Highlander’s Holly and Ivy by Margaret Izard

Tracy’s Rating: 3/3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Stones of Iona, Holiday Novella

Release Date: December 1, 2025

Iris Erskine, daughter to James Erskine, the English Lord Advocate of Scotland, loves Scotland and wants to immerse herself in the culture of her adopted country, but understandably, the Scots are not fond of the English, so with the help of her maid Laurel, Iris takes on the persona of a mute maid named Ivy. She joins her friend at a gathering of the Gaels – a group of Scots that gather to keep their culture alive, despite the laws imposed on them by the English. When she meets their leader, Alex MacDougall, she is immediately smitten, and the feeling is mutual. They grow closer, but she never finds a way to tell him who she really is and when he learns the truth, his trust and possibly his love is lost. Will she be able to convince Alex that she never intended to deceive him or has her innocent deception cost her the love of a lifetime?

Alex MacDougall is the Lord Justice Cleark to Scotland and serves as a intermediary between the Scots and the Lord Advocate of Scotland – Englishman James Erskine, whom he has come to respect, despite the fact he is English. Alex’s family has a questionable allegiance to Scotland, thanks to his father’s refusal to fight at Culloden, so he has made it his mission to help Scotland adapt to English rule, but he doesn’t want to forsake his culture. He joined the Gaels, to keep their traditions alive, never expecting to find love. Alex thought he had found love once before and lost her and a Stone of Iona that the fae tasked his family to protect to an evil fae, leaving him determined to never love again. But when he meets Ivy, he wonders if love is possible for him and if he might be able to reclaim the love stone he lost all those years ago. But when the Gaels are found out and he realizes Ivy is not who she says she is, he believes she betrayed him. But when the truth comes out will it be too late to save her and reclaim the love he thought he would never find?

I have mixed feelings about this book, I liked the connection between Alex and Ivy/Iris, but I was expecting a lot more Fae activity, especially based on the prologue, and ultimately it ended up feeling like that element was just an afterthought. I did enjoy the setting of post-Culloden Scotland and the struggle the Scots had to keep their culture alive while abiding by the laws that seemed determined to eradicate their traditions. But I felt that Iris’ deception dragged on for way too long and found it hard to believe that Alex didn’t figure it out, especially since he kissed both Iris and “Ivy”. Overall, it was an OK read that I am glad I read and I wonder if I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the previous books in this series. Having said that, I didn’t feel lost even though I hadn’t read the other books, so I feel confident that this book could be read as a standalone title. It is important to note that I would caution sensitive readers to check out the content warnings before reading this book as there are some violent and graphic on-page assaults that may be upsetting to some readers.

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