Sometimes a broken promise really isn’t broken. It’s just a promise that took a little longer to be fulfilled.
Book 3 in the Highland Heroes series is now available! Read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited!
When her father betrothed her to a duke, Isobel didn’t worry because Alasdair swore he’d save her. But he didn’t. Then word came her true love had succumbed to the plague. So, she married, and … she married, and life became a living hell. Now she’s on the run to protect her son from his sadistic father and she discovers Alasdair alive and well, and begging for the chance to keep the promise he made so long ago.
Thanks to his MacCoinnich cousins; Alasdair Cameron is now the successful solicitor of two powerful Highland clans. A respected Scottish gentleman, his comfortable estate in Edinburgh has all a man could ever want. Except one thing. Life is cold and empty without his Isobel. He’s loved her since the two of them were children. But her father gave her to another, and Alasdair arrived too late to save her from the altar. He’s resigned himself to a life alone until his brother Ian talks him into a visit to Château Delatate, Edinburgh’s elite and secretive gentleman’s club, and the beguiling hostess answering the door is none other than his precious Isobel.
Duchess Isobel Cuthbarten never forgot her dear Alasdair’s oath: I’ll never let another take ye. Words of hope until she was told Alasdair was dead. The precious promise burned like salt in an open wound every time her abusive husband forced himself upon her. Now she’s escaped with her son, determined to make a new life. Out of money by the time she reaches Edinburgh, she secures employment as a hostess at Château Delatate. Thanks to the mercy and kindness of the big-hearted madam; Isobel doesn’t have to receive men. As hostess, she makes them feel comfortable in the smoking room until their lady for the evening becomes available. The job provides a roof, food, and a bit of money to set aside. With any luck, she can soon save enough to escape to the Highlands where her son will be safe from discovery. But then Alasdair walks through the door.
Redemption. Healing. Love. Fate teases Alasdair and Isobel with the hope of all three. But before they can claim any of these, there’s the unsettled matter of Isobel’s cruel husband, the man determined to see her dead and do anything to recover his only heir.
Highland Heroes
Book 1 – The Guardian
Book 2 – The Warrior
Book 3 – The Judge
Book 4 – The Dreamer
Book 5 – The Bard
Book 6 – The Ghost
more
I was looking for good, fast paced historical Scottish romance. Well, I certainly found it in The Judge. Maeve Greyson is one of my favorite authors when looking for a Scot tale. After all, how can you top brawny men in kilts? This is her third book in the Highland Heroes series and fortunately for us readers, not the last. As with most series characters from previous books make an appearance and others get their HEA. That is one of the reasons why I love reading series, especially from my favorite authors. Alasdair Cameron gave up on love ten years ago when because of a sickness that swept through his clan, he could not get to his love in time to keep her from being married off by her father. Isobel was told he and his clan were dead. Alasdair thought Isobel was happily married, but in reality the Duke was a cruel, cruel man who imprisoned and tortured her and her five year old son. He threatens to take sweet Connor away and turn him into a monster like him. Isobel finds a way to escape, hiding away in Edinburgh with her elderly aunt and son. However, Alasdair also lives there so inevitably be fine into her. She not only thought he was dead, but on finding out he was alive, accused him of abandoning her to the evil that was her husband. After much quarreling, he finally gets to explain, but now the Duke has found them. While on the run, they discover their love never died. Will they be able to escape the Duke and his men? What about about when Alasdair becomes a wanted man, accused of kidnapping the Duchess and the heir or so the charges state. What follows is a run for their very lives, not just Alasdair but also Isobel after the Duke posts a bounty on their lives dead or alive. This is a fast paced story with danger, great characters, several very evil villains along with a few heroes. I couldn’t read it fast enough to see what would happen. As I found from some other reads, an HEA is not always a given. Ms. Greyson keeps the reader in the dark until the very end. Ian is next, looking forward to reading his story. I received this eBook from NetGalley for an honest review.
The Judge by Maeve Greyson is book Three in the Highland Heroes Series. This is the story of Alasdair and Isobel. I haven’t yet read the previous books, so for me this was a standalone book. Isobel’s father had married her off to an abusive husband who she finally was able to escape from along with her aunt and her 5 year old son. While on the run she ends up needing more money which leads her to be a hostess at Château Delatate. This is where Alasdair enters back into her life. Alasdair is now a respected solicitor who is still lost without Isobel. Alasdair had promised to save her from the arranged marriage but didn’t and she thought he was dead. Can he save her now that she is on the run? Enjoyed their second chance at love story.
A definite must-read!
I was heart-broken by the tragedy that Isobel had endured. And for ten years! I might have liked that timeline to be shorter. But Alisdair to the rescue! Ever the alpha highlander, he swoops in the rescue Isobel from her cruel husband. There’s never a dull moment for Alisdair and Isobel, that’s for sure.
I can’t wait for more from Alisdair’s brother, Ian.
5 stars!!
Alasdair Cameron lost Isobel once and he has word that she is now working at a gentlemen’s club. Determined to find her and make her his but things don’t work out the way he hopes. Isobel is not the woman she used to be, escaping a abusive marriage to a Duke she is is in hiding with her son. Feeling he has failed her Alasdair vows he will do anything to protect her and her son. Isobel was shocked at seeing Alasdair thinking he died long ago. Now that he is alive Isobel is having to come to terms with the feeling that he abandoned her and broke his promise to her years ago when he promised to come for her and never did. Both Alasdair and Isobel have to overcome some great hurdles to be together. I enjoyed reading this book. Lots of emotions with this one. Definitely recommend reading this book!
The Judge by Maeve Greyson was a wonderful example of what Greyson can do with a novel. The main characters are Alasdair Cameron, a judge in Edinburgh, and Isobel, the Duchess of Temsworth, his long-lost love. They had been childhood sweethearts and then her heartless father had married her off to a demon: Duke of Temsworth. He had promised to rescue her, but then his entire clan had been all but wiped out by the morbid sore throat that had raced through the clan. When he recovered he had followed her to London, vowing to rescue her, have her marriage annulled, and marry her himself. What he saw there stunned him: by all appearances a woman in love with her husband. So he returned home with a broken heart. Now his brother finds her in a brothel, right net door to his own estate, not working as one of the ladies, thank God, but refusing to see him. She has run from her husband, she, her aunt, and her small son.
This was a thrilling ride, sadly full of past cruelties and disappointments, plenty of rescues, both successful and not. Temsworth would not let his son go, he didn’t care about Isobel. Isobel wouldn’t let her son go: the tenacity of a mother in fear for her young. She was raw, courageous, and loving, in equal measure. Alasdair was a man thwarted and no longer. He was stubborn, prideful, and determined. He wanted nothing more than a life with Isobel and he would not be thwarted. He is the ideal Highlander. The plot was quite good, it kept us racing around Scotland but that’s not a bad thing. The Judge is quintessential Highlander novel. A reader could not hope for more. I highly recommend it.
I received a free ARC of The Judge from Dragonblade, through Netgalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #dragonblade #thejudge
Amazing. A highly charged, masterfully written story filled with everything I love about historical romance! Maeve Greyson pulls you into the beautiful Scottish Highlands, with characters that will steal your heart, but also some that make you beg they get their due. Lies, secrets, angst, a love that never will die with a hero to make you believe and a heroine who is strong beyond words.. and determined.
Alasdair and Isobel were always meant to be and the pull between them is unbreakable, until deception pulls them apart. But fate or the universe rights itself and they are brought back together. If only they can escape the depraved villain who will try to get her and her son back at any cost.
Prepare to not be able to move once you start the first page because this story will literally leave you breathless!
Manipulation and misinformation dashed Isobel’s dreams, forcing her to submit to the heinous deeds of her abusive husband. When her sweet son’s life is under threat, Isobel manages to escape and takes refuge in the most unlikely place. Fortunately, there are people with generous hearts in this world, and Alasdair is made aware of Isobel’s plight. Thus starts a fast-paced, dramatic, and suspenseful plot that keeps the reader totally enthralled. Alasdair is a wonderful hero, recognising all that Isobel has gone through and he maintains his distance until Isobel reaches the point that she can once more trust him. Although broken in spirit when she escapes her marriage, Isobel quickly regains some of her fight and her youthful exploits give her skills that become her saving grace. However, faced with her husband’s power and determination as he draws on all his resources to track her down, it would appear that the noose is tightening and Isobel has nowhere to go. The romance between Alasdair and Isobel is gentle and heartwarming and Connor brings moments of levity to the plot, bringing light relief. The story is well written and kept my attention from beginning to end and comes to a happy conclusion. I received a copy of this book through NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.
Alasdair Cameron is a well respected solicitor working in Edinburgh. The only thing missing in his life is the only woman he ever loved. She was married off by her father years before. Our hero appears to be a civilised gentleman but is a Highland warrior at heart.
Duchess Isobel Cuthbarton has managed to escape at last from her brutal husband. With her aging auntie and five year old son she’s now trying to get as far into Scotland as she can in the hope that he will never find them. That means having to earn money occasionally. Our heroine might be a Duchess now but she’s also a feisty Highland lass.
This book is full of twists and turns. There is a lot of danger for everyone involved and a powerful villain. It will keep you on the edge of your seat all the way through.
This is part of a series so you will meet characters from the previous books but can easily read this or any of them on it’s own.
Very exciting.
Duchess Isobel Cuthbarten has taken her son and run away from her brutal abusive husband. She is now working at Château Delatate, Edinburgh’s elite and secretive gentleman’s club. Her husband delighted in telling her the love of her life Alasdair Cameron was dead from the throat plague that wiped out entire clans. Her whole family was gone she had nowhere to turn to for help. After Alasdair find out her father married her to the Duke Alasdair went to save her when he discovered she seemed happy with her new husband the Duke. His heart broken Alasdair, she didn’t really love him, she was beyond his reach he went on to be a successful solicitor of two powerful Highland clans. When he discovers she’s so close and has hidden her son he offers to help her. Can she ever forgive him for not keeping his promise to always protect her and love her? A captivating story of love and forgiveness between two people whose love never died. I love this second chance at love story with its twist and turns, a mother trying to save herself and her son while defying her husband and finding the love of her life. Both are strong and independent and for Isobel it’s hard to believe Alasdair and forgive him for not keeping his promises. I voluntarily reviewed it and the comments are my own.
Oh wow, where do I start with this story….brilliant does come to mind! There are so many facets to this story and I will say if one couple deserves a HEA, it’s Alasdair and Isobel. I went through so many emotions while reading the pages, I smiled, I laughed, I cried, I gasped, I loved, I hated, I felt disgust, fear, anger, etc. Maeve Greyson sure knows how to write ’em!!!
Isobel is one of the strongest heroines I’ve “met”, to think after what she went through and come out fighting, she’s a woman to behold. Having endured torture and imprisonment from her cruel husband for years, she finally manages to escape his clutches with their son Connor. Now on the run, she encounters the love of her life, the man she’d thought dead for over 10 years! Alasdair now has a second chance to make right the misunderstandings of 10 years ago and so starts an adventure like no other.
I absolutely loved this story, it’s one of the best I’ve read in a long time and it’s very well researched. I definitely do recommend this book.
I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
When she was betrothed to a duke by her selfish father, Isobel had no worries because of her unwavering faith that her true love, Alasdair Cameron, would save her. But he didn’t and she soon learned he’d died when the plague swept his clan, leaving her in a hellish, abusive marriage. Now she’s on the run with her son and aging aunt in an effort to keep the boy away from his cruel father. Her efforts bring her to Edinburgh where she finds Alasdair alive and begging to uphold his years’ old promises to save her now.
Alasdair Cameron has made a name for himself as a solicitor to two powerful Highland clans, but despite his wealth and sizeable estate, he is cold and lonely without the only woman he’s ever loved. Alasdair arrived too late to save her from marriage to another, then sacrificed his own happiness for hers when he saw how content she seemed with her new husband. But when his brother discovers the new hostess working at a neighboring brothel is none other than Isobel, Alasdair cannot stay away.
Isobel’s only hope of keeping her son safe is to reach the Highlands and she reluctantly accepts Alasdair’s help in doing so, all the while telling him and herself they can never be more than friends, even as she wishes for more.
This book was heavy on action and adventure and a bit light on the romance. Alasdair and Isobel had so much working against them and at times it was just too much, especially when brought on by rash decision-making, but it was nice to see them finally get their happy ending together. This was a very emotional story and at times hard to read because of it, but the characters were endearing, although I did struggle to like Isobel at first; she was ridiculously nasty to poor Alasdair, even after learning the truth, and still reluctant for him to help her. He had to apologize and put up with a lot from her that he in no way deserved. Also, I’m not sure I really buy how quickly Isobel encouraged Alasdair’s physical attentions given her history with abuse, but I suppose things are different with him and I can overlook it because her shrewish behavior toward him in the beginning was tedious. Honestly the amount of times Alasdair, Isobel, and their companions found themselves in danger got a bit old and repetitive after a while just from the sheer number of situations and the anxiety they induced. Nonetheless, this was a solid story and I’d like to read more about this family.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I could not believe what I was reading. Maeve Greyson has really found a home writing about the Highland Heroes. I enjoyed the first two books of her series; but I found that I lost myself in the characters, redemption, healing, and love that makes this book a terrific read. Alasdair and Isobel’s story are filled with amazing situations, warm and loving characters, a cruel Duke, and plenty of suspense to keep you reading. Thank you, Maeve.