Highland Thief by Alyson McLayne

Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Sons of Gregor MacLeod

Release Date: August 24, 2021

If you have been following the series, you know that Kerr MacAlister has planned to marry Isobel MacKinnon, but plots against his foster brothers, war, and even Isobel herself have kept him from claiming her. But now that her brother Gavin has found his son and has married, Kerr feels it is time and sets out to win Isobel.

Years ago Isobel was infatuated with Kerr, but when he spurned her request for a kiss, she tried to quash those feelings and instead turned her attention to making him pay for his callousness. Isobel is known far and wide as the Beauty of the Highlands, but what she should be known for is her pranks, tricks, and traps that she springs on those who have wronged someone and she believes require punishment. To date, she has not been able to catch Kerr in one of her traps and that only fuels her ire towards him. So when he makes it clear that he wants to marry her, she comes up with a plan to catch him in one of her tricks, and this time she is sure he won’t figure out and she will finally have her revenge. She will trick him into thinking that she is eloping with another man and make a fool of him when he comes after her. What could go wrong?

This is a well-written, action-packed story, that picks up shortly after the end of the last book. Kerr has finally decided it is time to claim his bride, but Isobel is not going to make it easy for him. The story doesn’t really take off until after Isobel puts her plan to fool Kerr into play, but once he follows her, the story picks up speed and it is a non-stop adventure until the very end. The book has a little of everything, graphic fight scenes, great secondary characters, cameos from the other “brothers”, a villain who is finally revealed and who is dealt with accordingly, steamy love scenes, surprising revelations, and finally the long awaited HEA of Kerr and Isobel. I liked the book but there were some things that kept me from loving it, for instance, I had a really hard time liking Isobel, she was incredibly immature and I thought her “tricks” were petty, spiteful, and stupid, I don’t understand why Kerr was so crazy for her and seemed to be proud of her ridiculous plots and plans, but to each their own, I suppose. I also felt that while this story did answer the question of who has been attacking the clans, it didn’t feel like it really made sense – why attack all the other clans and fail each time before going after who you ultimately wanted all along – I don’t just don’t get it. I also wonder what happened to Eirik and Siv, they just seemed to disappear. In the end, it was an exciting, action-filled adventure that gives readers some closure and answers long-standing questions and if you have been following the series, I would highly recommend reading this book.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*