Reviewer: Tracy Highland Crown by May McGoldrick
Series: Royal Highlander #1
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: April 30, 2019
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Point-of-View: Third person
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Genres: Historical Romance
Pages: 312
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Series Rating:
Inverness, 1820Perched on the North Sea, this port town―by turns legendary and mythological―is a place where Highland rebels and English authorities clash in a mortal struggle for survival and dominance. Among the fray is a lovely young widow who possesses rare and special gifts.
WANTED: Isabella DrummondA true beauty and trained physician, Isabella has inspired longing and mystery―and fury―in a great many men. Hunted by both the British government and Scottish rebels, she came to the Highlands in search of survival. But a dying ship’s captain will steer her fate into even stormier waters. . .and her heart into flames.
FOUND: Cinaed MackintoshCast from his home as a child, Cinaed is a fierce soul whose allegiance is only to himself. . .until Isabella saved his life―and added more risk to her own. Now, the only way Cinaed can keep her safe to seek refuge at Dalmigavie Castle, the Mackintosh family seat. But when the scandalous truth of his past comes out, any chance of Cinaed having a bright future with Isabella is thrown into complete darkness. What will these two ill-fated lovers have to sacrifice to be together…for eternity?
Isabella Drummond is a surgeon, married to a doctor. They had lived in Edinburgh for six years and had a stable if unexciting life. Her husband, Archibald, was a reformer, however and when it came down to a day of strikes, he was killed and Isabella ran for her life with her sister and her step-daughter. She was now being pursued by soldiers who think that she was part of her husband’s radical dealings, and the people in charge of the group of reformers were after her as well so she won’t tell the authorities any information.
When the book opens Isabella is in northern Scotland at a small cottage with a woman who is none too happy for her to be there. Isabella was helped by her friend Sir Walter Scott who then implored his solicitor to help. The woman was the solicitor’s aunt. Isabella’s sister and step-daughter had gone with the solicitor to book passage on a ship to America. The small town on the shore where she is staying is a rough one. The villagers gather any items from ships that wreck on the rocks and shoot any survivors so they can’t argue about it. Nice. This happens when Isabella is there and she ends up saving one of the men who is the captain of a ship. When a villager finds out about the man and Isabella they end out having to leave the cottage and take the aunt with them.
They end up fighting for their lives while staying with a relative of the man they saved, Captain Cinaed Mackintosh, but in order to do so they have to act like man and wife. After just a short period of time together they fall in love but Isabella is unwilling to bring Cinaed into her troubles even though he’s already knee-deep in them. The pair have to save themselves as well as Cinaed’s relative and decide if they want to leave for America or stay and fight for their country.
This was a good story that I enjoyed. I’m not normally a fan of country politics in my romances but I have to say this one was well done. I did think that the H/h fell in love way too fast for me, but I considered the year and went with it. Lol
I loved the fact that Isabella was a doctor/surgeon. Everyone looked at her funny when she helped others, but she was so good at what she did. I loved that McGoldrick made her a doctor, rather than just a wife who was running for her life.
Because of the politics I’m not sure I’ll read further in the series. That said, I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good Scottish historical romance with some political intrigue.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5