Dangerous Highlander is the first novel of Dark Sword a breathtaking historical and paranormal romance series from Donna Grant. The bold and passionate Lucan MacLeod one of three brothers cursed by dark magic for eternity is driven by desire for the one woman he dare not let himself possess He is magnificently strong and dangerously seductive. One of the fiercest of his clan, Lucan MacLeod is a … clan, Lucan MacLeod is a legend among warriors, inspiring fear in man and woman alike. For three hundred years, he has locked himself away from the world, hiding the vengeful god imprisoned in his soul. But then, a young lass caught in a raging storm awakens his deepest impulses and darkest desires.
Cara doesn’t believe the rumors about the MacLeod castle until the majestic Highland warrior appears like a fiery vision in the storm, pulling her into his powerful arms, and into his world of magic and Druids. An epic war between good and evil is brewing. And Lucan must battle his all-consuming attraction for Cara or surrender to the flames of a reckless, impossible love that threatens to destroy them both
“more
Dangerous Highlander is the first book in the Dark Sword series and this was just a great way to start off a new series. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and it definitely won’t be the last. I was just drawn into this amazing world with its great characters. I just had so much fun and I was so disappointed to turn the last page. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.
Dangerous Highlander by Donna Grant
My Genre assessment : Adult, Historical, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance.
My true rating is 2.8 stars. I usually round down anything that is a .5. Above that I round up. I had problems rating how I feel about this one. While I feel it deserves more than 2 stars, or even 2.5, it is not a full 3 stars either. This is due to all the negatives I found in the story. It is the positives I found that finally had me clicking 3 stars.
The Negatives
It started out interesting. Slowly it became a quagmire of problems.
The repetition became excessive. I read ‘He wanted’, ‘She wanted’ and ‘Hunger’ so many times I was ready to commit Bookicide! The repetitive rambling of how Lucan ached for his brothers & Cara. Rambling between his various thoughts of protecting his brothers, his physical attraction & emotions about Cara. The list goes on.
By the time Lucan & Cara were finally intimate I just didn’t care anymore.
The Scottish brogue used sporadically throughout the story was horrendous. It was so infrequently used and so inaccurately composed it became meaningless in the story. In truth, it was annoying and became distracting.
Then there was a paragraph that literally contradicted itself.
“….but she understood that these Warriors had accepted the god inside them and knew just how powerful they were. For over three hundred years the MacLeod brothers had denied what was inside them. Denied it and refused to learn what their limits were. That had to change if they were going to beat Deirdre.” At this point none of the brothers had accepted the god inside them.
While I had a couple of other problems with the story, I am going to jump to the positives.
The Positives
I didn’t run into many editing/typo errors other than the way the Scottish brogue is written.
The basis of the story is well done. The beginning is truly intriguing and is what kept me reading.
At 72% it started to get interesting again, but I still had to skim through repetition. I find myself curious as to whether or not the author improves or removes the Scottish brogue in the rest of the series. I would like to see more of this world. The world build, while it could have been much better, was interesting.
I find that I can’t make up my mind about following the series. I want to know how it continues to develop. I’m just not sure about investing my time into a series that the first book of had me considering putting it into my rejects shelf.
bookshelves: historical, romance, adult, fantasy, paranormal
9 notes & 9 highlights (All visible)
Not really one for any romance with Highlanders in general, but this one was a pleasant surprise. A secret druid, semi cursed immortal warriors. Lots of nonstop magic and action with plenty of romance and steam. Plot is intriguing and will keep you reading. Looking forward to the next in the series.
Actual Rating 3.70
I have to admit that it was hard for me to get into this book at first and I felt that not enough was really happening. I liked getting to know the three MacLeod brohers; Fallon, Quinn, and Lucan. Their background story was great and seeing how each has coped with life in isolation and how its affected gave each character their own struggles. Each brother suffers from their curse in different ways, but I liked that with the arrival of Kara, their life has been completely shifted.
This book centers more around Lucan and how he ends up saving Kara, a woman who he’s immediately drawn towards and is more than she appears. Unbeknownst to the MacLeod’s or Kara, someone is after her and it is up to the MacLeod’s to protect her. The relationship between Lucan and Kara was great and I liked their connection. I also liked seeing how Kara’s presence affected Quinn and Fallon. Quinn’s pain is heartbreaking as he battles with secrets and loss. Fallon being the oldest has left all responsibility to Lucan as he loses himself in a bottle, but even he slowly changes for the better.
There are things that are still a bit of a mystery, but I’m sure more things will be revealed in further books. This was definitely an interesting book as I love reading the Dragon Kings series. I can’t wait to see what happens with Quinn and Fallon.