Category: Top Pick – Highly Recommended

The Highlander’s Bridal Bid by Nicole Locke ~ Blog Tour

On By TracyIn Blog Tour, Book Publicity, Medieval (1066-1540), Middle Ages / Medieval (476-1454), Part of a Series, Scottish/Highlander, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

The Highlander’s Bridal Bid

Finding his future wife
means revisiting his past… 

After making a pact with his brother to find a bride by the year’s end, warrior Camron of Clan Graham faces his toughest battle yet: to win defiant Anna, his first love. She’s fiercely protective of her family and her independence, so Highlander Camron must prove to Anna that she’s more than just a bet—and that he’s a man she can trust with her safety and her heart! 

Purchase Links:

UK ~ US ~ Books2Read

Author Bio:

Nicole first discovered romance novels hidden in her grandmother’s closet. Convinced hidden books must be better, Nicole greedily read them. It was only natural she should start writing them (but now not so secretly). If she isn’t working on the next book in her historical series, she can’t be found. No, seriously. Because she’s always working on the next story!

Social Media Links:

Website ~ Instagram ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

Giveaway – Win a Signed Copy of The Highlander’s Bridal Bid (Open Internationally)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will be passed to the giveaway organizer and used only for fulfillment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for the despatch or delivery of the prize.

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Tracy’s Review:

The Highlander's Bridal Bid (Lovers and Highlanders #1)The Highlander’s Bridal Bid by Nicole Locke

Tracy’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Lovers and Highlanders, #1

Release Date: November 29, 2022

Anna of Clan Graham has not had an easy time in the last few years. Her mother died not long after birthing Anna’s brother, leaving a young Anna to raise her younger sister and brother. She devoted her life to them and believed that no one would ever want her. But then she met Alan Maclean and fell hard. She believed he was her future and gave him her heart and everything else. But she was not the only lass Alan was wooing and he shattered not only her heart, but her trust.

Camron of Clan Graham has been in love with Anna Graham for most of his life, but the time has never been right to pursue her. Being five years her junior was his first hurdle, then when he felt old enough to approach her, it seemed like she had found love with another. Faced with losing his chance with her, Camron tried to forget her and spent the next few years training and scouting for the clan. But now he is back and Anna is once again free, having had her heart broken. He decides that now is the time, especially after a night spent drinking with his twin brother Hamilton ends in a bet about who will marry first. He is sure he can win her, as long as she never learns of the wager…

This was a well-written, nicely-paced story of longing, love, and trust. This novel was a delight to read, I loved Camron’s dedication to winning Anna and his interactions with his brother. Anna was a bit harder to like, she has been hurt and trust is hard for her to give, which made her seem a bit shrewish. But her love for her family, especially her younger brother whose foot is misshapen and has made it hard for him to fit in with the other boys in the clan. She truly has a heart of gold, but betrayal left it a bit tarnished, lucky for her Camron would love nothing more than to be the man to bring back her shine. This is the first book in a new series and besides giving the reader a beautiful love story, we are given glimpses of the next book and possibly a third! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would happily recommend it, especially for medieval and High-Middle Ages of Scotland lovers.

*I was gifted a copy of this title as part of a Blog Tour, but I purchased a copy for my library when the book was released. – All opinions in this review are my own.*

The Notorious Lord Knightly by Lorraine Heath

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Part of a Series, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Victorian Era (1837-1901)Leave a comment

The Notorious Lord Knightly (The Chessmen: Masters of Seduction, #2) Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: The Chessmen: Masters of Seduction #2
Publication Date: 6/27/23
Period: Victorian London – 1875 (mostly)
Number of Pages: 384

This author always manages to take a character I was prepared to totally dislike and makes them, not only tolerable but very likable. From what I’d seen in some discussions, I was thoroughly convinced there was no way she could make me even tolerate Lord Knightly. I was, of course, wrong. I came to not only tolerate him but love him and I hope you will as well. I guess it goes to prove that we should never judge someone – especially if we don’t know the whole story. He was a young man forced into a choice that no one should ever have to make. Did he make the right choice? I’m sure you’ll decide for yourself after you read the book, but for me, I think perhaps he did. He just handled it very, very, very badly.

Five years ago the Earl of Knightly met Miss Regina Leyland at her come-out ball. He never intended to be there in the first place, but once he saw her, he was smitten. Regina was the illegitimate daughter of the Earl of Bremsford, but she was acknowledged and loved by her father – who also loved her mother. Regina’s father was oblivious to the reality of her life situation and he thought that just because he loved her and accepted her that all of society would as well. This ball was to find her a husband and she knew all of the eligible males who were there were only there because of the large dowry she had. Then, she was introduced to a man who seemed to care nothing about her dowry or her illegitimacy. How could she not fall in love with him? Theirs was an epic love story – until the day of the wedding when he arrived at the church and announced they would not marry.

Regina has had five years to stew about the way Knight had left her life in shambles. She is the one who paid the price for his betrayal. She lived abroad for a while – and when she came back, she was ready for revenge. Only, that revenge backfired, and – once again – Knight comes out the winner and she is in jeopardy.

Knight does his best to come to her rescue – and to keep his distance. Can Knight save Regina and still walk away again? Can Regina learn to even tolerate Knight after what he did to her? I absolutely loved the way Regina held on to her anger – because she had every right to that anger – she wasn’t bitter, but she was very distrustful of Knight. She questioned his every motive – even those that seemed to bring only good to her and bad to him. Can Regina ever get past the anger and hurt? Can she find love again with someone else? You’ll just have to read the book to see.

I can highly recommend this book. In it, you have an epic love story, a gut-wrenching betrayal, a villain, and an epilogue that will make your heart swell to the point of bursting. The writing is excellent, the pacing is near perfect, and the characters are deep and interesting. It is definitely a great read.

The Chessmen are four steadfast friends who have stood by each other since they met at school. One of the things they do is make pots of money as they are very good at investing. We first met them in the second book (The Duchess Hunt) of the Once Upon A Duke series where King finds his HEA. Bishop finds his HEA in the first book of this series – The Counterfeit Scoundrel. So, after this book, the last man standing will be Rook and I can only imagine it will be quite entertaining because in this book Rook tells Knight that love will never have its way with him. HA!

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

View all my reviews