A battle-hardened soldier, he is bound to the McTiernay brothers by a loyalty as strong as blood. But no woman in all of Scotland has been able to lay claim to his heart … are a lethal combination for the women who try to tame him and fail. Until a mysterious firebrand tempts him with her wicked ways …
SHOCKING BETRAYAL
All Adanel Mackbaythe knows about her Highland lover is that he is a McTiernay soldier—and a means of escaping her cruel father. But Dugan is a not a man to be toyed with. His distrust of Adanel’s motives will put a distance between them that can’t be breached. Yet when their secret trysts are discovered—sparking a war between clans—a lust for vengeance will drive Dugan back into her arms, where he will embark on his greatest battle: for her heart …
Praise for The Most Eligible Highlander in Scotland
“Steamy … packs the erotic punch of its predecessors.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Humor combines with romance, and the roller coaster ride to love will sweep readers into a
fast-paced, charming, and rollicking love story.”
—RT Book Reviews
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How to Marry a Highlander by Michele Sinclair is book 8 in The McTiernays Series. This is the story of Adanel MackBaythe and Dugan. This can be a standalone book.
Adanel is wanting to escape her abusive father who even killed her first love. When Dugan finds her desire of course starts to fire up and she thinks he might be the one to save her. Dugan loves the women but doesn’t trust them. Adanel and Dugan start a secret affair at first but will it be one they can find a happy ever after with?
How to Marry a Highlander by Michele Sinclair
The McTiernays #8
Idyllic swim in a loch turns into so much more when Dugan finds Adanel swimming one day. One thing leads to another and with passions running high the two do more than swim when they get together weekly. With Adanel’s father promising her to someone she doesn’t want she has hopes Dugan will take her away but instead…she ends up locked away hoping for Dugan to save her.
This book has compelling characters and an intriguing plot. The evil are truly wicked and the main characters often conflicted. Trust is in short shrift and communication lacking between the male and female leads. I did find the twist at the end interesting, enjoyed the eventual HEA for Adanel and Dugan and hope that some of the supporting characters will get stories of their own. I do have to say that Dugan seemed a bit full of himself and unwilling to bend and I wondered why Adanel put up with it but as it all worked out for the two of them I was happy in the end.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington-Zebra for the ARC – This is my honest review.
4-5 Stars
I am still trying to decide how I feel about this book…
The book starts out well, but Adanel is portrayed as a bit of a wanton, not that I have a problem with women knowing what they want and going for it – but it was a bit surprising. They meet while Adanel is bathing in a loch and Dugan, the McTiernay’s commander is checking on their outlying property. Dugan is a rake, he enjoys women, but trust none and has no desire to settle for one. He and Adanel quickly fall into lust and a secret affair begins.
Adanel’s father is cruel, evil man who killed her first love in front of her and since that time, she has wanted to escape. She begins to think Dugan might be the man to free her, but when her secrets come to light, Dugan is furious. When their affair is exposed and causes a clan war, he burns for vengeance.
The writing is good and the first half of the book is great, but then it just fell apart for me. These two had so much potential, but miscommunication or rather no communication paired with Dugan’s stubborn insistence that he was wronged, just wore me out. Yes, the love scenes are smokin’ and yes, there are some interesting storylines, but by the end of the book, I still wasn’t sure if these two had what it takes to be life-partners, because they still seemed to have a hard time actually talking to each other. Bottom line, I didn’t hate the book, but I wouldn’t read it again.
*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher.*
I received an eARC at no cost from the author, and I am leaving a voluntary and honest review. Thank you.
2.5*
This book had a few problems for me.
I didn’t connect with the main characters and thought they were quite annoying, to be honest. And, although they had great background stories that were supposed to make us feel like we could forgive them almost anything, it didn’t work that way for me.
Dugan was arrogant, and never really understood that a great part of the problem was created by him. Adanel was a bit annoying and at the end, even though they had the HEA, they didn’t really talk. They just had sex and that was pretty much it. There was a lot of miscommunication and anger that really wasn’t resolved.
The best characters were all secondary, and maybe some will have their story told in another book? If so, I would like to read it later on. I liked the end of the book. When Dugan became laird, and was actually doing things for other people and not just thinking of him. And Adanel grew up, and actually behaved in the right way.
The book wasn’t bad, it just didn’t appeal to me. So, it gets its a two and half out of five rating because of it.
I love this book!!! It has desire, passion, romance as well as feelings of betrayal, fear, anger, frustration and greed. We also have love, loyalty and friendship. There is also humor exchanged between some of the major characters and I could not help but laugh and smile. The book creates a tension that is only broken by reading page after page. I could not put this down. I had to read it in one go. There is the main plot with several excellent subplots. This is well written and the characters had great personalities. I was so surprised at the ending. I did not see it coming but was pleasantly surprised. I highly recommend this book.
I absolutely loved this!
Dugan and Adanel can’t seem to get out of their own way long enough to see what’s right in front of them. I wanted to strangle them both numerous times. I could feel the crushing blow every time he would say something hurtful or she let him have it with one of her speeches.
But love should always win and I wanted this story to go on and on. I was truly sad when it ended. Hopefully, we get a little glimpse in future installments.
5 stars!!
Another great addition to the McTiernays series. This time with commander Dugan who is a fierce warrior and master seducer and Adanel who is not all she appears as they first meet.
All Adanel wants is to escape her evil father who has treated her cruelly and had killed the man who was her first love. She sees Dugan as that oppotunity to get away but she hides some secrets.
Dugan is enchanted by her and they quickly falls in lust and they begin a secret affair. But he does not want to settle down and does not trust easily. When he finds out her secrets, he distances himself.
Of course that is not the end and all heck breaks loose!
Full of angst, some steamy romantic scenes and two stubborn people who just do not communicate well when it is needed!!
Looking forward to next in the series although this can be read as a stanalone, do not miss any of the previous books!
A commander in the McTiernay clan, Dugan is known far and wide for his skills with a sword—and his skills in seduction. His rugged countenance and arrogant swagger are a lethal combination for the women who try to tame him and fail. All Adanel Mackbaythe knows about her Highland lover is that he is a McTiernay soldier and a means of escaping her cruel father.
Overall I enjoyed the book but I found it hard to relate to the characters & I’m not a fan of instant sex in a historical romance, I much prefer a slow burn. Apart from that I was drawn into the story & my enjoyment grew in the first half only for the second half to fall flat & many questions raised were not answered & glossed over. This is the first book I’d read by the author & whilst I was disappointed I’ll certainly try another of her books in case this was a blip.
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
Yeah this book wasn’t for me. I didn’t see it as a love story, more like a lust story about two people who wouldn’t trust the other they claim they were falling for. They meet in a loch and have sex, yup first time. I didn’t particularly like Dugan and found him to be hypocrite. Here he is upset that Adanel was keeping something from him and when he finds out what it is he leaves her which was exactly the reason that she didn’t tell him, yes she should have but if he cared at all he should have listened instead of being a big baby, I mean he didn’t trust anybody why should she. Now Adanel is heartbroken and left with her miserable father and she feels betrayed and I got it…Not my type of story..
Rcvd an ARC at no cost to author..(netgalley) Voluntarily reviewed with my own thoughts and opinions
“I love you with every beat of my heart, every breath of my body. Now and forever.”
Adanel, Laird Mackbaythe’s daughter, has grown up in a den of perverse cruelty. Laird Mackbaythe rules his clan under the banner of fear and brutality. Adanel has witnessed first-hand just how far her father will go to see that those that serve him do not question his authority. Longing for peace, she finds a private loch hidden away where she can swim and be alone if only for a short time. But the one thing she never counted on was to be discovered by a powerful soldier. Grasping for a small chance at happiness, Adanel enters into a love affair with her mysterious soldier, and her heart and body is awakened to what it is like to love and be loved.
Commander Dugan of the Clan McTiernay is fascinated by the fiery temptress he stumbles upon when making his rounds in the outskirts of their highland territory. Dugan has never been one to allow a woman to rule over him, but there is something about this sharp tongued wench that draws him in and keeps him returning for their weekly trysts. But when he discovers she is of the dreaded Clan Mackbaythe, he feels betrayed and ends their affair without a word to Adanel as to why.
In the midst of battle, Dugan and Adanel are once again put in each other’s paths. But will past hurts and misgivings be too much for them to overcome, or will their hearts reconnect and show them the strength of how true love always has a way of getting what it wants.
How to Marry a Highlander is a first read by this author for me, and I really enjoyed it. There were places where the constant bickering between Dugan and Adanel got a little redundant, but overall, the story is one that I would recommend to lovers of Highland romance.
*Received ARC via NetGalley for honest review*
McTiernay clan commander Dugan is a known seducer and it is common knowledge that he isn’t one for commitment, though that doesn’t keep ladies from trying. When he encounters a mysterious and beautiful woman while out checking on outlying families, he is intrigued by the fresh face. Immediately the two wind up having a nameless tryst then go their separate ways. Of course this fiery woman is Adanel Mackbaythe, daughter of the cruel Laird Mackbaythe and is afraid of forming any attachments since her father brutally executed her first love right in front of her. Adanel is desperate to escape her life under her cruel father but he has made so many enemies she has few options. Upon reflection on her encounter with the obviously unattached McTiernay soldier, Adanel thinks he may be the perfect solution, someone who could stand up to her father, and a brief year’s handfast would be all she would need.
Dugan has no problem with loyalty, but he trusts no one but himself and the feelings his mysterious lover brings to life in him are new and alarming, as is her desire to remain nameless as their tryst becomes more serious. The mystery grows old for Dugan and he tries to learn more about his redheaded paramour in an effort to cleanse her from his every waking thought.
Soon both begin to acknowledge, to themselves at least, that their feelings for one another are deepening and Adanel becomes increasingly more fearful of being honest with Dugan because she fears losing him. Neither wanted to be in love but that is just what has happened, though it may not be enough to keep them together, especially when their illicit meetings come to light, leading to war between their feuding clans and Dugan’s need to have revenge for what he sees as a betrayal causes their paths to cross once again.
Although I haven’t read the previous book in this series, I do have it in my TBR pile and since I saw the angry reviews about its cliffhanger ending I couldn’t resist just skimming the epilogue of that book to be prepared for this one and thought it in rather poor taste as a way to encourage people to get the next book. That said, that same epilogue features as a chapter in this book when the storyline jumps forward three chapters in and is a key plot point in this story. Even before that leap there was quite a lot of jumping back and forth to give us scenes from both main characters’ points of view and that got a bit confusing at times when combined with the timeline changes.
Dugan was a bit hypocritical in his desire for Adanel’s trust when he is unwilling to trust anyone. When he learns who her family is he feels betrayed and hardens his heart without allowing her to explain her reasons for not yet confiding in him; he believes her to be scheming and manipulative like her father, even after feeling like he knows her. This leaves Adanel heartbroken and essentially her father’s prisoner and leaving both with huge amounts of anger toward each other. I found myself frustrated with Dugan and yet understanding of his mistrustfulness. Same for Adanel. Both have been betrayed and are very stubborn and it takes a lot for them to actually talk and try to make progress with their relationship, much less survive the near-war they’ve inadvertently caused.
There were so many storylines and elements for this one couple to go through and it really didn’t look like they’d be happy, even if together. Although their love came about quickly, their story afterwards took a long time to develop and had many elements for them to contend with. In that respect this certainly didn’t read like the typical historical romance and I somehow had the feeling that it was dragging on a bit, but also that it ended rather abruptly and without too much of a climax. So I had some mixed feelings about this one, but I did enjoy it overall.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.