Series: MacAllisters

Throwback Thursday Review: Taming the Scotsman by Kinley MacGregor

Posted May 16, 2019 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

Throwback Thursday Review: Taming the Scotsman by Kinley MacGregorReviewer: Rowena
Taming the Scotsman by Kinley MacGregor
Series: Brotherhood of the Sword #4, MacAllisters #4
Also in this series: Claiming the Highlander (Brotherhood of the Sword #2/MacAllister, #1), Born in Sin
Publisher: Harper Collins, Avon
Publication Date: August 26, 2003
Format: Print
Source: Purchased
Point-of-View: Third
Genres: Historical Romance
Pages: 374
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars

No one can tell the hot-blooded Scottish lass whom to marry! But the much-feared man Nora runs to for protection may be more perilous to her heart than any unwanted groom...

And much more difficult to tame!

Nora is a woman with a mission. Rather than be forced to endure a loveless marriage, she has fled her home, bound for England. There’s one small problem, though; she needs a guide, and the best choice is Ewan MacAllister, the only man both her father and her fiancé fear. Beneath Ewan’s rough and tumble exterior, however, she finds the heart of a loyal friend, and suddenly, more than to be free, she yearns to tame the proud Highlander who protects his wounded heart.

Tormented by his past, Ewan wants only to be left alone. Until the fiery lass forces herself into his remote home and refuses to leave unless he escorts her far away from Scotland. Ewan thinks her mad, especially given her claims to be none other than niece to the Queen of England, but he can’t let her travel about the countryside unescorted. In spite of her unorthodox ways and stubborn nature, she is rather fetching for a bold lass. And to his deepest chagrin, he finds himself wishing for the one thing he never thought to have. A brave Highland lady to call his own…

Every Thursday, we’ll be posting throwback reviews of our favorite and not-so-favorite books. Enjoy!

This review was originally posted on May 26, 2008.

Another MacAllister finds true love. This is the third MacAllister brother to find his wife and this book was enjoyable. Not the best of the bunch, but still enjoyable because it added to the mystery of Keiran. The end raised a lot of questions and I read this book for the first time, a long time ago and could not wait for Lochlan’s story, hoping against hope that his story would bring more answers to all of the questions I had about Keiran.

When we first began this series, we learn the story of Keiran, Isobel and Ewan. Isobel hooked up with one brother, forcing him to fall for her charms and then ran away with another brother, which brought on a whole lot of betrayals, regrets and broken hearts….and Ewan has a whole lot of regret going on in this story. He fell for Isobel and ran away with her, knowing about Keiran and Isobel but foolishly believing that Isobel was truly and utterly in love with him. She shows her true colors as soon as they get to London and admits to Ewan that she really only used him to get to her true love, some chap out there.

So Ewan returns home, jilted and feeling like a fool.

He builds a home for himself in a cave and he lives alone, punishing himself for what he did to his brother. Keiran has disappeared and Ewan blames himself. They don’t know where he is, how he’s doing or anything and Ewan lives with the absence of his brother, a daily reminder of everything he regrets in life.

Then Nora comes into his life, a runaway bride and he’s not having any of it. He is not going to repeat the mistakes of yonder years and he’s going to take this runaway bride directly to her father, where she belongs and he’s going to come back to the life he created for himself and continue to punish himself for the mistakes of his past.

This story was a bit on the cheesy side and though I enjoyed the book, it’s nowhere near my favorite. I think what made me jump up and pay attention in this book was all of the Keiran mentions. When the story ends with that big ol’ cliff hanger, I wanted Lochlan’s book something fierce. I wanted to devour it, hoping that there would be more of Keiran.

I believe he’s alive…and dude, I heard some stuff about Lochlan’s story (that I have yet to read) and now that I’m all caught up with these books, I’m going to put in a read of The Warrior next, woo frickin’ hoo!

Ewan was a good hero. He was strong, he loved his family and he had problems that he had to work through and I enjoyed getting to know him.

Nora was funny, she had me laughing quite a bit in this story and she was just a delight to read about again. She fit right in with Ewan and I was rootin’ them on to their happy ending. I enjoyed seeing Sin and Callie and Braden and Maggie in this story, they were a delightful addition to this story and Sin…I can never get enough of Sin, so woo hoo bring on the Sin! =)

Should you read this book? Yeah, because it goes with the other stories and because it’s a good book. Great characters, solid storyline if you can get past the cheese. It’s a good one guys, so keep the happy reading going with this one.

Grade: 4 out of 5

This book is available from Avon. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Brotherhood of the Sword & MacAllisters

four-stars


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Review: Claiming the Highlander by Kinley MacGregor

Posted May 13, 2008 by Rowena in Reviews | 6 Comments

Review: Claiming the Highlander by Kinley MacGregorReviewer: Rowena
Claiming the Highlander (Brotherhood of the Sword #2/MacAllister, #1) by Kinley MacGregor
Series: MacAllisters #2, Brotherhood of the Sword #2
Also in this series: Taming the Scotsman, Born in Sin
Publisher: Harper Collins, Avon
Publication Date: March 5th 2002
Genres: Historical Romance
Pages: 373
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars

BORN TO BE HIS BRIDE?

It is said that Braden MacAllister, English baron and proud Highlander warrior, can fell an enemy with a single blow—and a woman with a single kiss. But not Maggie, it seems. For the fire-haired beauty, determined to end the long running feud that rages between their clan and its common foe, is immune to Braden's attempts to stop her foolishness. But stop her he will, once he gets the meddling minx alone and favours her with a passionate caress and an irresistible kiss.

No matter how she trembles beneath Braden's sensuous touch...he has given his heart to none. But dare she dream that by assuring peace for her clan she may also be claiming the most magnificent Highlander for herself.

Have you ever read something online that triggered a memory of a book that you read a long time ago and you wanted nothing else but to reread that book again? Well that’s what happened with me. I was reading something online, now I can’t even remember what it was and it triggered a scene of men being tied up until the women agreed to come back home to cook, clean and warm beds. I couldn’t remember too many details of Claiming the Highlander so I picked this book up as soon as I got home and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book once again.

Kinley MacGregor writes some wonderful stories with magic and love and all things that make for great romance reads. This book was no exception. In this book we have Maggie, the heroine who has had it up to here (picture me holding up my hand to just above my head) with the feuding and the warring with their neighboring clan and she wants to put a stop to it. She has lost one too many brothers from this war with the MacDougals and she wants to put a stop to it. So she’s put together her band of merrywomen and takesthem on a historical version of the Writer’s Strike. If the Laird and the men don’t stop the fighting, the women will stop cleaning, cooking and putting out. Maggie is pretty confident until the hero of the story, Braden MacAllister returns home to find his brother and Maggie’s brothers tied up by their own men because their women will not come home until the war is done.

What’s a Laird to do to calm a female hellrat bent on peace? Send his sexy, ladies can’t help but drop at his feet brother to seduce her over to their side of course. And off Braden goes to talk to the womenfolk. It doesn’t help that Maggie and Braden have known each other their whole lives and it doesn’t help Maggie any that she’s been in love with Braden for almost as long as she’s known him. She’s not happy that she’s got this monster crush on him and she knows that there can never be anything between them because she’s a plain lass and he’s beautiful and can have his pick of any woman. When her efforts start to crumble on the homefront, she decides to take her fight for peace over to the feuding Laird. Not able to let her go without protection, Braden and their sexy, mysterious brother (shut up Izzy, I know Sin is yours dammit!) Sin take off on a journey to keep Maggie safe from harm on her way into the lion’s den.

On the way to the MacDougals, we get to know Maggie and Braden a lot better and I totally love these two. Maggie is fiercely passionate about life and about her family and those that she loves and she’ll do whatever it takes to see that they stick around. She’s a fighter and she’s got a reason to fight and nothing was going to stop her. She was a good heroine, one that I enjoyed getting to know. I felt for her throughout the story, with her feelings for Braden and the lack of self esteem and confidence in herself but when they finally get together (because duh, this is a romance novel and that’s a given), I was happy for her. She was able to accomplish so much and when we meet little Connor, I loved her like the sisters I already have. She was kind, understanding and very caring.

Then there was Braden.

Braden who was the looker in the family. Braden who got all of the girls and was just the right kind of hero for Maggie. I loved his personality, his protectiveness over Maggie and I loved HIM! This was the book that started my love affair with all things MacAllisters and I’m so glad that I reread this book because the MacAllister’s are a great family and the humor that shined through this entire book had me laughing, sighing and just delighting in the whole read. Braden, Braden, Braden has his own issues that he’s working through in this book and I enjoyed seeing him get to this happy ending. I enjoyed seeing him grow and man was Braden a hot one but I must admit that even in this book, it was Sin MacAllister that had my attention. It was him that I was more interested in.

Braden was great and all but even though I’ve read these stories already, I was still intrigued by Sin and his backstory….and because of this, I do feel a complete series reread upon me. This was a great book to read, it had just about everything you could ever want in a romance. It had a solid storyline, great characters, the start of a great series and witty dialogue. Maggie shined as a heroine and Braden impressed me as a hero. If you haven’t already, you should check this book out.

It’s a great read.

Grade: 4 out of 5

This book is available from Avon. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

four-stars


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