The Highlander’s Stolen Bride by Madeline Martin

Tracy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Highland Alliances, #3

Release Date: March 29, 2022

After the death of his father, Calum Campbell, the new head of the banished Campbell clan, just wants peace and to return to Scotland. After his father’s antics, he has little hope that Ross, the MacMillan Chieftain will listen to him, but Calum has a plan, he will abduct Ross’ sister Elspeth and hold her hostage until Ross agrees to a meeting.

Elspeth is on her way to meet her soon-to-be betrothed when the Campbells take her. The Campbell chief killed her father and uncle and were banished from Scotland by the king, their lands given to several clans, including hers. But the Campbell is back and wreaking havoc in an attempt to regain their lands. She is sure they are evil, but once they get to Ireland, she realizes that they are starving and Calum is not his father, he wants peace and a chance to save his clan. She agrees to help them and writes to Ross and sets up a meeting.

Things become complicated by the attraction between them, and each wants to be true to their clans. They hope the meeting with Ross will clear the air and peace can be achieved. But things don’t go as planned and when she learns of more Campbell attacks while she was in Ireland, her father in Calum’s innocence waivers – but when her betrothed grabs her, it is Calum who saves her and when he swears he doesn’t know anything about the attacks, she decides to appeal to her other brother for help. But when they come across another “Campbell” attack in progress, they realize the truth and know that things are going to get much worse unless they can convince Ross that Calum is innocent, which is a seemingly impossible task and makes their chances for a HEA even more unlikely.

This is the final book in the collaboration trilogy following the MacMillan siblings and in my opinion, this one is the best of the three. Calum and Elspeth have such great chemistry and of the three couples, they have the most to overcome. The book is filled with action, intrigue, betrayal, steamy love scenes, shocking revelations, big twists, a nail-biting-hanging on the edge of your seat-OMG ending, and finally a HEA complete with an epilogue. I loved this book and highly recommend it. This is the third book in the series, and while you could read this as a standalone title, I would strongly recommend reading the series in order for the best reader experience.