Ava Sutton is on the run from a dangerous man and makes her way safely to Scotland. Masquerading as a titled, English lady, she must convince the darkly handsome chief of the Macleans of Aros to wed her before she is tracked down.
Tor Maclean, the new chief of Aros Castle, has sworn off marriage. Despite his efforts to scare away the Englishwoman his father arranged for him to wed, Tor is … Tor is nonetheless drawn to her passion and beauty. But he doesn’t know if he can forgive the untruths that have come to light for a chance at a once in a lifetime love…
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Great read! It kept me on the edge of by seat!
Couldn’t put book down. Read it through I day
nice escapism
I was seriously worried about this couple. So seriously worried, I had to have a little talk with myself about real-life v book-life. 😉 When you read a romance and are expecting a HEA, but don’t know how the author is going to pull it off, that makes for a great page-turner.
Excellent job depicting the characters. I loved the strengths of Ava and Grace without having them overbearing. Truly felt I was there with them.
If you like historical romance with danger and hot Scots, then this book is definitely for you! The characters were wonderful and well-written. They were easy to fall in love with and both the main characters had personal struggles. They were easy to connect with and had chemistry that was off-the-charts. The romance, while definitely steamy, was still sweet and heartfelt. I liked the plot and how the author included some danger and suspense in it. It really helped to elevate this romance above others I’ve read. However, even with all this praise, I still couldn’t entirely get into this book. I liked it but wasn’t totally engrossed in it. That being said, I would still totally recommend this to anyone looking for a steamy, Scottish historical romance.
The Beast of Aros Castle by Heather McCollum
Highland Isles #1
The first book I read by this author was the second book in this series. I was hooked but could not get my hands on the first book in the series. Having given up on that I moved on only to have come across a copy recently. It is always nice to be able to read all of the books in a series in order, but this series does not require that as each book is capable of standing alone. That said, it is nice to have read Tor and Ava’s story…finally.
What I liked:
* Aveline “Ava” Sutton: orphan taken in by the Ellington family, friend and companion to Grace Ellington, not really a member of the family. I liked her spirit, willingness to take care of Grace and inspiration to get away from Vincent Ellington. The lie was not the best choice but perhaps her only choice…or the only healthy one.
Torquil “Tor” Maclean: strong, dependable, damaged, closed off, a good man that proves not to have a heart of stone. A bit stubborn but finally wises up.
* Grace Ellington: a good friend to Ava, more of a sister than a superior, a bit of a mouse but she does come into her own later in the series and finds a great HEA, too.
* Mairi and Joan: sister and mother of Tor and both strong women. I wished Mairi had not had to go through what she did BUT do remember her story and how she found her HEA in a later book.
* The interaction between Ava and Tor – until the lie was revealed – that was a bit of a bummer
* The men on Aros: more than one could star in his own story
* A good introduction to the series
* All of it really except…
What I didn’t like:
* Vincent Ellington: a bully and brute that deserved what came his way…eventually
* The lie…I suppose it was necessary to create tension but…
* Mairi’s situation at her new home after she married
Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? I already have 🙂
Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the ARC – This is my honest review.
4-5 Stars
I love this story! I love the trickery, hidden identities, passion, and thrill.
Ava was a head-strong woman determined to escape an evil step-brother with her friend Grace. As they head to the Highlands for a marriage between Grace and Tor, Grace chickens out, needing a way out of the marriage. Ava comes to her rescue in the form of risky plan – Ava will pretend to be Grace.
Tor is a man who is distrustful of women after a failed marriage. He blames himself for some of went wrong, but his deceased wife held most of the blame. He doesn’t have plans to marry but when he sets eyes on Ava, who he thinks is Grace, he can’t resist her and the light she brings back to his life.
The romance and passion were spot on for me. Another favorite Scottish romance author, and I am looking forward to reading more by her.
Lily S. Thomas – Author of the Ice Age Alphas series
From a slow start to a tearful ending, I enjoyed this story. Ava was a survivor, though she felt such guilt for doing what she had to. Her internal strength hid well the fear within as she faced The Beast of Aros and later her tormentor. Tor was a gruff teddy bear that I fell in love with quickly. The passion between them heated up the pages but did not take away from the story. Tim Campbell’s narration of the story made the characters feel more real, and I loved listening to his different characterizations. I recommend the story for reading and the audiobook for the story to come to life.
I received a free copy of this audiobook as a gift, and this is my unsolicited review.
It was ok. A little long
This was an engaging read! It starts with mild drama between Ava, Grace and Grace’s truly horrid stepbrother. Then Ava’s teeny tiny lie to Tor when they make it to Scotland kind of spun itself bigger than intended..I mean, geeee…imagine that happening! (I’m saying that with tongue in cheek ) ..And so the adventure begins!
A few characters have bigger roles, but the main focus was all Ava and Tor. The absolute best part for me was Ava. She was spunky, hilarious, and really did concoct some mad plans! The attraction between Ava and Tor was sweet and amusing, with seriously entertaining conversations,
(but booo on Tor for the incident with his ex-whatever-you-want-to-call-her..spiteful nuisance..wicked blech..)
Anyhoooo..delightfully engaging characters, a great romance, and a strong story kept me highly entertained well into the night! Onward to the next Highlander who hopefully also gets brought down by an intelligent woman!
I loved this book. Ava and Grace scheme to get away from Grace’s brother by coming up with a plan for Grace to marry an Highlander! On their way, Ava agrees to be Grace and Grace becomes Ava. Ava’s plan to make Tor McClean fall in love with her, marry her and then she will tell him that she is really Ava not Grace. Well little does she know that Tor has been lied to before and was very angry about it which led to his nickname the Beast. The past catches up with Ava and Grace and the truth comes out, in rather a hasty way.
I am trying not to spoil too much but Tor must once again come to realize he has been lied to but this time it is for totally different reasons. He must play along so Ava and Grace survive and once they do can Ava and Tor overcome those lies, even though they were told so both girls would survive! I love the mystery and suspense! Once again I fell in love with Heather’s Clan and can’t wait to read more about them! I hope! Each character has such emotions and the sense of humors in Tor clan mates and friends make you want to read about each one of them separately! You will not be disappointed with this book!!
Could not put it down!
The characters were strong willed and to overcome obstacles there were ups and downs happy and sad moments loved the story would recommend this book
Book: The Beast of Aros Castle by Heather McCollum
Series: Highland Isles, Book 1
Reviewed by: Barb Massabrook of
Tartan Book Reviews
Purple Tulip Book Reviews
Celtic Barb’s Tartan Book Review Blog
Heat Setting: Hot
Overall Setting: 5/5 stars
Ava Sutton is running away from a treacherous, malicious and hazardous step- brother! Her friend Grace’s step-brother who has no issue with incest. He is a sick individual that should be put in an insane asylum!
At breakneck speed she heads back to Scotland before she is found. So she disguises herself as a titled English lady. She must convince the chief of Clan MacLean’s of Aros to marry her before she is found out by this unstable man. The problem is Tor MacLean swore off women forever, even tries to scare off Ava. A marriage his father arranged, problem is Tor is extremely attracted to her loveliness and her ardor. His infatuation just seems to increase and he doesn’t know what to do with these feelings!
As for Ava time is of the essence before the madman catches up to her! Another problem is Tor does not trust women! For good reason too since his first wife was dishonest with him. When Ava comes clean with her lies and dishonesty, Tor is furious! This only proves to him that women can’t be trusted. What can Ava do to to prove herself that this was a desperate moment where she had no choice.
This book was so action packed filled with riveting adventure and a quick paced page turner! I literally could not put this book down! It was that amazing which I totally loved.
I so can’t wait until the next book in the series as this was just magnificent! Filled with emotions including betrayal, blackmail, corruptness, selfishness, fraud, dishonesty, threatening, forgiveness, love and passion. The emotions and feeling in this book are absolutely incredible. You actually become so attached to this book. I can’t recommend it enough and can’t want until Heather McCollum’s next installment!
I highly recommend this book to readers of historical romance which will absolutely love it!
This is a voluntarily advance e-reader copy given by the publisher through NetGalley. All words, thoughts and ideas are my own.
I enjoyed the characters and the story had a good plot. A good combination of action, romance, and adventure.
Great characters, enjoyed the book.
I love celtic love stories and this fit the bill for me, great book.