The Highlander (Medieval Warriors Trilogy, #3) By Heather Grothaus

Made me cry several times. 1420102427 Novela romántica histórica, ambientada en Escocia, cerca del lago Lomond. Está envuelta en un halo de magia y supersticiones que te llevarán a descubrir una historia de mentiras, traiciones y dolor. La autora ha sabido llevarme poco a poco y meterme totalmente en la trama.
Aunque son muchas las novelas de este subgénero que he leído y podría decirse que todas siguen un mismo patrón, a mi esta me ha sorprendido y enganchado de forma que he terminado la lectura emocionada y con una sonrisa. Ambos protagonistas son dos personajes estupendos, bien definidos, que me han hecho sonreír y sufrir a partes iguales.
A los amantes de este subgénero os gustará leerla. 1420102427 Weak hero, awful plot *SPOILERS*

This book was horrible! This is the first book by this author that I’ve read and I don’t think I’ll read another. Let’s list all the things wrong with this book (it might be a bit of a rant so prepare for spoilers).

Hero was a weak and spineless jerk. There’s supposedly a curse on his clan MacKerrick that says until a Buchanan (a rival clan and the clan where the “witch” was from) child is born to lead the hero’s clan, they’ll suffer. Hero is supposedly the clan chief but what does he do to try to solve the devastation that this curse brought to his people? He runs away... yep our “hero” decides to jet off on his own and leave the others to their fate. Wow what a swell guy.

Then by pure chance he finds a woman staying in a hunting cabin on MacKerrick lands that claims to be a Buchanan. What luck, right? So he decides to con her into getting pregnant by him. Some weird twist actually has the woman proposing marriage to him (maybe that was supposed to make the reader feel better that the hero is basically trying to use a woman and her future child? Who knows.). Another twist... this woman is scared of giving birth because she’s seen many births not go so well for the either the child, mother, or both and she also had her mother die in childbirth. What does this guy do? He manhandles her and explains to her in a vague way what he wants to do so that she’ll agree but not know the full consequences. When I say manhandles here is what I mean... in one paragraph he is shoving her around towards the bed and using a “bruising grip”. Exsqueeze me? He needs a swift karate chop to the throat and a knee to the groin for those actions. I’ll stop there in how utterly horrid I found the situation.

Then, she’s suddenly pregnant and he’s revealing about the curse and she’s revealing that she’s not actually a Buchanan. At which point he flies into a fury and states that he renounces both her and the child. EXCUSE ME?! Is he shooting for worst human of the year? So first you trick the woman into getting pregnant and then you find out she doesn’t factor into your nefarious plans so you literally renounce and then abandon her at about 7 months pregnant in a hut. At that advanced stage of pregnancy she wouldn’t have been able to travel very far to get help for the childbirth, she wouldn’t have been able to hunt very well to keep herself and her many animals fed, and if she were to die in childbirth but the child lived there would be no one to keep that child alive. He brushes it off as he was doing it for her sake so she could escape the curse. Puhlease don’t feed me that idiot line. His whiny butt should have been left to rot in the woods. The hero must have learned his horribleness from his mother as after hearing what she did even I wanted to curse her!

In addition to all that mess, the emotions between the characters were nonexistent. I felt no love or emotion or even desire between the two MCs. Even the emotions between other characters was terrible. It seemed the author didn’t really know how an actually human being would react in situations so she just threw in an emotion and hoped for the best.

Also, why was the heroine’s “gift” never explained? She seemed to be able to hear animals thoughts. Why? Could they understand her? It wasn’t ever explained to the reader or the characters in the book. Just made to seem like it was completely normal when no one else is able to do it. In addition, at the end her wolf all of a sudden reverts back to being a wild animal? What? How does that make sense? Not only that but goes in and out of wildness when she’s saying goodbye to the heroine. Not at all realistic.

The book and the characters in it were horrible. DO NOT READ. 1420102427 4.5 stars

A great book, about two lonely people finding strength in each other. Sweet and tender mostly, which is not usually my style, but heartwrenching in the end, it pulled me in from the start till the end. The hero was amazing -until he did something that I wanted to hit him on the head- and while the heroine was annoying at times, I generally liked her. I liked the way their relationship evolved, slow and hesitantly at first, but deep and strong in the end, and I loved seeing them together. Tame love scenes, sketchy highlands' background, but still a very nice, emotional read. I really enjoyed this! 1420102427 Es un libro muy liviano y entretiene. El romance entre la protagonista y Conall no es tan interesante (personalmente) como la relación de la protagonista y Alinor (la loba), que logró emocionarme bastante en algunos momentos.

Es recomendable para pasar el rato ya que es muy rápido de leer. 1420102427

Summary ✓ PDF, eBook or Kindle ePUB free ´ Heather Grothaus

From Heather Grothaus comes a tale of desire and deception in Scotland, AD 1076, and of the couple whose love could bring two clans together—or rip them apart...

When Evelyn Godewin departs from her native England, she's looking for a new beginning. Yet fate has other plans in store for her when she's left stranded alone in an unforgiving highland forest, hunted by wolves as winter sets in. Determined to make the best of her surroundings, Evelyn seeks shelter in an abandoned cottage in the woods. But when Conall MacKerrick, a highland chief, bursts into the cottage and accuses her of trespassing, Evelyn tells him a lie she knows she will regret one day. Much to her surprise, she finds herself falling in love with the highlander.

Conall MacKerrick believes his clan is cursed, and when he meets Evelyn he thinks he has found the key to lifting that curse. He must marry her—or at the least, get her with child. Seducing the striking beauty is the only way to save his people and his pride. Even as he begins to trust that she will heal not only his people's troubles, but his own heart, he discovers the secret that could destroy their newfound love. The Highlander (Medieval Warriors Trilogy, #3)

The third book in the Medieval Warriors Trilogy, and probably my favourite. No surprises there really when the hero is a loveable Highlander. I've really enjoyed this series. Quick and easy to read, I found this novel hard to put down. 1420102427 Great story...I love romances like this one. 1420102427 Really good baby making parts..... betrayal and love! this was a good book! 1420102427 I am not sure how I finished the book because it was a really silly story. The writing was not so great with repeated usage of the same phrases over and over again. The hero and heroine crying out of nowhere m, abrupt actions of the characters make the book almost funny.

But I read on. It was not a chore to continue like most 2 stars books for me. Conrall and Eve both lied to each other. Their relationship started in a hut where they were isolated for a long time. Cone all decided to marry Eve because of a curse (yeah you heard me right). And he believed that it would lift the curse for his clan, who cares about the woman and her wishes? Let me beget a son by her. He was supposed to be an alpha male I suppose? (Aren't all highlanders supposed to be?) But he wasn't. He was superstitious and kind of weak in mind. I thought wow that's some caveman thinking.

Eve was a weird heroine too. She had a weird character, sometimes strong sometimes quite a ninny. She had her outbursts but she wasn't crazy mad, which saved her in my eyes. But her fears about birthing seemed really childish, the way it was portrayed. Her reactions to certain situations were TSTL. Overall, not a great heroine.

The whole who is the Buchanan child from Minerva thing was not well done. The old clam feud resulted from a forbidden love didn't really work for me. I lost track and interests in whatever the mystery was supposed to be resolved. Somehow Conrall and Eve could be together, that was the end. 1420102427 Evelyn Godewin has made a dangerous journey to Scotland with only an old Scottish woman by the name of Minerva Buchanan by her side. Evelyn escaped from England and the harsh priory she resided in at after her father's murder. There was nothing keeping her in England, and she accepted the invitation from Minerva to accompany her back to the land where she was born. Before they can reach a safe haven, Minerva succumbs to the after life, leaving Evelyn alone. But Evelyn is not alone, and those who watch her are out for her blood. Some wild wolves come upon her, and as Evelyn runs for her life, she ends up falling over the edge of a precipice where no one can hear her scream.

Conall MacKerrick is his highland clan's loyal chief, but his guidance cannot help his people. Not only is he trying to get over the death of his wife in childbirth, the sad conclusion to a pregnancy she never wanted, but he is trying to find a way to break a decade's old curse set upon his clan. There is no food to feed his people, and it looks as if the land is about to have its harshest winter ever. Conall makes his clan believe that he is leaving to look for game, but in actuality, he is going to beg forgiveness from Angus Buchanan, the brother of the woman who cursed his clan.

Conall is thrilled to come across his dead uncle's hunting lodge but is shocked to find a woman and a huge black wolf residing inside! Evelyn was able to save herself even though she was badly hurt. She also came across a black wolf that helped defend her against the grey wolves who wanted to kill her. Evelyn has a special trait where she can hear an animal's thoughts. Evelyn and Alinor, as she decides to name the wolf, find shelter in the abandoned lodge and try to recover from their wounds. Now that Conall has come, she is afraid he will harm her, even though he only wants shelter from the storm. And then when Evelyn tells a lie, that she is the niece of Minerva, a plan forms in Conall's mind. The one way to break the curse is to get her pregnant, and he decides he will try his best to do so.

As the winter storm overtakes the land and Evelyn's furry enemies lay in wait to taste her tender flesh, Conall and Evelyn come to terms with one another. They become friends in close quarters and finally lovers. But at what cost? Both have lied, and those lies may ruin their feelings for one another and help make the MacKerrick curse even stronger than before.

The final book in Heather Grothaus's Medieval Warriors Trilogy should not disappoint her fans in the least. Even though this was my first read by Grothaus, I found THE HIGHLANDER to be an engaging historical romance that has some great paranormal undertones, especially when it came to Evelyn reading the thoughts of the various animals she helps in the forest, and that of the spirit of Minerva herself who speaks to both Evelyn and Conall long after she has died.

The majority of the book focuses on Conall and Evelyn, but Alinor and some new animals Evelyn acquires are also important. These two are so untrusting of the other that it takes some lying on both their parts and some of Conall's charm in order for them to be at ease with one another. The lies told may dampen the enjoyment for some readers, but remember, through these lies, a wonderful love starts. And when those lies are found out, the intensity of the drama becomes even stronger. Things happen for a reason, and that sets into motion some important things.

Even though the majority of the action is between Conall and Evelyn, Conall's brother, Duncan, makes an appearance and becomes very important in the effort to break the curse himself. There is also Conall and Duncan's mother, who longs for both her sons to be married. And we certainly cannot forget Evelyn's newfound family that involves a crow, sheep, wolf and a mouse.

THE HIGHLANDER has some sweet and sexy moments along with some tension that leads to the mystery of the curse that becomes the focal point of the story. Longing for a good Scottish romance with a sexy highlander to tickle your fancy? Try Heather Grothaus's latest where you can find out if highland chiefs really do wear anything under their kilts.
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