Tracy’s review of Highland Surrender by Dawn Halliday
Determined to put his roguish past behind him, the Earl of Camdonn arranges to marry the proper Lady Elizabeth. But when an accident lands the Earl in the expert hands of a beautiful Highland medicine woman, all well-laid plans are thrown to the wind- and, just as in the old days, his passions run high…
Cam is on his way home after being in England for 5 months. He’s anxious to be there and introduce his household to his English lady betrothed, Elizabeth. But when they are almost home they are set upon by Highwaymen and Cam is shot. He is rescued by Ceana who is the local healer. Instantly Ceana and Cam have an attraction to each other. They have some pull that seems to cloud everything, including their judgement.
In the attack Elizabeth is taken from the carriage. She is thrown in the bushes and found by Cam’s stable master, Rob. Rob takes Elizabeth back to Camdonn castle but as with Ceana and Cam, Elizabeth and Rob feel a strange pull towards each other.
What happens when both Elizabeth and Cam figure out that they are in love with other people? And what happens when Elizabeth’s evil guardian and uncle finds out about Elizabeth and Rob?
This was the continuation of Cam’s story that began in Highland Obsession. Cam is trying to do what he feels is right and trying to forget what happened with Sorcha (when he kidnapped her from her marriage bed). He is determined to marry Elizabeth – even when he starts having these feelings for Ceana. But when he can’t deny himself any longer and goes after Ceana – she refuses him as there is a curse on her family and she cannot marry for fear that Cam would die. This certainly lends a more paranormal feel to the story, but while it was interesting I didn’t feel it added too much.
Then there’s Rob and Elizabeth. Elizabeth, for fear of retaliation from her evil uncle, is the perfect hostess and lady. She says the right thing and does the right thing but that’s not really who she is. She’s a little bit wild and when she starts having feelings for Rob and he for her she discovers that there’s way more to sex than she ever thought.
I enjoyed this story, I think, more than I did the first book in the series. I found Cam and Ceana, Rob and Elizabeth’s attraction to be very sweet and romantic at first. It was like a star-crossed lovers story and I very much enjoyed it.
Elizabeth’s uncle was just a mean bastard and I understand fully why she feared him but I thought that that part of it was taken just a tad bit too far. The beating of the ladies maid in order to keep Elizabeth in line was quite distasteful to me – but obviously it was to Elizabeth as well.
Overall I enjoyed the romances in this book. I’ll definitely be reading more from Halliday in the future.
This book is available from NAL. You can buy it here
Rating: 4 out of 5
You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place
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