From the bestselling author of the Stolen Bride Series comes a brand new and exciting family saga! For fans of Scottish historical romance, the Sutherland Legacy propels you into the Highlands with tales of daring adventure, irresistible heroes and passion!An injured warrior, and the headstrong lady who won’t let him fall…Betrothed to a princess until she declares his battle wound has … declares his battle wound has incapacitated him as a man, Sir Niall Oliphant is glad to step aside and let the spoiled royal marry his brother. He’s more than content to fade into the background with his injuries and remain a bachelor forever, until he meets the Earl of Sutherland’s daughter, a lass more beautiful than any other, a lass who makes him want to stand up and fight again.
As daughter of one of the most powerful earls and Highland chieftains in Scotland, Bella Sutherland can marry anyone she wants—but she doesn’t want a husband. When she spies an injured warrior at the Yule festival who has been shunned by the Bruce’s own daughter, she decides a husband in name only might be her best solution.
They both think they’re agreeing to a marriage of convenience, but love and fate has other plans…
more
Enjoyed this story tremendously!
I’m sitting here with a goofy smile on my face – because this was such a fun listen. The Highlander’s Gift by Eliza Knight is the first book in the Sutherland Legacy series featuring the next generation from her Stolen Bride series. While I haven’t listened to that, I had no problems enjoying this.
I love that Knight gives us the Grumpy/Sunshine trope without making the hero, Niall, a jerk. He’s really just frustrated by his injury and his inability to live a life he thought he would. Bella is dealing with her own perceived shortcomings by living life her way and won’t be dragged into marriage for the sake of traditions. These two together compliment each other beautifully. I adored that Bella is Niall’s cheerleader in every way and that he encourages her unique personality. This is very low angst relationship-wise as most of the suspense/conflict comes from external sources. Bringing this couple even closer.
The end, while perhaps being slightly predictable is adorable and I can see myself listening to this again soon. Though… I have Strath & Eva’s book – The Highlander’s Stolen Bride – queued up for listening to next week.
Narration:
I loved Antony Ferguson’s narration. Ferguson’s accents, voices, and inflections were perfect. He also has a fantastic voice for women & children. It really was an enjoyable listen.
Note: At the time of this review, the audio is included in Audible Plus
Book: The Highlander’s Gift (Eliza Knight)u2063
Rating: 5u2063
Format: Audio (Antony Ferguson 5)u2063
u2063
Three things to describe this book:u2063
Highlands, war, passionu2063
u2063
Summary: Bella Sutherland is a respect daughter of a great earl, the lady having both multiple suitors and a secret barring her from entering a marriage. Sir Niall Oliphant, a son of an earl, is without his other hand and in need of a wife. And as Bella is obligated to choose a husband he’s the first to spark her interest – and the first she just might strike a different kind of bargain with. u2063
u2063
Favourite character: Niall.u2063
u2063
To whom: To fans of Scottish history, resilience, strength and and an ending where all of them don’t die. u2063
u2063
Additional notes: u2063
I LOVED THIS BOOK! Not the typical and overly syrupy romance where you can anticipate every move but filled with action and determination! And the the narrator’s voice and interpretation of the characters – keep it coming! Could’ve easily rated this 7 for it was everything I hoped for and more as I couldn’t stop listening, and continued to book 2 straight away! Add this on your TBR now!u2063
(Listened to on audible)
Male narrator ( I usually avoid because when it comes to the part of a women speaking in the text, most of the time I don’t care for the tone/pitch) this narrator was smooth and easy to listen to and I only slightly cringed sometimes at his women’s voice.
The book was easy to listen to. Great character chemistry, good storyline details/scenes, and action packed throughout. I did find it odd that Bella started out as a warrior woman type, I’m the middle gets carried away by a man and is attempting to fight but fails ( at this point in the story she has been portrayed as strong in weapons and hand to hand defense) so found it odd she couldn’t at least slow her sapture down if not escape- and found it odd she didn’t carry any weapons.
Niall is fabulous and I was happy to read a main character with a handicap that overcomes it with the help of his brother and wife and still came across as a strong handsome warrior.
The Highlander’s Gift
Eliza Knight
Bella as a young child was great with archery. She practised ever day. Her parents allowed her to even take up wooden swords and leaned how to fight like the boys. She would fight with her brothers and they would teach her how to fight. There was a tournament and she wanted to be a knight for a day.
All the lads were getting ready to play in the younglings games and Bella demands to take part. All of the boys are laughing out loud and one of the lads steps forward and she socks him in the face. He looks at her and says I was going to tell them to let you have a go but you hit me. She is grateful and participates as they all lineup and let the arrows fly only to come past through to the next round.
She and Niall make it through and the first set of arrows fly it is called a tie the next round she lets him go first then she lets her arrow fly and she splits his in his called the champion.
Years later he has lost something and is living in the shadows. His brother forced him out and up. He tells his brother that he went to ask Bella for her hand in marriage because you see Niall is betrothed to another who doesn’t love him , but when his brother tells him she refused him and that she loves another he is crushed. He later goes to a tournament and meets Bella’s father and is unaware that she has been told she must pick a man or they would for her.
What will happen? A lot of things, I can tell you that I really enjoyed this story.
I will also warn you that there is adult content. Apart from that it is a good story.
a good read
First of her books I have read and greatly enjoyed it! Looking forward to reading more…especially of this series.
This was an awesome and original story. The characters were wonderful and touched upon the difficulties of being handicapped and the real possibility of overcoming and working with such a handicap. I loved this romantic story!
I loved the book and I am buying more from the series. I look forward to the next adventure in the Highlands.
After losing his arm in battle, Niall lost his will to live, until his brother and the memory of a competition between a young lass named Bella and himself inspire him to fight to survive. When clan leaders meet at her home, Bella sees the lad she never forgot, now a man. Overhearing a confrontation between Niall and his betrothed, the Scottish King’s daughter, Bella decides she wants him for herself, so she asks for him.
One powerful hero.
Sigh. I was not prepared for the emotions that came through the pages on this wonderful story. Eliza Knight has captured the very essence of feelings of the wounded hero and the hard recovery that most of us can only imagine. Sir Niall Oliphant comes back from battle wounded and with injuries he has a hard time healing from and trying to overcome. Rejected by a woman he was betrothed to due to those injuries, he has no hope of marrying and being happy. But fate has another plan and he is offered to marry Bella Sutherland, someone he has known since childhood and held a strong regard for through the years. Bella has her own reasons for never wanting to marry but when presented with Niall, she feels everything will work out. Thinking their marriage would be in name only due to his wounds, it is amazing to watch these two reclaim their friendship and see the true affection grow between them. This is truly a story that can be related to even today. Overcoming physical and mental wounds through the support of family, friends and a true mate who was meant to be. This book held me captive from the first page and it made me tear up as well as tug at my heart for all the right reasons. I just want to thank Eliza for bringing us another story that will stay in my thoughts for long to come.
Just like all of her other books I was unable to put it down. I loved the fact that Bella never gave up on Niall even though there were times when he gave up on himself.
This is a stand-alone book in the series. It does bring back the characters of Arbella and Magnus as parents of their grown daughter, Bella. Bella is a talented archer and we meet her as a child, showing her prowess with a bow. Then we meet Sir Niall Oliphant. He has met with a horrific injury during the war. Bella and Niall have a history going back to the archery contest ten years before. Bella has a secret which she has told no one. As this couple comes to love each other, there is danger. This threat is one which threatens both of their lives. Ms. Knight has written another wonderful story with well-defined characters. Love this book!!!
Oh my goodness! This is the best Eluza Knight to date! I read The Highlander’s Gift in just a few hours. I couldn’t put it down. It is filled with all the romance and adventure you could want
This is the first book in a new series by this author and a spin off from a previous series about a Scottish Highlander clan, the Sutherland’s.
Bella is the eldest of Laird Magnus Sutherland’s daughters. At age twenty one, she’s practically a spinster, and she’s been allowed by her parents to refuse more than just a few suitors. She is beautiful, stubborn, and she can shoot an arrow as well as or better than the men in her clan, but she fears marriage. She has her reasons.
Niall is the eldest son of another Laird. A year before he suffered a grievous injury in battle which has shaken his confidence as a man and a warrior. He feels unworthy to lead his men or to be a husband.
As children, Bella and Niall met once at a tournament, and each has a pleasant memory of it. It is their shared remembrance of that day, along with an interesting set of circumstances, that bring the two together in a tale that involves action, battle, and romance. The story also has a number of colorful characters and I hope that Strath’s story is next!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the series.
I read this as an arc which affected my review in no way at all.
This is a wonderful story of two people lucky enough to find and experience a very deep and abiding love for one another. The hurdles life had thrown in their paths were significant and daunting, however, with love, humor and patience they were both brought back from the precipice of their own personal darkness and despair, they had been trying to keep from others. Through their deep love and patience, they filled each other’s gaps with encouragement and pride. The characters are so well developed that you hate to see the story end. I’m looking forward to reading what happens next.
THE HIGHLANDER’S GIFT by Eliza Knight is the 8th Book in The Stolen Bride series. This is the story of Sir Niall Oliphant and Bella Sutherland. This is the first book I have read in this series, so for me it was a standalone book.
Nail Was injured in battle making it so that his future wife would not marry him which left him to go on his way to becoming a recluse of bachelor. Bella did not want to get married but with little choice she thought that Nail would be a safe choice.
But their feeling start to grow making them both want more.
Exciting read and one that is hard to put down.
Sir Niall Oliphant lost his left arm in battle and wants to give up on life. He was an incredibly talented archer and warrior. Now he sees himself as half a man who is betrothed to a spoiled princess that he doesn’t like at all.
Bella Sutherland has trained with her father’s warriors all her life. The bow is her favourite weapon. As a child she beat all the lads in a tournament. She has held a wish close to her heart ever since that day. Her parents are insisting it’s time for her to marry, but they don’t know the terrible secret that means no man will ever want her.
This is a marvellous story about our wounded hero learning very important lessons. The special gift our heroine gives him is very clever and must have taken a lot of research on the part of our author.
This is part of a series but each book can be read on it’s own. I have loved each one I have read. They are all action stories full of sexy Highlanders and strong and independent women.
I look forward to the next one.
The Highlander’s Gift by Eliza Knight
Stolen Bride #8
The Sutherland Legacy #1
Amazing! I came into this series thinking it was book one of a NEW series only to find out it is book 8 of an ongoing series. That said…I had no trouble following the story and enjoyed it thoroughly! In fact…looking back at previous book blurbs in the series I found out that the heroine is the daughter of Magnus and Arabella who starred in book one of this series and it seems that there is going to be a spinoff series for the progeny of stars of previous books in the series.
What a delight this book was! Niall Oliphant and Bella Sutherland meet as children at a tournament and come out tied in the areas they compete in…and though young, develop an admiration for one another that lasts years. Ten or more years later Niall has been to war, lost a limb, is feeling unmanned and is engaged to a princess…a princess he does not and who does not want him. Bella is aging out of the marriage market and for a number of reasons has no desire to marry…not really…not unless Niall should happen to show up and want her.
The story of how they end up together, their friendship that grows into love, the warmth and charm and caring and how they thwart a villain all make for a wonderful story that left me feeling good long after I finished the last page. I am eager to read more of this author’s works as I have thoroughly enjoyed everything I have read by her so far!
Thank you to Barclay Publicity for the ARC – This is my honest review.
4-5 Stars