Author: Barbara

Avid reader/reviewer of historical romance and historical mysteries.

Highland Temptation by Lori Ann Bailey

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Jacobean/Stuart Era (1603-1714), Scottish/Highlander1 Comment

Highland Temptation (Highland Pride #3)Highland Temptation by Lori Ann Bailey

Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Highland Pride #3
Publication Date: 6/25/18

I was looking forward to a really good read when I started this book – well – it was MORE! It was a wonderful read. The characters were compelling, the story was interesting and action-packed – and – well – there were Highlanders. I believe this is only the third book by this author, but you’d never know it. I’ve read some seasoned authors with many, many books under their belt whose stories don’t flow as seamlessly as these do. You feel as if you are right there in the midst of the turmoil between the Royalists and the Covenanters. The suspense is thick in the air and danger is everywhere. You can feel it, smell it and taste it.

Kirstie Cameron has lived away from her beloved home, Kentillie, for three years now. Not because she wanted to, but because she couldn’t live with the pain of staying. Three years ago, at age seventeen, she finally found the courage to tell the man she loved with all of her heart that she loved him. She hoped he returned her love because she wanted a future with him. She loved him – she’d always loved him and she always would. Then, he ripped out her heart and stepped on it. He told her that they could never be because he saw her as a sister. A SISTER! So, Kirstie has spent the last three years living with her best friend, Blair MacNab at the MacNab stronghold.

Alan MacKenzie has never considered himself a MacKenzie because that clan shunned his family, became Covenanters, and abandoned his mother to be murdered by his father. No, he was a Cameron in heart and soul. The Cameron’s had taken him in when his mother was murdered and his father fled when Alan was only eleven. The Cameron’s loved him, nurtured him and treated him as one of their own. He’d never shame or betray them. So, what was he to do when the love of his life, the woman he wasn’t good enough for, declared her love for him? He couldn’t tell her that he loved her in return because he might have his father’s madness. So, he told her that she was like a sister to him and that was all it would ever be. Then, she went away to live somewhere else and he never knew why. [*smiles* Well, maybe he wasn’t the sharpest tack in the pack]

This is the third book in the series, so we know all about the plots of the Covenanters against the Royalists. This plot is a diabolical one – get rid of all of the existing Royalist lairds and convert their clans by force, marriage or whatever other means they had. The Camerons are aware of the plot to kill them and the other Lairds at an upcoming meeting of the clans, so they have come up with a plan to foil the plot and get rid of the Covenanters – or as many of them as they can. They’ll have Alan reclaim his MacKenzie name and pretend to have broken with the Camerons by converting to Presbyterian. He’ll infiltrate the Covenanters and relay all of the plans to the Camerons.

Kirstie has also gotten wind of the plot to murder her brothers and she plans to uncover the plot and stop it. So, she attends the Clan meeting with the MacNabs and begins her flirtation with all of the Covenanters, hoping to learn their secrets.

Imagine the shock when Alan and Kirstie see each other – and Alan is a Covenanter. Kirstie can’t believe that – there is something off about that but she doesn’t have time to worry about that. She’s busy trying to uncover the plot, search bedrooms at the castle and fight off the amorous advances of all of the Covenanter men.

It is exciting to see Kirstie and Alan dancing around each other – trying to fight their attraction and still work, separately, of course, to foil the plot. Alan finds it hard to concentrate on what he has to do because he’s always protecting Kirstie from some mishap or another.

One thing I did question though – at one point, Kirstie is in a bit of a bother. She needs to escape the bonds on her arms – tied above her elbows I think. She has to wriggle around and do some contortions in order to get to her dagger strapped to her thigh. A resourceful girl, right? Well – there was a very long, sharp sword laying on the floor near where she stood. She could have used that much easier than trying to get to the dagger and then get it positioned to cut the twine. Just a thought.

The only bad thing about the book is that it ended and now I have to wait for the next one! I wonder who will be next. Maybe Finlay and Blair will get their own book – maybe it will be Kirstie’s brother Malcolm. I can hardly wait to find out! I hope you’ll read and enjoy this wonderful book as much as I did!

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“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”

Tempted by the Viscount by Sofie Darling

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Regency Era (1811-1820)2 Comments

Tempted by the Viscount (A Shadows and Silk Novel)Tempted by the Viscount by Sofie Darling

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: Tempted by the Viscount (Shadows and Silk #2)
Publication Date: 6/27/18

This is the second book in this series and also the second book I’ve read by this author. I’ve been looking forward to it because the last book was exciting and interesting and I hoped this one would be the same. However, this one wasn’t exciting. It was a bit dull and repetitive. He had to have a proper, scandal-free step-mother for his daughter and she couldn’t give up her freedom for any man. There were numerous scenes, but the same theme.

I really liked our hero, Jakob Radclyffe, Fifth Viscount St. Alban. He had no expectation of being a Viscount and certainly had no desire to be one. The title belonged to another branch of his family tree and he had hardly seen any of them in his lifetime. His father had married a Dutch shipping heiress and become part of that family. Jake was raised in that environment and had no clue about how the English lived – nor did he wish to know. However, after many, many pleas from his English family, he headed to London with his daughter, Mina, to accept the title. One thing Jake knew for sure is that he’d also have to acquire a proper, scandal-free English wife along with the title because Mina is half Japanese and she’ll need help fitting in and being accepted.

It was a long slog to try to get to like our heroine, Lady Olivia Montfort, and I never quite got there. I didn’t dislike her, I just never understood her. Twelve years ago, when she was seventeen and he was about twenty, she married a man she loved desperately – at least she thought she did. Then, because she rushed head-long into that marriage without getting to know the groom and without listening to any of the adults in the room – she was done with the marriage after six months! What! No, he wasn’t a good husband – but he was the normal husband of that period. He didn’t hurt her or mistreat her – he just wanted a society type marriage where he could float along on the surface of it – and she wanted more. Should that short six-months turn her against men and marriage forever? I think that whole reaction was way over the top. I mean – she was willing to have her daughter declared a bastard in order to have her marriage dissolved. I didn’t care for what I saw of her in the last book, and that didn’t improve with this book.

Jakob first saw Olivia at a ball at her former father-in-law’s home. He was immediately attracted to her. From what he’d learned of her, she was a scandal. Because of Mina’s heritage, he couldn’t afford to marry anyone whose reputation wasn’t pristine. Yet, he was drawn to Olivia more and more. When they find that each can help the other with a need, they strike a bargain – then they’ll go their separate ways. He’ll help her buy a house in her own name and she’ll get Mina into the school he wants her to attend. However – parting doesn’t come as easily as they thought.

I’m interested to see what happens next with the series. We’ve had one book I’ve loved and one I was just okay with, so now we’ll have to see what the next book brings. I’m not sure who will be featured in the next book, but I hope there is some excitement in it. This story hinted at a possible story at a later date between Mina and Hugh – right now Mina is fifteen and Hugh is probably seventeen or so. So, maybe the next book will feature Percy, Olivia’s dead/resurrected husband AND maybe we’ll see Olivia’s wicked uncle (from the first book) finally get some punishment.

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“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”