Category: Tracy’s Reviews

The Forbidden Realm by Diana Cosby

On By TracyIn Medieval (1066-1540), Middle Ages / Medieval (476-1454), Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

Forbidden Realm (Forbidden, #5)Forbidden Realm by Diana Cosby

Tracy’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Forbidden #5

Release Date: April 14, 2020

When Sir Ronan O’Connor and Lady Lathir McConaghy meet for the first time – it is certainly not love at first sight. Ronan mistakes her for the wife of his former Knight Templar brethren, Stephan, Earl of Dunsmore, but soon learns that Lathir is nothing like Katherine. Lathir takes him down and proves that she is more than capable of protecting herself.

Ronan is in Scotland to meet King Robert and has been tasked with returning to Ireland with Lathir’s father, Lord Sionn and returning with weapons for the Scots king. They are not thrilled to learn that they will be traveling together – but when the ship is attacked and Lord Sionn is abducted – they will work together to first survive and then save her father.

Neither is looking for love, Ronan believes a family is not for him, raised by an abusive man when he was orphaned, he ran away and never planned to return to Ireland and when Lathir lost her betrothed two years ago, she never expected to find another man that captured her interest. But circumstances force them to rely on each other and they form a friendship that leads to the love of a lifetime.

This was a well written, fast-paced story with strong lead characters, secrets, heartache, sea battles, abductions, surprises, sacrifices, mild love scenes, a heartwarming secondary romance and a HEA that seemed impossible until it wasn’t. This is the fifth book in the Forbidden series, but it could easily be read as a standalone title. While not as steamy as I usually like, I enjoyed the story and happily recommend to medieval fans.

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

The Highlander’s English Bride by Anna Campbell

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Regency Era (1811-1820), Scottish/Highlander, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

The Highlander's English Bride (The Lairds Most Likely, #6)The Highlander’s English Bride by Anna Campbell

Tracy’s rating: 3/3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Lairds Most Likely, #6

Release Date: March 30, 2020

Hamish Douglas, Laird of Glen Lyon is sure that Emily Baylor, the daughter of his mentor, is the most annoying girl in the solar system and as an astronomer, he knows what he is talking about! He is at an event honoring his discovery of a comet and Emily is insisting his calculations are incorrect. Annoying she may be, but Emily is one of the smartest people he knows. He agrees to hear her out, but not in the ballroom – he convinces her to go to the gardens and from there things go from bad to worse. Not only is she right about his math, but they get caught in the rain and are discovered together while Hamish is trying to sneak Emily out.

With both there reputations ruined, they will have to marry – something that neither is happy about, but needs must, so Emily will only marry him if Hamish agrees to a paper marriage – his even less happy about this, but agrees, secretly hoping their marriage will progress and they will be happy. Hamish does his best to make Emily happy and believes that they can have a good marriage, but when her father dies and she sinks into grief, Hamish is heartbroken, but respects her wishes and leaves her alone. When Emily learns that he is gone she realizes that is not what she wanted, but it is too late – or is it?

This was a well written, fast paced read with a hero to die for – Hamish is far and away my favorite hero in this series – he is of course a hulking, handsome highlander, but he is also brilliant, kind and caring. And in my opinion – deserved a better heroine. I really did not like Emily – she was unreasonable, selfish and self-centered for the first part of the book and unfortunately the way the book is written, I have no idea what changed for her in the 10 months between “Part 1” and “Part 2” – she lets her husband walk away at the end of Part 1 and then sets out to win him at the beginning of Part 2 – why? I really don’t know. I guess I am supposed to believe that they always were attracted to each other and secretly liked each other – I can believe Hamish did – but Emily was too nasty and negative in the first part for me to believe that she harbored secret feelings for years – I really wish the reader had been given more insight as to why Emily underwent such a huge transformation between Part 1 and Part 2 and why did it take so long for her to go after him, because I feel like l missed something major. That aside, once they meet again, the sparks fly and it seems like HEA is a given, but not everyone is ready to believe that Emily really cares for Hamish or that an English bride is right for the Laird of Glen Lyon. This was an interesting story, with a lot of emotion, steamyish love scenes, a wonderful hero, cameos with former characters and a HEA. This is the sixth book in the series, but can easily be read as a stand-alone title.