Tag: Amy Jarecki

Guest Review: The Highland Duke by Amy Jarecki

Posted March 27, 2017 by Tracy in Reviews | 3 Comments

Guest Review: The Highland Duke by Amy JareckiReviewer: Tracy
The Highland Duke by Amy Jarecki
Series: Lords of the Highlands #1
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: March 28th 2017
Pages: 384
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three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

She'll put her life on the line for him . . .

When Akira Ayres finds the brawny Scot with a musket ball in his thigh, the healer has no qualms about doing whatever it takes to save his life. Even if it means fleeing with him across the Highlands to tend to his wounds while English redcoats are closing in. Though Akira is as fierce and brave as any of her clansmen, even she's intimidated by the fearsome, brutally handsome Highlander who refuses to reveal his name.

Yet she can never learn his true identity.

Geordie knows if Akira ever discovers he's the Duke of Gordon, both her life and his will be forfeit in a heartbeat. The only way to keep the lass safe is to ensure she's by his side day and night. But the longer he's with her, the harder it becomes to think of letting her go. Despite all their differences, despite the danger-he will face death itself to make her his . . .

Akira is a healer in the small town of Dunkeld.  After the battle of Hoord Moor she heads to battlefield to see if she can help any of the wounded.  She finds a man who has been shot in the thigh and tries to help him.  When they hear people coming he quickly sends her to find a horse and they head out.  You see, the man is a Duke and if he is found to be fighting on the side of the Jacobites he will be imprisoned or killed and have his lands taken from him.  Geordie and Akira take off and hide from the dragoons that are never far behind.  Geordie dropped his flask with his family’s crest on it so the dragoons know who to look for.

Akira and Geordie avoid the red coats and make it to Geordie’s lands but not before they fall in love with each other.  Akira, who’s very proper gives in to Geordie’s advances when he says he’ll take care of her thinking that he’s going to marry her. When he offers to make her his mistress instead she’s heart-broken. She had no idea he was a duke until they got to his castle but that played no part in her feelings for him. He is divorced and he knows that Queen Anne and the bishop will never approve the marriage.  He loves her but he doesn’t know what else to do.

The dragoons haven’t given up and they are determined to get Geordie to admit he’s a traitor.  They’ll even use Akira to get to him and it may actually work.

I really liked the premise of this book and there was a whole lot about it that I liked.  I really loved Akira and her strength.  She’d been the sole caretaker of her mother and 3 sisters for the past 10 years and she was happy to do it.  She was an amazing woman and I truly admired her.  She also stood up to Geordie when she needed to and that was awesome as well.

The first part of the book, while they’re on the run from the dragoons before they hit the duke’s lands, was pretty slow, imho.  It was decent but I had to stop myself from skimming ahead on more than one occasion.  I know this was meant to be a time when Geordie and Akira get to know each other but there was so much internal thought I found it quite sluggish.  I thought that once the pair hit Gordon land things would pick up a bit but it was only a little.

Things really came to a head when Akira headed home and the dragoon who had been after Geordie made his move.  I really liked the last ¾ of the book but unfortunately it didn’t make up for the other parts.  This got higher marks because I really loved that Jarecki wasn’t afraid to match up a Romany woman with a Duke and made it work.  Of course I wasn’t quite convinced at the end of the book that those who were after Geordie were going to give up, but maybe that’s just me.

Geordie grew on me.  At the first part of the book I didn’t care for him at all but he showed his true worth throughout the story and I really liked him by the end.  He was a good man who had lost his way but had finally found the right path.

Overall I liked the story I just had issues with tempo.  Hopefully the next book in the series will be more evenly paced.

Rating 3.5 out of 5

three-half-stars

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Review: Captured by the Pirate Laird by Amy Jarecki

Posted February 13, 2014 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Wed by proxy to a baron old enough to be her grandfather, Lady Anne trudges up the gangway of a galleon that will deliver her into the arms of a tyrant. Crestfallen, she believes her disastrous life cannot get worse—until she awakes to the blasts of cannon fire.

Facing certain death, Anne trembles in her stateroom while swords clash and the chilling screams of battle rage on the deck above. When a rugged Highlander kicks in her door, she prays for a swift end.

But Laird Calum MacLeod has a reason for plundering the ship—and it’s not a stunning English lass. With no other choice, he takes Anne to his crumbling keep on the isle of Raasay and sends a letter of ransom to her husband. In time, Anne grows to understand MacLeod’s plight and finds it increasingly difficult to resist Calum’s unsettling charm—until the baron sends a reply agreeing to terms.

Ripped from passion that will be forever seared into their souls, will Anne and Calum risk everything for love?

Anne is just 19 and boarding a ship in England that will set sail to meet her new husband. She supposedly met this man while at Court but she doesn’t remember him at all. She’s not looking forward to meeting the man as he never courted her – just made the arrangements with her uncle AND he’s 58. Ew. She’s thinking grandfather with saggy skin.

During the voyage her ship is taken over by pirates who aren’t really pirates. They’re members of the McLeod clan and they need the goods on the ship to help their people survive. Anne doesn’t particularly care WHY they’ve taken the ship but she certainly becomes concerned when she gets taken to their island and put up for ransom.

The Laird of the clan, Calum, is a big, scary guy brute but the more Anne gets to know him the more she sees that he’s not such a brute after all. The two have an incredible attraction to each other but with Anne married Calum knows he cannot bed her. The tension this causes is palpable and everyone on the island can see that the two are perfect for each other. Too bad there’s that whole hostage/kidnapper thing to deal with.

Eventually word is sent from Anne’s husband that he will pay the ransom but what will happen to Anne with her new husband? She worries she will never see Calum again and since she’s in love with him she’s not sure she can live.

Oh what a tangled web! This story had me on pins and needles almost the entire book. I wanted so badly for Calum and Anne to be together but I just couldn’t figure out exactly how that would come about. Of course this a romance so I knew it would but Jarecki kept me hanging on for a darned long time before it all came to light.

I loved the way that these characters were written as they seemed bigger than life. No matter who was on the page they had a definite presence and I loved to love them or loved to hate them.

There was one part of the book that really slowed down for me near the end of the book and it was so unexpected that I was thrown for a bit. The story had been so riveting that I couldn’t understand where the lull was coming from. Luckily that didn’t continue and the book soon resumed it’s previously exciting story.

This is my first read by Jarecki and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’m SO happy that I took the chance and will look forward to reading more from her in the future.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Amy Jarecki

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What I Read Last Week

Posted February 3, 2014 by Tracy in Features | 1 Comment

I can’t believe it’s February already! Didn’t we just start the new year? Huh. Crazy.

Let’s see – nothing much happened this past week but I still didn’t get much reading done.  Here’s what I read:

I started off the week with an anthology called Love and Other Games by Ana Blaze, Melinda Dozier, Aria Kane and Kara Leigh Miller. The stories all revolved around fictitious Winter Olympic Games that take place in Switzerland. I really liked 2 of the stories and the other ones were good but not fantastic. I thought they were all cute and all had something going for them. You can read my review here at Book Binge. Overall the book was a 3.75 out of 5

Next up was Kaleidoscope by Kristen Ashley. This was Jacob who used to date a girl 9 years earlier but always got along great with her best friend, Emme. Now Emme and Jacob run into each other again and Jacob realizes that Emme’s his girl and he has to go about proving it. Emme, however, is suffering from a kidnapping 22 years earlier that she never dealt with and kind of disconnects from relationships when they start getting deep which of course causes a problem with Jacob and Emme. I’ll post my review of this one tomorrow so you can read about my thoughts. 3.5 out of 5

Shh…Mine (This. Is. Not. Over) by Shannon Dianne is the story of Danielle who meets Malcolm in high school only she never actually sees his face. He never stops thinking of her and she of him. She goes on to get married to Jon but that relationship suffers and they plan on getting a divorce. Now Danielle is trying to figure life out with Malcolm but he’s got his psycho ex girlfriend after him and her now ex-husband wanting her back. The story is a bit crazy and is told in alternating 1st person POV – something the author calls Confessional Stream of Thought. While crazy it’s also funny and sweet as well as sexy. It’s also a bit creepy at times but I really liked it and I’m looking forward to reading the conclusion to the story. 4 out of 5 (read for Book Binge)

Last for the week was Captured by the Pirate Laird by Amy Jarecki. This is a story about a girl whose uncle marries her by proxy to a man who saw her at court. She can’t remember the guy but she’s not happy about the marriage as she’s 19 and he’s 58. Her ship is taken over by pirates who aren’t really pirates. They take her back to their island home in Scotland and then send off a ransom note to her husband. The problem is that the hostage, Anne, and the Laird/pirate, Calum, fall in love – and then he has to ship her off to her husband. Not good. The story was really good and I’m glad I read it. I’ll post my full review next week. 4 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
How to Wed an Earl by Ivory Lei
Love and Other Games by Ana Blaze, Melinda Dozier, Aria Kane and Kara Leigh Miller


Happy Reading!

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