The beauty who refuses to be wed. The beast who loves her in vain. A twist of fate that brings them together.
Rhona MacLeod is the beautiful, willful daughter of a clan-chief upon the Isle of Skye. Desperate to remain free and bow to no man, she refuses all the suitors who ask for her hand.
Taran MacKinnon is one of Clan-chief MacLeod’s most trusted warriors. He carries a secret passion for his … Clan-chief MacLeod’s most trusted warriors. He carries a secret passion for his chief’s middle daughter. However, Rhona has never been able to see beyond his scars and forbidding appearance that have earned him the name ‘The Beast of Dunvegan’.
Frustrated by Rhona’s defiance, her father makes a decision that will force his daughter to take a husband—games that will bring warriors from all over the island, and from the mainland, to compete. Rhona must wed the victor. Finally, Taran has a chance to prove himself. If he wins the games, he can possess the woman he wants—but can he win her heart?
THE BEAST’S BRIDE is Book #1 in The Brides of Skye series set in 14th Century Isle of Skye, Scotland.
Buy your copy of THE BEAST’S BRIDE now, and dive into Medieval Scotland!
The Brides of Skye series
1. The Beast’s Bride
2.The Outlaw’s Bride
3.The Rogue’s Bride
more
SETTING: Dunvegan Castle, Isle of Skye, Scotland; early summer, 1346 AD. Lady Rhona MacLeod, the middle daughter of the clan chief Malcolm MacLeod, has yet to marry, to the ire of her father. She sees how marriage has destroyed the happy person her sister Caitlin once was, and has not yet met any man she feels is a match for her. When she refuses marriage to an important ally of the clan, her father arranges a contest for any man who wishes to compete for her hand! Embarrassed, outraged, and Rhona feels she has no good future awaiting her, and runs away. Her father sends his chief warrior in pursuit, who finds her, secures her, and takes her back to face her father. She has no choice but to accept the winner of the contest, who turns out to be…the man who captured and returned her!
CRITIQUE: FASCINATING story that reveals the heartache married life could be for women of that time, which draws the reader’s sympathy for Rhona’s situation. She is a beautiful, headstrong young woman who has demanded to be taught to fight, which serves her well in fending off unwelcome advances, and serves her clan later in a battle for their land. Placed in juxtaposition to this beautiful woman is Taran, man so scarred on the outside, that his kind-heartedness to her seems impossible to understand initially. The way he was scarred is a mystery, until the end, when Taran finally trusts Rhona enough to lay bare his heart and soul.
The storyline is nicely complex, and the characters are well developed. The delicate way this scarred man treated Rhona was touching! The author made my heart go out to Taran, just hoping that Rhona would see the good man lying beneath the scars. What a great beginning for a series! If this book is any indication of what is to come in the series, I am eager for the next book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Rhona—daughter of the chief of Clan MacLeod—does not wish to marry at all ever, but her father insists that it is her turn. After embarrassing her father in front of another clan leader, who was hoping to make her his next wife, her father decides to hold a competition, and the winner will become her husband. Her father’s strongest warrior and protector, Taran, has held a tendre for her for a long time, but because of his facial scarring, he believes that she would never consent to be his wife. Though Taran doesn’t want to compete at first, he decides to enter the games as he doesn’t want to see her with another man.
Rhona is a delightfully headstrong heroine to watch; I so wanted her to be able to get away from it all! You can understand why she doesn’t want to marry with the examples of men she has around her. She definitely has her own mind about things, and her father does not like that at all. Taran has long been her friend, teaching her swordplay when she was younger, and in fact, the reader first meets him when he is rescuing Rhona from a lascivious, dangerous suitor. I like that Taran is tough, but he is still vulnerable in his feelings for Rhona. I don’t want to give too much away, but he handled their forced marriage in true, swoonworthy hero fashion.
The only thing I didn’t like about the book was how awful the men were (except for Taran) and how meek the women were. The men were all brutes and lechers. Rhona’s father is ghastly, unwilling to protect his maiden daughter from a son-in-law who seemed to want to ruin her, preferring to believe that his actions were the girl’s fault. The married women had no backbone and just accepted the harsh treatment by their husbands as the norm.
“Beauty in not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” Prepare to be transported to the Isle of Skye 1346 and only come back to reality as you turn the last page! Mesmerized, captured and fully engaged in the brilliant writing of Jayne Castel that only made me long for more. Her characters came alive with so many feelings and hidden depths that I could feel their anguish and longings.
This is the tale of the realities of women and men during this time in history, when the women had little to no choices and the men ruled with an iron fist. Lady Rhona McLeod was the middle daughter of Clan Chief of the McLeod’s and her father was forcing her to marry since she would not choose a man of her own. He deemed there would be a contest of strength between warriors and the victor could claim her as his wife.
Taran MacKinnon was one of he father’s trusted warriors who was known as the “Beast of Drunvegan” due to the horrible scarring on his face of which none knew the cause. He secretly loved Rhona but knew she would never consider him due to his fierce appearance.
But fate has a way of stepping in and when the chance comes up to fight for her, he decides to compete for her hand.
There were so many emotions in this story that pulled at my heart and made me love the characters who went through so much. This story is so powerful that when I started, I literally did not get up until I finished. I highly recommend this book and cannot wait until the next in this series! This deserves more than 5 stars!
Taran and Rhona are both strong, proud, and willful people who, after having good and bad thrown at them finally receive their HEA.
Jayne Castel writes stories that are true to their time. They are honest with real feeling that range from deep sadness to absolute joy, hate to once in a lifetime love, and from pain to pure pleasure. The most amazing thing is that you feel what the characters feel and want them to have a life of love and joy.
I have never read a Jayne Castel book that I couldn’t recommend 100% and The Beast’s Bride is no different. I cannot recommend this book enough.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Now THAT was an excellent book to read! Such a compelling story and one that grips your attention from start to finish. You can’t help but fall in love with Taran MacKinnon, the badly scarred hero of the story. When you find out how he got those scars, you can’t help but cry. He has been in love with Rhona MacLeod ever since he became her father’s most trusted warrior but she can’t see beyond the scars and he doubts he’ll ever have a chance with her.
His chance does come when he decides to enter the competition set out by Rhona’s father in which she must marry the victor of the games. I just loved the way he tries to woo her, for such a big, strong warrior, he has a very tender heart. It doesn’t take long before she sees the real him and not the scars.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
Just finished The Beast’s Bride and it was a fabulous read! It deserves so much more than 5 stars! It was so well written with such wonderful, fully developed characters it was a joy to read. The author pulled me in right from the start and I couldn’t put the book down. And when life got in the way and I was not reading, I was thinking of the characters and couldn’t wait to pick my Kindle back up and start reading again! To me, that is a sign of a top-notch author and they are few and far between! I can’t wait to read more of Jayne Castel’s work. Very highly recommended author! Very highly recommended book!
I received this ARC book in exchange for my honest review which I was very happy to give.
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Looks are only skin deep
by Denise Riemer
Story is set in 1346AD on the Isle of Skye,Rhona MacLeod is the daughter of clan chief Malcolm MacLeod.Her father wants her to get married,the man who wants her is a older chief of another clan.She is refusing to get married to any one, her father has invited all the men to enter a contest to win her hand in marriage.Taran MacKinnon is her father head warrior,they call him the Beast of Dunvegan,because of the scars on his face.He has been in love with her for years,he entered the games to win her.Dughall MacLean also wants to win her and is not above cheating to do it.The story has other people who are important to this story,Caitrin Mac Donald who is married to Baltair,also a very cruel man.Adaira who is the youngest sister,after the games,and Taran wins her in marriage the plot gets more exciting and there are so many twists and turns.I don’t want to give away to much of this book as to spoil the surprise of reading it .First book of this author I have read,but I will be reading many more.I rated it as a five was so good couldn’t put it down.I recommend you to read the first book in a series of Skye highlander.
I received this ARC ebook for a honest review
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Lady Rhona MacLeod has no desire to marry. Ever. She’s seen what it has done to her elder sister and doesn’t want to face the same fate. She’s seen how cruel men can be and longs for her freedom instead. Her father, Chief of Clan MacLeod is fed up with his daughter’s stubborn willfulness and when she humiliates him by publicly refusing the suit of one of his allies he is infuriated. In his rage, the Chief decides to hold games for Rhona’s hand. Men will come from all over the Isle of Skye and Mainland Scotland to compete and Rhona will be forced to wed the winner.
Heavily scarred and fiercely loyal, Taran MacKinnon carries several nicknames in his role as a member of Chief MacLeod’s personal guard, not the worst of which is ‘The Beast of Dunvegan.’ Rhona has trained secretly with him and seems him as something of a friend, but never as a man, leaving Taran’s longtime feelings for her a well-guarded secret.
Though he is loathe to compete because he knows this is not what Rhona wants, these games could be Taran’s one chance to prove himself and to protect Rhona, even if it does mean she may never return his feelings. He knows she’ll likely hate him for this but at least he’ll know she won’t be mistreated, even if she’ll only see him as an ugly brute and he’ll be tortured by his unrequited feelings for her.
This book had me tense and frustrated from the get go. Poor Taran tugged at my heartstrings – I’m a sucker for the strong and silent type – and I wanted to know his story. Rhona’s callous father just wants to get rid of her and doesn’t really care what’s best for her so he infuriated me. Rhona is quick to believe the worst of Taran when he enters the competition and cannot see past his ruined face at first. She feels betrayed and is nothing but angry with Taran without giving him a chance and her immediate hatefulness started to annoy me rapidly. Fortunately Rhona did grow on me the more she got to know Taran and it made the progression of their relationship believable and I appreciated her growth as a character.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The Beast’s Bride by Jayne Castel
5 STARS I absolutely love this story and it’s one of my new favorite books!
This author’s talent of writing is absolutely amazing! I was confident I would enjoy this new book having read prior novels but, I had no idea just how much this story would enrapture me!
The enchanting characters are diverse with each having to bare their own sufferings and angst, in a world ruled by the strongest proud male warriors, and the women who have no voice and only domestic value. Throughout the story’s emotional roller coaster I remained rooted sharing the characters events until I sadly ran out of pages. Now I can only hope the next story comes quickly!
If you love great medieval stories with adventure, angst, excitement, and an amazingly passionate and sensual love story of 4 flames, then this book and author is one you don’t want to miss out on!