He will protect her from anything. But the enemy is closer than he thinks…Raised in a God-fearing family, Mary Thompson suffocates under her parents’ constant control. When her strict father announces she is to marry a man she despises, she flees. Alone in unfamiliar territory, she has but one choice to ensure her survival: she poses as a voiceless maid.Leith Balloch, son of the Laird of … son of the Laird of Lenichton, is determined to find the cure to his father’s inexplicable madness. What he stumbles across instead is a breathtaking English lass that instantly captures all of his senses.
Lost in their all-consuming feelings for each other, they fail to realize that someone knows. And someone always tells. A threatening note appears on Mary’s bed, along with a promise of doom.
When Mary is thrown into the dungeons for bearing witness to an abominable act with the potential to destroy them all, Leith has to fight his demons in order to save her. And sometimes those demons wear a familiar face…
*Mesmerized by a Roguish Highlander is a steamy Scottish historical romance novel of 80,000 words (around 400 pages). No cheating, no cliffhangers, lots of steam and a happy ending.
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Mary Thompson was to marry a man three times her age and kind of grotesque physically. She was brought up in a strict home that I equated with Puritanism. She was isolated and really had no friends to speak of other than her maid. When she told her parents that she didn’t want to marry this guy, telling them that he would pretty much steal her soul, they refused to listen. With their being no other choice, she runs away.
Leith Balloch’s father, the laird, is having a mental breakdown. He’s unpredictable and even violent with the people around him. Leith is desperate to find him some help. Other healers had tried to help, but he needed a special one. He needed one for the mind. Not easy to come by. While he’s riding to the home of another laird, he comes upon a woman who was unconscious in a ravine with a dead horse next to her. He rescues her and gets her some help.
When he discovers she’s English (an enemy of any good Scot), he comes up with the idea for her to remain mute when he takes her to his keep. He didn’t want anybody to be mean to her or to treat her badly and her accent would give her away. It was a good plan until it wasn’t. It lasted a lot longer than I thought it would and it did work for the book. Mary learned a little sign language or hand gestures and made friends with an older maid, which turned out to be important to the story.
Leith soon found himself in love with Mary and she was in love with him. He knew he wanted her to be his wife, but she was English and not accepted by the Scots. It was going to be an uphill battle, especially with his mother who wanted him to marry a good Scottish lass and offered to find Mary a suitable husband.
This book had some steamy scenes, especially when he was teaching her to please him in the bedroom. Let’s face it, folks, we’re not born with that knowledge. She had no experience with men and surprisingly, had no inhibitions, especially considering how she was raised. He had to teach her everything from kissing to the actual act of sex and everything in between. She was an apt pupil.
This book had more than one epilogue, which is not unheard of, but not all that common, either. It worked. The first one was a couple of years after they were married and the second one was ten years after they were married. It was nice to see, but it made me wonder why they had just one child. During the time this book was set, having many children was normal. It’s not a deal-breaker by any stretch of the imagination. It just struck me as odd.
The reason I gave this four stars is because there were some blatant editing errors. Cooper was Copper a few times, there were a few instances of wrong word usage, stuff like that. I was also able to predict who the was behind Leith’s father’s illness early in the story. I also wish there would’ve been a few reminders as to what the characters looked like. I lost track of that. At one time, it said that Leith had hair that curled around his ears, then it was stated that he had hair to his shoulders. I never did get a good picture of what Mary looked like. I missed that.
Overall, the book was pretty good. There were some feels, some tension, and some steam and a good story. I liked it.
*I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily left a review.
This story will make you cry for Mary, an English young lady that had strict religious parents that are going to marry her to an old man that she could not stand to be in the same room with. She takes off on her own and falls into trouble in her way.
Leith is stressed about his father, The Laird, being ill. During his travels trying to find a healer that can help his father, he discovers Mary unconscious and in danger of death.
He has never felt this way about another woman, but he can’t let Mary go.
The book will make you sad, worried, and scared for Leith and Mary. It catches you on the first page and doesn’t let you go. A can’t miss.
I loved reading Mesmerized by a Rogish Highlander.. it has excitement and romance wrapped up all in one book..
The main character, Raised in a God-fearing family, Mary Thompson suffocates under her parents’ constant control. When her strict father announces she is to marry a man she despises.
Lord Blackmore a very portly man is the worst ever and he is her father’s choice for a husband.
Mary has a choice ..
A. To stay in loveless union forced by her father
or B. To flea and get away.. what would you do in her position. In order to find out what Mary’s decision you will need to read Mesmerized by a Rogish Highlander.
I really enjoyed this story. It is full of pain, hope, betrayal, hatred, attempted murder and love. The flow of the story is very smooth. It is moderately paced and there is no high drama. The scenes segue from one page to another without flaw. The characters are indeed interesting and diverse. From the H/h to the secondary characters I enjoyed them all. Even the villains of the story were understandable and sadly realistic. The story showed how the H’s loyalty to his father ended up causing him to cross paths with the h. There was immediate attraction but they did not take action. The h was running from her religious fanatical parents who arranged an unwanted marriage for her. The suspense was ramped throughout the story. Someone was trying to undermine the existing lairdship. I had an inkling as to the mastermind was but when they were revealed it was shocking the malevolence they expressed and the reasons for it. I was happy that as painful as the past had been, the H/h found their happy ending. After reading the extended epilogue it was nice to know how happy the H/h were and I felt badly for the H’s father as he was affected by the attempt on his life year earlier. Also, it was sad that the h’s parents would never forgive her and wanted nothing to do with her. But overall the H/h’s life was healthy, happy, hopeful and full of love. I do recommend this book.
Maddie McKenna has outdone herself with this novel that is well-written, filled it with a magnificent cast of characters, a strong plot and great dialogue bring this read together perfectly! Mesmerizing by a Roguish Highlander will keep you spellbound from the moment you begin the journey with Leith and Mary until the very end. Leith a brawny Highlander finds Mary an English lass unconscious and injured. Once conscious Leith finds out Mary ran away from unwanted marriage, with no place to go Leith offers Mary to at Castle Lenichton. With the silence of evil creeps through the halls of Castle Lenichton in the Highlands Leith must find a cure for his father’s madness. While Mary has to pretend to not be able to speak to protect her from those who would not welcome an outsider. With hearts aflutter and passions building in this heart pounding story full of drama, sizzling passion, action, trials and tribulations and while the suspense builds and tensions escalate with twist and turns abound that makes for one outstanding story! Hopefully a story about Balfour will follow!?