Tag: Kinley MacGregor

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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Author Spotlight Review: The Warrior by Kinley MacGregor.

Posted February 25, 2010 by Rowena in Features, Reviews | 2 Comments

Genres: Paranormal Romance


Rowena’s review of The Warrior by Kinley MacGregor.

Hero: Lochlan MacAllister
Heroine: Princess Catarina

On a quest to discover the truth about the brother he believed dead, Lochlan MacAllister is stunned when he crosses paths with his beautiful adversary as she is being kidnapped! Unwilling to see even the shrewish Catarina suffer, he frees her only to learn that she has her own demons to fight. When their fates intertwine, two people who know nothing of trust must rely on each other, and two enemies who have vowed their eternal hatred must find common ground, or see their very lives shattered.

So in this book, we’re finally getting Lochlan’s book. It’s been years since I’ve been waiting for this book to come out because I loved me some Lochlan in the other books and I wanted him to get his happy ending. I’ve had this book since the day it came out and I opened it once to read it and then lost it and didn’t find it until like a year later and then…I forgot about it and just barely got around to reading it again now for the author spotlight.

Sherrilyn Kenyon has a bunch of great Dark Hunter novels and while I enjoy those books, I also enjoy her Kinley MacGregor books as well. I loved the MacAllister series and was so stoked to finally get Lochlan’s story since it took her forever and a day to get it done (don’t look at how long it took me to finally read it, I really was excited for this book!).

It was good to see everyone again, from the MacAllister brothers to the Brotherhood of the Sword guys. We finally get to see who The Scot is and man it was too crazy. I had forgotten what a beast the MacAllister’s father was and just meeting the Scot and then seeing what happened to Keiran it was all to me, a let down. SK is all about gloom and doom and while I can appreciate that, she still writes romance novels. I didn’t see the way she left Keiran’s storyline as anything but a cop out. So he’s a DH? Are we going to get his story? I doubt it since both of these series are written for completely different publishers.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. I enjoyed getting to know the characters from this story. Cat was a great heroine, one with enough feistiness to keep her interesting and then I enjoyed seeing Rowena and Stryder again and even Simon. I really enjoyed Stryder and Rowena’s story and to see them back in action this time around was a definite treat. We only got a brief looksee at the MacAllister brothers and that was pure cheese but I didn’t mind it so much. I just wanted more from the whole Keiran storyline.

Lochlan ended up being a really stand up hero. He had issues growing up with his father and he was tired of paying for his father’s sins. The way that Cat grew on him was sweet but the story just didn’t have that certain umph that I read in the other books. I can’t even explain properly what it was, there was just something missing from this book. But it wasn’t a bad book, I guess my standards for KM/SK’s writing was pretty high and this just didn’t live up to it but I did enjoy the book enough to give it a 3.75, it was good just not as good as the other books that I’ve come to love from MacGregor.

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


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Review: Born in Sin by Kinley MacGregor

Posted May 21, 2008 by Rowena in Reviews | 7 Comments

Review: Born in Sin by Kinley MacGregorReviewer: Rowena
Born in Sin by Kinley MacGregor
Series: Brotherhood of the Sword #3, The MacAllisters #3
Also in this series: Claiming the Highlander (Brotherhood of the Sword #2/MacAllister, #1), Taming the Scotsman
Publisher: Harper Collins, Avon
Publication Date: January 1, 2003
Format: Print
Source: Purchased
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Genres: Historical Romance
Pages: 372
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-half-stars

Stunning Caledonia MacNeely fights an unfamiliar shiver when she is offered in marriage to the infamous ′Lord Sin′. Though Callie fears this mysterious knight - less for the dark whispers that damn him than for the burning desire he invokes - she is under order of the English King. And with the fate of her troubled clan hanging in the balance, she has little recourse.

This is the second MacAllister brother book by Kinley MacGregor. There are other books in the Brotherhood of the Swords series, which is a series that intermingles with this one and I’ll get to reviewing those books soon but for right now, I’m reviewing the MacAllister books because I loved these guys.

Kinley MacGregor/Sherrilyn Kenyon has some serious tortured hero love. Most all of her heroes have been through the ringer and most of them have had shitty lives and don’t trust anyone and on and on and on and I’m thinking okay I think I’ve had enough because there comes a time in a reader’s life when it just gets old.

I’m glad that I read Sin’s book back when I first started reading SK/KM because back then I was eating the tortured hero thing up. So even though now, I’m not too wild about SK anymore (but of course, I still read her because that’s my crack)…I still loved me some Sin MacAllister.

Sin MacAllister captivated me from the first time we meet him in Braden’s book. There was something so mysterious and so interesting about him that it had this bizarre way of stealing the hero’s story.

Poor Braden.

While reading Claiming the Highlander, I wanted to know all there was about this quiet and lethal man. I wanted to know what happened to him after all that time after being banished from his home and having his father turn his back on him. My heart went out to him and I wanted him to find the happiness that would show his step mother up. Even after the scene where they meet again after all those years and it went down between her and Sin, it wasn’t enough for me. I wanted more groveling, I wanted more apologies, I wanted more for Sin.

I loved Callie though, I thought she was a fantastic hero and the perfect heroine for Sin. She was loving, caring and she loved her some Sin. I loved the fierce way she depended on him and the way that she brought laughter into Sin’s life, it was just the cutest thing to see her try to teach Sin how to love and try to thaw the coldness around Sin’s heart.

Watching these two fall in love made for great hours of entertainment and it was just so much fun to be apart of. I loved that Sin was a virgin, you don’t meet too many of those kind of heroes in our romance novels and seriously with Sin, it was hot. It was hot at how much he wanted it to be good for Callie and sigh I just seriously love this book.

You guys should definitely read this book because it’s a good book with the best of the Scots world and the English world back in the day and because Sin is a fantastic hero and Callie was a great heroine, the storyline was wonderful and the characters (especially Sin’s family) were off the charts good!

I remember looking forward to finding out more about Keiran and Ewan and this was the story that made me fall a little more in love with Lochlan.

Seriously, these MacAllister men are fantastically handsome and just wickedly hot, why have you not read these books if you haven’t?

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

four-half-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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