Scotland 1556 After overhearing a plot to kill Mary Queen of Scots, Abby Gordon is sent from Paris to the Laird of Glenorchy’s home at Kilchurn Castle for safety. Disguised as a boy, she becomes a lute player among the household musicians where she encounters the laird’s hostage, the attractive Iain MacGregor, a pawn in the laird’s struggle for power in Scotland’s turbulent politics. But is Iain … is Iain really a hostage to fortune or is he playing his own dangerous game? As Abby’s feelings intensify for this Glenorchy hostage she is caught in the web of intrigue that permeates the household and is drawn deeper and deeper into danger.
With spice, wit and action packed plotting, Kristin Gleeson’s Highland Ballad Series is as compelling as Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander novels.
‘A highland ballad brought to life – plays sweetly on the heart-strings.’ Jean Gill, ‘The Troubadours Quartet’
more
The author developed the characters over a period of time so that the reader was engaged and rewarded for reading the entire book.
I didn’t like the ending as it left you wondering about the characters ending too much.
Good story and characters. Takes place mostly in 16th century Scotland. Great book for lovers of historical fiction.
It was an ok read although having started the second in the series it seems they could have been easily combined. I ordered the third…we’ll see.
Interesting but long and a lot of Latin phases..glad I listen to it rather than actually read it.
I am not a big romance reader. At times the plot was questionable as to the possibility of it happening. The characters were OK but as this is the first of 3 in a series and the plot did not resolve in this first book, I am not interested in reading additional books. That is pretty telling to me-I wasn’t very invested.
The plot wasn’t well developed. Although I did enjoy reading it, it was easy to set aside and seemed a little slow.
Like any book in a series, you need to plan on reading the entire series if you enjoy what you are reading. Unfortunately, I was disappointed when I learned that the third book has not yet been published; but it tells you something of what I thought of the first two.
Most novels end with a denouement, a resolution of the major conflict. Not this one. Readers don’t like to be left hanging even when books are part of a series.
Leaves you wanting the next in series… captivating!
The book read fast.
I would give it 5 stars if it had an actual ending, rather than an abrupt cliff hanger designed to push me into buying another book.
I like a good series, but each book should be able to stand alone to a better extent.
A rather abrupt ended
Intriguing but it seemed to end rather abruptly
Easy to follow, kept my interest, stopped at a good point
A different view of this era. Good reading.
I really did enjoy the book, as I enjoy books about this era. However, the ending was blah… it ended so abruptly, it was like the story wasn’t quite finished…dissappointing!
A totally different twist to the historical romances. Enjoyed the character development and look forward to reading the last book of the series.
I thought it was a little slow but a good read.
Suspenseful, I would get upset with Morag and wondering if Ian was ever going to marry.