Category: Medieval (1066-1540)

The Highland Outlaw by Heather McCollum

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Medieval (1066-1540)Leave a comment

The Highland OutlawBarbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Campbell’s #4
Publication Date: 10/21/19
Number of Pages: 400

WOW! What a fast-paced, interesting, breath-holding chase across Scotland this story was! From the first page to the last there are fearsome Highland warriors – of the male and female sort. The entire series has been that way, so I was sure this book would follow suit – and it did.

Shaw Sinclair, Chief of the Sinclair clan, has had a hard, miserable life – and he has the scars – inside and outside – to prove it. After Shaw’s father died, his wicked uncle took over as Laird. He abused Shaw, his sisters, and his mother. Not only that, he ran up huge debts from drinking, gambling and other debaucheries and ended up giving up the Sinclair castle and lands to the northern Campbells. Since then, the Sinclair clan has been homeless and the vindictive Campbells constantly runs them out of their cottages – even in the dead of a harsh Scottish winter. So, it is no surprise that Shaw jumps at the chance to have the crown restore his home and lands. All he has to do is deliver a newborn baby girl to a boat in St. Andrews. Except, when he finally receives the babe, her wet-nurse has died and there are English soldiers pursuing the baby – to put it to death. He has to find someone to care for the babe – especially someone who can feed her – all while avoiding the English soldiers. Piece of cake for a braw highlander.

Alana Campbell, sister to the Laird of the southern Campbells, is one of the older members of the Highland Roses school. We’ve met her in the earlier books in the series and she is an intelligent, lovely young woman who just happens to be a trained warrior as well. Imagine her surprise when a huge, fierce warrior appears in her tent – and abducts her so she can care for an infant girl. Of course, once she discovers that their destination is just north of Edinburgh, she decides to willingly go along. She needs to get to Edinburg to rescue her mother that all of them had thought dead.

Somewhere along the way – dodging soldiers and caring for an infant – Alana comes to care deeply for both the Highlander and the babe. How will she ever have the strength to put that sweet babe on the boat? She doesn’t care much for the idea of separating from the Highlander either.

How will their love survive once all of the treachery, lies, and deceit are revealed? What will happen if Shaw cannot regain the Sinclair lands and castle? Why in the world are the English soldiers out to murder a tiny, innocent, defenseless babe?

NOTE: Possible spoilers below – so don’t read if you don’t want to know

Is it a sign of a really good story when, at the end, you keep wondering what happened next? I hope we will see some of that in a future book – maybe Kirsten’s book. I have to wonder how they got the Campbells off their land. Are they still being harassed by the Campbells? Can Shaw learn to trust Alistair and Logan again? Will they get there in time to save the Sinclair’s from the harsh winter? Will they actually start a second Highland Rose shool?

One thing that seemed confusing to me is that although they got the proclamation from King James – they were still talking about paying the northern Campbells for the debt Shaw’s uncle owed. Did they just want to pay it off because they felt the clan owed it? It sounds fair to me for them to pay it, but it just wasn’t made very clear.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Laird’s Vow by Heather Grothaus

On By TracyIn Medieval (1066-1540), Scottish/Highlander, Tracy's Reviews2 Comments

The Laird's Vow (Sons of Scotland, #1)The Laird’s Vow by Heather Grothaus

Tracy’s rating: 2.5/3 of 5 stars

Series: Sons of Scotland #1

Release Date” September 17, 2019

The story opens with Thomas Annesley, Baron Annesley, Lord of Darlyrede wounded and fleeing his home. His beloved Cordelia is dead and her father, Lord Hargrove is trying to kill him. He comes upon travelers who offer to help him, but when he learns they are going to Darlyrede, he takes off into the night.

30 years later, Tavish Cameron is a merchant in Edinburgh, he has done well for himself and his mother, but is still not as successful as he would like. When a man enters his shop and locks the door, Tavish has no idea how much his life is going to change. Turns out, Thomas Annesley fled and was saved by Tav’s mother, Harriet. Thomas is Tavish’s father and has been captured and condemned to die – before that happened, he bequeathed an unentailed property – Roscraig Tower – to Tavish. Tavish is floored and can’t wait to claim his inheritance and the title of laird, so he notifies King James and sets off.

Glenna Douglas has lived at Roscraig all her life and believes her father is the rightful laird. So when Tavish comes claiming he is the laird, they are immediately at odds. Glenna’s father Iain is not well and the castle and the village are in disrepair, not to mention most of the inhabitants have died from a sickness that seems to target their lands, as a result, the fields are barren and there is no food. Glenna is almost starved, her clothes threadbare and living alone in the keep with her dying father. But none of this stops Glenna from acting like Tavish is a peasant beneath her notice and she refuses to even look at the papers Tavish has. She says she will wait for the king to come and uphold her father’s claim.

Tavish wastes no time improving the property and his mother Harriet is a sweetheart and takes over the care of Iain, who seems to improve under her care. When Tavish’s friend Audrey Keane arrives with the intention of marrying Tavish, things start to get interesting at Roscraig and Tav offers to let Glenna stay, as his mistress.

I have to say, of all the characters in this book, the only one I really liked was Harriet – Tavish was unlikable for a good portion of the book, but even he can’t compare to Glenna for the title of total jerk of the book – she was a snob, acted completely entitled and was unforgivably mean to Harriet. There was an ongoing misconception that the title of Laird elevates the holder to nobility (it doesn’t) and the title of Miss was not used until the 17th century – and while this is promoted as a medieval, it reads more like a regency. In addition to all that, I have no idea when (or why for that matter) they fell in love and the first half of the book was slow and repetitive, it does pick up a little around the 2/3 mark and the last 10% of the book is one non-stop surprise after another. The ending was jaw-dropping and saved the book from being a 2 star read. This is the first book in the series while I didn’t love it, I will most likely read the next book because of revelations in this book that have pulled me into the mystery of what happen to Thomas Annesley!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher.*