Friday, December 1, 2017

Audiobook Review: Highland Mist by Donna Grant

Series:     Druids Glen #1
Pub. Date:Oct 17, 2017
Publisher:Tantor Audio
Narrator:Ruth Urquhart
Length:8 hrs 39 min
Source:Publisher


The Druids Glen series brings the magic of the Highlands to life with druids, fae and the magical mists that are so prevalent in Scottish folklore. The narrator, Ruth Urquhart, did a good job with the narration. She has great performance ability and is able to handle male and different female affectations with ease.

This series starts off with a prophecy and the brutal murder of the Sinclair clan and kidnapping of the youngest daughter, Glenna, by the ruthless MacNeil laird. Thinking to use Glenna for her druid abilities, MacNeil raises her in his cruel household and she remains ignorant of her origins. Luckily the life of strife and oppression did not crush Glenna's spirit, and I was happy she took charge of her fate when the time was right. Glenna took a big risk putting her trust in an enemy Highlander, but she followed her instinct and never looked back. Glenna was a decent heroine. She was determined to learn, both about her past and about her druid origins and powers. She also stayed positive, for the most part, where her relationship with our hero was concerned.

Laird Connall MacInness was the more complex of our main characters. Part of a clan that took an oath to protect the druids, Connall has turned his back on the druid ways in anger. Initially taking Glenna as a means to an end, as they grow closer, Connall becomes more conflicted about his feelings, oaths he has taken, and duties to his clan and the druids. The author did a good job at laying out Connall's conflicts and getting you emotionally invested in his character. He had to make some tough decisions and he often did not have any good options.

The relationship between Glenna and Connall was a slow burn almost to the end. He had to overcome his personal feelings and prejudices toward the druids, and Glenna was learning to live her life as a free woman, and accept the powers granted to her by the fae. Speaking of the fae, I always love when they pop up in Scottish stories, and I would have loved to see more of them. The story did have some interesting secondary characters, particularly the other druids and Amery.

One character that I couldn't quite get my head around was Gregor. There was so much mystery surround him, his past and his motivations, that I couldn't quite understand his character. I often didn't know where his alliances lay, and he just felt too jumbled to me. However, I believe Gregor will be the hero in a future installment of the series, so I imagine all will be explained at that point.

Overall, I really liked the folklore of the story. However I would have liked to see more action, suspense and chemistry between our main characters. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this audiobook that I received from the publisher, Tantor Audio.

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