Reviewer: 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
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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.