captivating and if life hadn't kept getting in the way of my reading I would have inhaled this book in a day. The murder mystery of the book was a good one, I figured it out but it was exciting when the truth came out.

It's been three years since Laird Ruairi and Laird Ian have been forced to attend the King at court all because of Ravenna's pull with the King. But unfortunately the Walsingham's uncle died suddenly in a carriage accident and they must travel to England to comfort their aunt. While down there they must pay a visit at court. Elizabeth has waited three years for Ian to come back, after Grace and Fagan's wedding he never returned to visit, but now that they have to court he will be traveling with them. Grace has given up on Ian wanting her and as much as she tries to convince herself that she has out grown her crush her heart still flutters when she sees him. She has decided that she needs to go to court with Ruairi, Fagan , and Ian so she can find herself a husband. Grace understands and she helps convince Ravenna and the men that it is a wise choice.

Ian wasn't expecting little Elizabeth to be such a stunning woman. At first he stayed away because she was so young but now that she is older he doesn't feel worthy enough for her, but seeing other men flirt with her and Fagan talking some sense into him helps him come to terms with his true feelings for Elizabeth. It's so cute how Ian tries to prove himself to Elizabeth it's enough to make you swoon. All the while the advisers to the King are getting killed off. Unbeknownst to Elizabeth it's in her blood to get right in the middle of things and she manages to figure it all out. To top it all off she finally learns what really happened with Grace and her former fiancee and with Ravenna before that and about how she comes from a long line of spies.

Overall this was a great story and just as good as the first two. I can't decide which one I liked better and I can't wait for Torquil and Kathrine's story.