Category: Scottish/Highlander

Maggie and the Pirate’s Son by Rose Prendeville

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Part of a Series, Scottish/Highlander, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Maggie and the Pirate’s Son (Brides of Chattan #3)Maggie and the Pirate’s Son by Rose Prendeville

Tracy’s Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Brides of Chattan, #3

Release Date: July 30, 2024

When Maggie Budge nee Mackintosh learns that her father has chosen another husband for her, now that her year of mourning is over, Maggie decides that one husband was more than enough and bolts. She stows away on a ship in the harbor and plans to start a new life, wherever the ship takes her. But things go bad quickly as she is seasick and severely dehydrated when she is found by Sebastian “Bash” MacLeod, the captain’s son and boatswain/sailing master of the Pirate ship, Auldfarrand’s Revenge. Bash hides her in plain sight and plans to send her back to Scotland as soon as they make landfall, but until they do, Maggie is introduced to the crew as a young boy, Magnus and has her act as his cabin boy. Maggie actually takes well to life on the sea, and soon finds herself falling hard for Sebastian. But there are things she doesn’t know and when the captain’s quest to find his lost treasure almost costs Bash his life, Maggie wants nothing more than to return home, with Bash by her side. Unfortunately, Bash is practically a prisoner on the ship and doesn’t believe he is worthy of Maggie’s love. What will it take for these two to find their HEA?

Born to a Jamaican woman who sadly passed away not long after arriving in Scotland to find Bash’s father, he spent the first nine years of his life being passed from family to family until his father, Cornelius “Mad” MacLeod takes him on his ship and refuses to let him leave. When he meets Maggie it is practically love at first sight for him. He will do anything to protect her, including taking a beating for her and saving her from the other crew members, by letting them think what they will about him. He would love nothing more than to leave the ship and start a life with her, but with his crazy father on a quest for his lost gold and a navy captain hot on their heels, happy ever after seems impossible. Even if he could leave the ship, he has nothing to offer her and that will never do! It will take a miracle to give him the life he has always dreamed of with Maggie, and Bash has never been that lucky. When all seems lost, a miracle comes in the most amazing way possible, proving sometimes good things happen to good people!

This was a very good story with incredibly likable characters, Sebastian especially. This is not your typical HR read, but it is a very good read nonetheless. I did think the story lagged in places, but overall, it held my attention and really drew me into the story. The book has secrets, danger, great secondary characters, buried treasure, pirates, steamyish love scenes (with a virgin hero!), friendships, life or death moments, reunions, and finally a very sweet ending complete with an epilogue featuring cameos from characters from the previous books. I would happily recommend this book to HR readers, especially those who like a good pirate story!

4.5 stars, rounded up.

*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. *

The Highlander’s Wild Flame by Heather McCollum – Review

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Medieval (1066-1540), Part of a Series, Scottish/Highlander, Tudor Era (1485-1603)Leave a comment

The Highlander’s Wild Flame

Barbara’s rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
Series: Brotherhood of Solway Moss #1
Publication Date: 7/23/24
Period: Medieval – 1544 – Isle of Skye, Scotland
Number of Pages: 384

The prologue briefly acquaints us with the four members of the Brotherhood and how it came to be. For me personally, I would have liked that expanded a bit to learn more about their actual escape and the formation of the Brotherhood rather than just learning their escape was successful and they had formed a Brotherhood. These were four expendable members of their clan who had been given to the English for imprisonment in place of a non-expendable member. No, these weren’t common clan members – they were sons and even heirs to the Lairdships of their clans. All were from various warring clans from the Isle of Skye – sworn enemies – who had to learn to work together so they could escape their captivity. I don’t know if we’ll learn more over the course of the series, but I would have liked to see it in this book. There are plenty of spots that could have been skipped or shortened so the Brotherhood formation could have been expanded.

This book follows Rory MacLeod and Seraphina (Sara) MacDonald, but we also learn more about Sara’s brother Kenan who was imprisoned with Rory in the English prison. We also get an interesting set-up for the second book in the series which will feature Kenan.

Rory MacLeod is the second son of Laird Alasdair MacLeod who is a mean, manipulative, hateful, deceitful man who rules his clan with an iron fist. Rory’s brother, Jamie, heir to the lairdship, is a carbon copy of his father. Both Jamie and the Laird have always taken great pleasure in tormenting and manipulating Rory – even to the point of turning him over to the English to serve in Jamie’s place. Oh! They promised they would ransom him out – but they never did. So, over a lifetime, Rory had learned to never, ever, trust anyone – and the one time he did, she was a traitor and spy.

Sara MacDonald, daughter to Laird Walter MacDonald, has grown up as the target of her father’s wrath and ridicule. While she could have grown bitter, wrathful, distrustful, and disdainful, she was a protector and peacemaker instead. Sara was truthful, always truthful, even when a lie would have saved her from harm or humiliation.

Sara has no love for the MacLeod clan because she has always been taught that they are the enemy and only want to destroy the MacDonald clan. However, she agrees to wed Jamie MacLeod to unite the clans and bring peace. Her father’s actions directly after the wedding shocked her! He locked the entire leadership of the MacLeod clan in the church where the wedding ceremony had just taken place and set the church on fire to burn them all to death. At great risk to her own life, Sara finds a way to save them – only to be met with calls for her own death.

There are spies, thieves, and murderers within Clan MacLeod and it is their mission to make Sara appear to be the guilty party. Do they succeed? They do in a way because Rory is very distrustful of anyone and everyone – especially a female MacDonald. Rory was distrustful of Sara in his head, but in his heart, he felt differently. Sadly, too many times Rory allowed his head to rule.

I did enjoy this book and I thought it was a good setup for the second book and the series. That said, I think Rory’s head ruling his heart went on for too long. Another thing was the issue of the ‘annulment’ of Jamie and Sara’s marriage. Just because the priest agreed and the marriage documents were destroyed as soon as the ceremony was over, I believe the marriage would still have been binding at that time in Scotland. During that period in Scotland, all you had to do was declare you were married before witnesses – and you were married – you didn’t even need a priest. So, the marriage was witnessed by both clans – and should have still been legal. After reading some reviews, I was surprised to find that I not only tolerated but somewhat liked Rory. Sara was my favorite character and I was happy to see her get her HEA – and the setup for the next book sounded like a fun introduction to the heroine.

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

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