Part of a Series – Page 42 – Flippin' Pages Book Reviews

The Highlander’s Mysterious Maiden by Nicole Locke

Series: Lovers and Highlanders, #3

Release Date: August 26, 2025

Life has not been easy for Barabal of Clan Colquhoun, her parents died when she was only 5 and she was separated from her brothers and sent to live with her mother’s family. She lived with them for a few years, but when things got hard for the family, she was sent to another family, but after an uncomfortable encounter, she leaves in the middle of the night. For years she has been moving from clan to clan, trying hard to be useful, but never seems to fit in. She arrives at Clan Graham during the Beltane celebration, upset that she didn’t arrive earlier to help with the celebration, thus missing a chance to prove her worth. But when she sees what she believes to be a woman being kidnapped, she is shocked that no one is helping and sets her sites on a man standing away from the others. She is stunned when the man doesn’t seem concerned about the kidnapped woman and seems more interested in kissing! When she declines his kiss, he walks away and appears to find another woman. Barabal is stunned and wonders if she will find a home here or if she should just move on.

Seoc of Clan Graham has been out of sorts since recovering from a grave injury he suffered during the battle of Dunbar. Seoc is crippled by guilt, blaming himself for the death of the clan’s Laird and the capture of the Laird’s son. He has healed from his injuries and has resumed his duties, including brewing mead, but can’t seem to find a way out of the numbing darkness that has been gripping him since the battle. When Barabal walks up to him, he is shocked by his reaction, she makes him feel! She insults his mead, refuses his kiss and berates him for ignoring Anna’s “kidnapping”. He knows immediately that he must keep this woman in his life, but that will be easier said than done, as Barabal seems bent on ignoring him.

I have mixed feelings about this book, on one hand, I thought the writing was wonderful and filled with emotion, but on the other hand, Barabal was one of the most unlikable characters I have ever read. I tried to empathize with her struggles and the fact that she was alone in the world, but OMG – she is abrasive, a complete know it all, and insulting (albeit unintentionally). I understood her need to be useful and that her trust issues that caused her to act as she did, but I was expecting to see her slowly change and grow on me – unfortunately, she didn’t. Overall, it was an emotionally charged read, with some very likable characters, a bit of spice, a curvy heroine, reunions, heartache, healing, acceptance and a touching HEA. This is the third book in the series, and I would recommend reading the series in order.

*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. *

The Sea Witch by Eva Leigh

Tracy’s Rating: 3.5/4 of 5 stars

Series: Salt & Sorcery, #1

Release Date: August 26, 2025

In a small coastal Massachusetts village, men with magical powers are revered and trained in the magical arts as mages, but female witches are hunted and hanged. Widow Alys Tanner is a witch and has been careful not to be caught as her sister was hanged as a witch, but after her husband dies, she too is hunted. She manages to escape along with a handful of women, some witches and some not, from her village. They steal a ship and the witches among them use their powers to call the wind and escape. A year later, she is a pirate and is still captain of the ship which they renamed the Sea Witch, and she has amassed a large crew of women, both magical and not and they sail the Caribbean. When she attends the funeral of the pirate Little George Partridge, she learns that Little George had been working with the Navy and their mages to control mystical sea creatures, which the Navy has been using to fight pirates. But in true pirate fashion, Little George was double-crossing the Navy and created a way to break the spell the Navy is using to enslave the sea creatures, and he left a clue to the location of his “fail-safe”. But as she is reading the clue, the Navy attacks and she is chased by a sailor, narrowly escaping his clutches – or so she thinks. Once on board her ship, she discovers the man followed her and is now on her ship, but the tide has turned and now he is her prisoner.

Benjamin “Ben” Priestley, Sailing Master for the HMS Jupiter, the navy’s flagship, is on a quest to find the pirates that killed his father. When he sees Alys and realizes she has found the clue to the fail-safe, he pursues her. But when he boards her ship, he is taken prisoner. It isn’t long before he realizes that there is no way Alys could have been responsible for his father’s death, but she could lead him to the fail-safe, which he plans to destroy to prevent them from using it. But the more time spent with Alys, the more he likes her. When they form a bond through “dream walking”, Ben discovers things about himself and soon he will do whatever he can to help Alys find and destroy the fail-safe.

I was super excited for this book, I have read and loved Eva Leigh’s historical romances, so I had high expectations for her debut into Romantasy. For the most part I enjoyed the book, it had very strong “Pirates of Caribbean” vibe, with wonderful characters and a lot more magic. But I felt that the “world building” was not quite as thorough as I expected, the fact that this book is set in the early 1700s, barely 25 years after the Salem Witch trials, makes it hard to believe that magic of any sort would be accepted, so the whole “mage” thing was a big pill to swallow, then there is the magic itself, honestly, I am still not sure I understand it. The first half of the book dragged a bit and during that time, I wasn’t loving Alys’ character, I had a hard time believing that in ONE year, she not only masters sailing a large ship, but becomes a pirate that can hold her own with the brethren of the coast and has taught herself enough magic to battle with trained mages. Then there is her treatment of Ben, I understood her anger for the way she had been treated, but she came off as a bit of a hypocrite and a misandrist. Thankfully, her character does evolve and by the end of the book, I loved her. And speaking of endings, I was not expecting a cliffhanger, but there it was and now I am counting the days until the next book comes out! Overall, it was a well written, action-packed story with a bit of spice, lots of magic and pirates galore, and well worth the read!

*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. *

Share this:

Share this: