Audiobook Review: Sleepless in Scotland by May McGoldrick

Series:	Pennington Family #3
Pub. Date:	March 19, 2019
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Narrator:	Saskia Maarleveld
Length:	7 hrs 51 min
Source:	Publisher

Sleepless in Scotland is the third installment of The Pennington Family series, but my first read from May McGoldrick. If you are just starting out with this author, like me, I felt like the book read fine as a standalone. Though now I do plan to go back and read/listen to the earlier installments, as I enjoyed this one.

ARC Review: The Wrong Highlander by Lynsay Sands

Series:	Highland Brides #7
Pub. Date:	Jan 29, 2019
Publisher:	Avon
Length:	384 pgs
Source:	Publisher

The Highland Brides is one of my favorite historical romance series, and I always get excited when a new one is coming out. The Buchanan brood is so fun and boisterous, with sassy and relatable women that find themselves in dangerous situations more often than not. The Wrong Highlander is no exception, and follows the same light-hearted suspense format of the previous books.

Audiobook Review: The Devil of Dunakin Castle by Heather McCollum

Series:	Highland Isles #4
Pub. Date:	May 8, 2018
Publisher:	Entangled Tantor Audio
Narrators:	Tim Campbell
Length:	6 hrs 49 min
Source:	Publisher

This is my first read by Heather McCollum, and I'm sorry that I haven't already read the rest of the Highland Isles series. I quite liked this one! If you are just discovering this author like me, I don't think its absolutely necessary for you to read the earlier books. There are some references to events in earlier books, and maybe a slight spoiler, but nothing major. 

Our heroine is an English lass, Grace Ellington, who has been living on the Isle of Mull with her sister (heroine of a previous book). The only thing I missed by not reading the earlier books was Grace's backstory. I wanted to know how she got to Mull, what happened in her past (it was referenced a few times but not explained), and how she became a healer. While Grace had a couple of reluctant moments early on, she didn't grind on my "reluctant heroine" nerve, and I liked her quite a bit. She was assertive and not afraid to speak her mind, particularly when it came to our hero. She was intelligent and kind and brave. All great qualities.

ARC Review: The Highlander's Promise by Lynsay Sands

Series:	Highlanders #6
Pub. Date:	June 26, 2018
Publisher:	Avon
Length:	384 pgs
Source:	Edelweiss

Lynsay Sands' Highlanders series has been one of my favorites over the last year or so. I love the big rambunctious and loyal Buchanan family, and have enjoyed seeing each brother (and sister) meet their matrimonial end so to speak. But when I saw the blurb for this book and realized it was about Aulay, I got grabby hands. I feel like this may have been my most anticipated installment of the series.

Audiobook Review: The Lady and the Highlander by Lecia Cornwall

Series:	Highland Fairytale #3
Pub Date:	Sept. 20, 2017
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Narrator:	Ruth Urquhart
Length:	9 hrs 30 min
Source:	Publisher

The Lady and the Highlander is a recognizable retelling of Snow White. The Highland setting gave the story a unique twist, as did the villainous scheme of our heroine's evil stepmother. As this series has progressed, I have noticed more of a magical nature to the stories. While When a Laird Finds a Lass only had a touch of magic, this installment of the series was infused with magic and poison and a truly evil villain.

Laire Macleod is one of the twelve daughters of the Fearsome Macleod of Glen Uhler. When Laird Macleod marries again, strange things start happening. Laire's sisters are drinking all night and sleeping all day, and acting oddly birdlike. Her father is so besotted with his new wife than he can't spare a glance for his beloved daughters. And there is definitely something scary and unnatural about Laire's new stepmother (Bibiana) and her servants, even the intriguing huntsman. When Laire realizes what is happening, she has no choice but to flee the danger and find help from someone more experienced. Laire was a good heroine, determined to help her family no matter the danger to herself. I admired that. She was also able to see beneath the facade erected by our hero to see the good and honorable man beneath.

ARC Review: A Devil in Scotland by Suzanne Enoch

Series:	No Ordinary Hero #3
Pub. Date:	Jan. 30, 2018
Publisher:	St. Martin's Press
Length:	320 pgs
Source:	NetGalley

I started this book when I was sitting on an airplane last week (right before I got the dreaded flu from one or more plague passengers), and I had to put it down. The prologue made me feel a bit like I was missing the backstory, so I was worried that this was not a series that you could read out of order. However, I gave it another shot today and I read it in one sitting! For anyone else who hasn't read the earlier books... you are fine reading the series out of order. The prologue confused me at first because you come into the story in the middle of an argument. But that was cleared up and I understood the structure once I got to the first chapter (which takes place 10 years after the prologue).

ARC Review: Surrender to the Highlander by Lynsay Sands

Series:	Highlanders #5
Pub Date:	Jan 30, 2018
Publisher:	Avon
Length:	384 pgs
Source:	Edelweiss

Whenever I see a new Lynsay Sands historical, I get grabby hands! I know every book is going to be a quick fun read that has me laughing out loud, and Surrender to the Highlander was no exception. While you can probably read these books as standalones, I think you will have much more fun with the series if you start at the beginning, with An English Bride in Scotland. 

I am totally head over heels in love with the Buchanan family. While I think my favorite is the broody and scarred Aulay, I can't deny that I would love to hang out with the fun-loving Buchanan brood who tease and taunt each other at every turn. Our hero in this installment is Neils Buchanan, the third son in the family line-up. Saidh Buchanan, the sole sister who is currently large with child, persuades the boys to go check on her friend who had been ill and stopped responded to messages. The boys reluctantly make their way to Drummond keep and quickly discover that someone wishes the Drummonds harm and has been doing a speedy job of dispatching of the family. Neils was a great hero. He was a large lusty lad who was protective over our heroine and determined to discover who meant her harm. Neils wasn't as humorous as some of the brothers, but his reaction to humorous situations was endearing and made me love him all the more.

Audiobook Review: When a Laird Finds a Lass by Lecia Cornwall

Series:	Highland Fairytale #2
Pub. Date:	Aug. 31, 2017
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Narrator:	Ruth Urquhart
Length:	9 hrs 25 min
Source:	Publisher

I love retellings of fairy tales, and the historical Highland twist just makes them too delicious to pass up. When a Laird Finds a Lass is very loosely based on The Little Mermaid. I actually had to think about this one a bit as I didn't see many correlations between this book and the Disney adaptation, but there may be more similarities between this story and the original written work (which I have not read).

Malcolm ban MacDonald was making a living as a lawyer in Edinburgh when he unexpectedly becomes the Highland laird of Dunbronach and is forced to return to his childhood home. Malcolm has been a lowlander for most of his life, so he returns home as an outsider and not fully trusted by his clan. They don't like his lowland ways or dress, and he doesn't believe in the magic, legend and superstition that is bandied about by his clan members. So Malcolm finds himself undertaking many tasks and responsibilities for which he was not prepared, though the clan has only given him one rule really - he must marry a Highland lass, and not one from their dreaded enemy, the MacLeod clan. Malcolm is not your typical Highland laird or Highland hero. He is not an alpha male, nor a rough and tumble Highlander. He has book smarts and some street smarts, but is more comfortable with a rapier than a claymore. Admittedly I prefer a more typical Highlander with kilt and claymore, but Malcolm was still a good hero. He was honorable and wanted to help his clan and our heroine both, even when those desires were at cross purposes. Our hero experiences a good amount of personal growth in this story and discovers that book learning is not the only way to approach the world. He also gets some of his belief in magic back, but I also liked how he made some magic of his own by things that he did for the clan.

Audiobook Review: Beauty and the Highland Beast by Lecia Cornwall

Series:	Highland Fairytale #1
Pub. Date:	June 20, 2017
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Narrator:	Ruth Urquhart
Length:	9 hrs 33 min
Source:	Publisher

I have had Beauty and the Highland Beast on my TBR for a while, so I was happy to see it come out in audio just in time for my latest road trip. I'm a sucker for Beauty and the Beast retellings, so I was extra excited about a Highland beast!

Dair Sinclair is our beast. He is a once proud son, rumored to be a pirate, with all the cocky swagger that entails. But after being captured and tortured, Dair has returned home a broken man whom most of his clan thinks to be mad. Between injuries, scars and nightmares, he made a sympathetic beast.

ARC Review: Highland Commander by Amy Jarecki

Series:	Lords of the Highlands #2
Pub. Date:	June 27, 2017
Publisher:	Forever Romance
Length:	384 pages
Source:	NetGalley

I'm traveling and working in a remote location right now, so it took me forever to read this book. Like a whole week or more! That is an eternity when it comes to how fast I can normally get my books read. I find that it takes some of the enjoyment out of the story when I keep having to put it down and pick it back up. Luckily, Amy has written a captivating page turner full of attraction, political intrigue, and espionage! 

ARC Review: Ever My Love by Lynn Kurland

Series:	Macleod #10
Pub. Date:	Apr. 4, 2017
Publisher:	Berkley Jove
Length:	336 pages
Source:	NetGalley

As a fan of time travel stories, particularly Scottish historicals, I have been wanting to try Lynn Kurland for quite a while. I have actually been stockpiling her MacLeod/De Piaget books, but just haven't found time to fit them onto my reading calendar.  When I saw this new release available, I decided that I would jump in here - even though its the 10th book in the series - and hope that it worked okay as a standalone.

If you have not read the earlier Macleod/De Piaget books (like me), I would recommend that you go back and read those first before starting Ever My Love. There is a lot of character crossover and I felt a bit lost as I was reading this one, and often had the sense that I was missing something. While this story didn't work as a standalone for me... the Scottish setting did make me want to go back and read the earlier books. Kurland's love of Scotland comes across in her writing and really make me want to visit (and find a Highlander of my own). 

BookShots Mini Review: Bedding the Highlander by Sabrina York

Pub. Date:	March 7, 2017
Publisher:	BookShots
Length:	160 pages
Source:	NetGalley

This is the first time I have tried any of the BookShots novellas, and I can definitely see their value when you want something super quick that you can finish over a lunch break or waiting on an oil change, etc. Bookshots are essentially novellas of every sort (around 150 pages), and the Flames imprint focuses on romance stories, both contemporary and historical. I like this idea, and I think I will check out more of them in the future, although I wish that they were available on Kindle Unlimited.

I love Sabrina York's Untamed Highlanders series, so I thought her novella would be a good place to start. This story falls in the arranged marriage trope, with some deception and mistaken identity thrown in.

ARC Review: Highland Vixen by Mary Wine

Series:	Highland Weddings #2
Pub. Date:	Feb. 7, 2017
Publisher:	Sourcebooks Casa.
Length:	320 pages
Source:	NetGalley

The rich colors in the covers of this series continually draw my eye and make it impossible for me to resist. I read the initial installment of this series, Highland Spitfire, last year and I remembered really liking Helen Grant as a secondary character. Unfortunately as soon as the book started, I found myself wishing for a prologue recapping what happened in that first book (at least with regards to Helen). It felt like the story was starting in the middle and I couldn't remember the back story for the life of me. So here's a little recap of how Helen came to be at the MacPherson keep. She was stolen! In recompense for her brothers thieving cattle from the clan, Helen was taken away and deposited at the keep as a hostage, where she was not made to feel welcome by the suspicious and sometimes haughty clan members.

ARC Review: Tartans and Trysts by Victoria Roberts

Pub. Date:	Nov 1, 2016
Publisher:	Knight Media
Length:	456 pages
Source:	Victoria Roberts

This review is for Tartans and Trysts, the novella in this collection by Victoria Roberts. In the interest of disclosure, I am a member of the Bad Girls of the Highlands, the street team for Victoria Roberts. I received an advanced review copy of this novella.

I was quite surprised that the heroine of this novella is Sorcha Gunn, who was such a vile character in Kilts and Kisses. It's probably a good thing that I couldn't remember exactly what her poor behavior entailed in the prior book, because it may have prevented me from liking her character in this story. It seems like Sorcha has seen the error of her ways and has decided to redeem herself, which was definitely not easy. Sorcha had to go head to head with her family to right not only her wrongs, but their past misdeeds as well. I did not envy her, but I do think that she displayed a good amount of character growth and was able to redeem herself. 

Audiobook Review: Highland Chieftain by Hannah Howell

Series:	Murray #21
Pub. Date:	Sept. 27, 2016
Publishers:	Tantor Audio Kensington/Zebra
Narrator:	Angela Dawe
Length:	352 pages 8 hrs 35 min
Source:	Publisher

The Murray series has been around quite a long time, over fifteen years if I am remembering correctly. While I haven't read the whole series, I am a fan of Hannah Howell and do pick up one of her books occasionally when I'm in the mood for a lil' bit o' Scotland. This latest installment of the series surprised me a bit with darker tones than I remember reading from her other books.

ARC Review: My Seductive Highlander by Maeve Greyson

Series:	Highland Hearts #4
Pub. Date:	Oct. 11, 2016
Publisher:	Loveswept
Length:	240 pages
Source:	NetGalley

The Highland Hearts series is wrapped up with this final installment featuring the youngest Sinclair sister in modern-day Edinburgh, and a cursed dragon turned ladies man exiled from his time. This has been a fun light-hearted time travel series, and I have enjoyed joining this quirky family on their journey across time.

ARC Review: Mad for the Plaid by Karen Hawkins

Series:	Oxenburg Princes #3
Pub. Date:	August 30, 2016
Publisher:	Pocket Books
Length:	384 pages
Source:	NetGalley

This third installment of the Oxenburg Princes series has been much anticipated, as we are finally getting the story of the Crown Prince Nikolai Romanovin. This series has been a lot of fun and I'm a little sad that it's coming to an end.  I would love to see more of Tata Natasha!

ARC Review: Snakes in the Garden by Victoria Roberts and C.A. Roberts

Pub. Date:	July 26, 2016
Publisher:	Self-Pub
Length:	102 pages
Source:	Author

This short novella from Victoria Roberts and her daughter is unique and captivating, and I hope to see more from this duo in the future.

ARC Review: Highland Awakening by Jennifer Haymore

Series: Highland Knights #2

Pub. Date:  March 29, 2016

Publisher:  Loveswept

Pages:  248

Format:  eARC

Source:  NetGalley

This review is way late! I managed to put it on my calendar for May instead of March. Oops. I'm letting it slip that I don't always have it perfectly together! So I apologize to Jennifer Haymore, Loveswept and NetGalley for being tardy. (I received an advanced copy of this book from Loveswept via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.) This was a nice quick romantic read that made my crack of dawn Southwest flight pass in the blink of an eye.  So, yay!

The Highland Knights are a group of soldiers who have come home from Waterloo and banded together as a mercenary group to conduct special assignments for the Crown. In this installment, the Knights' assignment is to guard the odious Lord Pinfield, who has been receiving threats against his life.  While performing his guarding assignment, Camden McLeod, our hero, keeps running across Lady Esme Hawkins, our heroine. I really liked Camden's character. Having shunned his father, and society, due to their questionable values, Cam is an honorable sort unlike the masses of male chauvinists and adulterers common for the time. I loved the way that he took care of his sister, Anna, and vowed to not treat women as his father, the Earl of Sutton, treated his mother. His somewhat gruff and bulldozing ways also endeared him to me, even though they sent Esme running the other way on occasion.

Our heroine, Esme Hawkins, is the youngest sibling of the House of Trent.  So this book is kind of a spinoff from that series, because there is a lot of character crossover and detail mentioned about those books. I have yet to read them, so I felt I was lacking some backstory. But despite that, I still enjoyed this romance. Esme is a bit of a tortured heroine due to some events that have happened in her past (which I assume are detailed in the Trent books). She is shy and awkward and never says the right thing. She tends to be a bit of a klutz at societal events. But she has a hidden passionate side and has secretly authored a number of romance novels. I liked Esme and could totally relate to her klutzy social awkwardness.  I just wish I had read the Trent books so that I was more informed about her history and family life.

I loved the relationship between Esme and Cam. He was a bit of a steamroller when it came to obtaining what he wanted, namely, Esme. The chemistry between the two was sweetly passionate... but the steam built to an explosive point quickly.  I liked that these books have been more on the erotic side than mainstream historical romances. I loved that Cam's initimate preferences matched his demeanor and personality... and they certainly kept me riveted on the very early morning flight. I look forward to Colin's story next in Highland Temptation.

Favorite quote:

Dinna think you can keep any part of yourself from me, Esme. I’m going to learn all your secrets. I’m going to know every inch of you. Of your mind, of your thoughts, of your body. Then we’ll see what you think about marrying Henry Whitworth.

Highland Knights