(This is a novella of approximately 50,000 words)A novella set in the world of New York Times Bestselling Author Monica McCarty’s Highland Guard Series. What’s not to love? Not only is Sir Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, one of the most important and wealthiest men in the kingdom, he’s charming, devastatingly handsome, and the favored nephew of King Robert the Bruce. Even so, when Isabel “Izzie” … Bruce. Even so, when Isabel “Izzie” Stewart meets the vaunted knight, she’s glad he’s her cousin’s soon-to-be betrothed and not hers. He takes himself far too seriously, to her mind, and seems to be acting out the role of the “perfect” knight. In her experience, men who are too good to be true usually are. But when Izzie starts to wonder whether her first impressions might have been wrong, she discovers a complex, compelling man who is far from perfect and more seductive than she ever imagined.
Other books in the Series:
The Chief
The Hawk
The Ranger
The Viper
The Saint
The Recruit
The Hunter
The Knight (e-novella)
The Raider
The Arrow
The Striker
The Rock
The Ghost
more
One of the best series I’ve have read.
Ugh! I can’t believe I read this one out of order. But the good news is it doesn’t matter. There are no spoilers for The Rock or The Ghost, which in my case, will be the final books of the series. I always try to read the books in series in order, not that anyone cares.
This book is Thomas Randolph’s story. I don’t remember a lot about him from the previous novels, but it is recapped in short in this book. The part to keep in mind is that The Black Douglas doesn’t like him. Good. I didn’t like The Black Douglas, but I did like Randolph and I especially liked Isabel.
Randolph is supposed to ask Douglas’s cousin, Elizabeth, to marry him. The details are all worked out and it’s just a matter of Randolph asking her. It’s to be a marriage of convenience, of course, but Randolph doesn’t care. He was still determined to prove himself to the others of the Highland Guard after defecting for a time to the English. He’d told Douglas that he’d marry her and was determined to do just that. Gosh darn the consequences!
But that was before Isabel worked her way into his heart when he wasn’t looking. She was everything he didn’t want in a woman. She laughed at him (something he despised), she was brutally honest, and she didn’t care one whit for his peacock ways and his prowess with women. She didn’t go all batty on him or fall at his feet because he was so handsome, debonair, and just happened to give her a smile or spoke to her. She’s intelligent, witty, sensible, and made him work for her affections. He was the type that had women falling all over him all the time and he expected her to do the same–with no strings attached.
Not so fast, buddy. Isabel wants more than pretty words and a gorgeous man. She wants something Randolph can’t give. She wants loyalty, respect, and love. It matters to her that he is supposed to be marrying Elizabeth, who happens to be her cousin, too, and she fights the attraction to Randolph, knowing that it’s wrong. Randolph isn’t going to keep it to one woman and she feels sorry for Elizabeth for that, but she isn’t going to have it any other way. I admired her for that. I admired her for her spunk and her “take-no-hostages” attitude. I admired her for her loyalty to her cousin and her ingenuity when times got rough. I liked everything about her, which is something I can’t say for every heroine. If she were an actual person, I would want to be her friend.
This book is shorter than the other books of this series, but has plenty of feels and steam. It’s lacking nothing. It measures up with the rest of them, minus the war action and the fighting of the Highland Guard and their quest to get Robert Bruce on the throne. Bruce is already there and now they’re taking castles. It wasn’t a huge part of the story, but still made Randolph come out looking more heroic than he already was.
It’s always so cool to see the other members of the Guard in these books, but in this one, McSorley (the Hawk) was like the Dr. Phil of romance. McSorley is one of my favorites of this series. His wit and charm never cease to make me laugh.
This earned a solid five stars.
A Highland Guard Novel
One of the Best Historical Series EVER!!!
ByLC Reads
Monica has out done herself with the Highland Guard series. It is one of the best series in historical romance EVER! These stories even intrigued my (non loving of romance novels or chick flicks), history buff of a husband! If your looking for a great series or just a fabulous book, you will be thanking me for the suggestion… Happy Reading!