Tag: Madeline Martin

Enchantment of a Highlander by Madeline Martin

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

Enchantment of a HighlanderEnchantment of a Highlander by Madeline Martin

Tracy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Heart of the Highlands, #3

Release Date: 1/19/2016 – Re-Released: 2022

Another great book by Ms. Martin! This book is about Alec and Celia. Alec is the final member of the trio we met in the first book. I hesitate to call this a series because the three books are in no way connected to each other – save the fact the three heroes know each other and were all introduced to us in the first book. Each story so far has centered solely on the current hero of the book. Other than a passing mention of the other heroes – the books have no connection at all.

Alec meets Celia when he is injured defending a young woman on the road from outlaws. He was returning home to claim his inheritance now that his father is dead. Alec left ten years ago and hasn’t been home since. Celia is a healer with a dark and troubled past. As much as she is attracted to the new Laird, she knows that she must not become involved. She tends his wounds and sends him on his way.

Alec is besotted with Celia and fully intends to have her as his mistress – but first, he has to set his castle to rights, regain the trust of his people and rid his lands of the outlaws that are raiding and terrorizing the castle and village. Thanks to his father’s actions over the past ten years, he has no allies, a ruined castle, and no warriors to help him. So as much as he wants Celia, he doesn’t have the time to pursue her – yet.

Celia is haunted by the past – she was orphaned and taken in by a loving woman who was later accused of witchcraft and who sacrificed herself to save Celia. Celia believes that she can’t let anyone love her because she will only bring them pain and heartache. She keeps to herself and avoids getting too attached to anyone. She has never even been tempted by a man – until she meets Alec.

Alec and Celia meet again two weeks later and Celia gives in to the temptation of Alec and seduces him. Frighten by the emotions their encounter generated in her, she runs away. Alec looks for her, but cannot leave his people unprotected for days to search for her. His lands are still overrun with outlaws and he doesn’t have the manpower to drive them off.

Celia has been gone for three months and Alec is getting desperate. He finally asks his neighboring laird – Laird MacDougall for help. MacDougall will help – for a price – he wants Alec to wed his daughter Saraid. Alec is not happy about this but tells the laird that he will consider it.

Cold and almost starving, Celia finally returns home – she was not able to support herself away from Alec’s lands because people feared she was a witch. Alec sees her in the village and follows her. She firmly rebuffs his advances and tells him to stay away from her. He reluctantly agrees to leave her alone but begs her to come and tend Duncan – his ward, who is deathly ill. She tends Duncan – but is determined not to become attached to anyone.

One day while returning to her cottage she is chased by a witch hunter – she is terrified and turns to Alec. She won’t tell him what happened – but agrees to stay in the castle for her own protection. Once she is living in the castle, she and Alec become lovers, he asks her to marry him, and she bolts. Upon returning to her cottage, she finds it ransacked and all her belongings destroyed. She doesn’t know what she will do to survive and then Duncan shows up and tells her that the MacDougall is hunting her and that she is not safe at the cottage – but he knows a place for her to hide.

Alec is fighting his own demons – he fears he is like his father and believes that the darkness inside him is the reason Celia has left him. He tries to respect her wishes and leaves her alone. When the attacks on his lands escalate – he again turns to the MacDougall for help and finds out that MacDougall is looking for Celia – who he believes is a witch. Alec agrees to help him find Celia and marry Saraid. He has no intention whatsoever of turning Celia over to him but plays along with him.

Celia remains hidden for about a week, but a desperate situation draws her out and she is confronted by Saraid. She is able to escape and makes it back to her hiding place. When Saraid’s father finds out that his “witch” has finally been caught – he orders Alec to arrest her. Alec knows where she is hiding -but knows if he goes to her, she will be caught. Duncan not realizing that it was a trap, runs to her hiding place to warn her. They are both caught and Alec has to pretend he is betraying her to save them.

To find out what happens, you are going to have to read the book – the ending of this book was a nail-biting (if I did that sort of thing – which I don’t), page-turning, edge of your seat, OMG, OMG, OMG read!

Seriously – this book is not to be missed! The writing is fabulous, the love scenes are hot, the villains are certifiable and warped, the plot is complex but easy to follow and the epilogue is adorable.

*I received an eARC of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin

On By TracyIn Historical Fiction, Standalone Title, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's Reviews, World War II Era (1939-1945)Leave a comment

The Librarian Spy: A Novel of World War IIThe Librarian Spy: A Novel of World War II by Madeline Martin

Tracy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: N/A

Release Date: July 26, 2022

Helene Belanger lives in occupied Lyon, France, and longs to join the Resistance, but her husband Joseph, who fought in the Great War is adamantly opposed, which leads to a fight and Joesph storming out. It has been two days and he has not returned, Helene is worried, she cannot go to the police as they are in with the Gestapo, and even Joesph’s best friend Etienne is missing. She is debating her options when there is a knock at her door and a woman looking for a man named Pierre, she is frantic, she is Jewish and needs new ID papers and Helene soon realizes that her husband is the man she is looking for and gives the woman her own papers. She then sets out to find Etienne for answers, but he finds her when she is stopped by the Nazi patrol asking for her papers. Etienne gives the man papers, proclaiming her to be Elaine Rousseau. Etienne takes her back to his flat and Helene learns the awful truth, her husband is part of the Resistance and has been captured. At that moment, Helene is no more and Elaine is born, Elaine who will stop at nothing to save her husband and annihilate the Nazis. She begins to work for the Resistance by delivering and later printing anti-Nazi tracts. It is how she meets a young Jewish woman named Sarah and her son Noah, Sarah’s husband Lewis is in America, she stayed behind to tend to her sick mother, thinking that she would be safe. But now she is being hunted and has no way to get a visa or even a flight to the States. Despite being told to leave it be by her superiors, she can’t ignore Sarah’s plight, with so much loss in her life, she needs to help them and sends a coded message in the Resistance’s publication “Combat”.

Ava Harper is a librarian working in the Rare Book Room at the Library of Congress when she is asked to join the war effort by working for the Office of Strategic Services, gathering publications that may contain covert information on the Nazis. She would have to relocate to Lisbon, Portugal, a trip that she is not keen on making, but when she is reminded that her brother Daniel and many other soldiers fighting in the war need this intel, there is no way she can decline and makes the move to Lisbon. She is trying to settle in but soon learns that spies abound in Lisbon, and feels somewhat adrift. But luckily, an experienced British agent intervenes and takes her in under his wing and soon she is making her own contacts with other agents and the many refugees seeking asylum in neutral Portugal. She falls into a routine of collecting papers and magazines each day from around the world, and it is in the French paper “Combat” that she finds a coded message begging for help in extricating a young Jewish woman and her child from occupied Lyon and reuniting them with her husband in America. And even though her job is to simply collect data, there is no way Ava can ignore this cry for help. And so begins a joint collaboration to save Sarah and Noah from under the noses of the Nazis.

When I first read the blurb for this book, I was sure I wouldn’t like a story with two protagonists’ POVs, but couldn’t have been more wrong! The imagery and the attention to historic detail are outstanding and the writing is practically flawless. I was sucked in from the first page and could barely read the words fast enough to satisfy my need to know what would happen next. Be warned and have your tissues at the ready, because war is ugly and cruel, and this book doesn’t shy away from the horrors, nor does it sugarcoat the egregious acts perpetrated by the Nazis. But even with death, destruction, and malice running rampant, there are moments of joy, comradery, and even love, that save this book from becoming a dark, depressing read. I loved this story and can’t recommend this powerful and emotional story highly enough.

*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.*