Tag: Michelle Willingham

Guest Review: The Highlander and the Governess by Michelle Willingham

Posted September 10, 2019 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: The Highlander and the Governess by Michelle WillinghamReviewer: Tracy
The Highlander and the Governess by Michelle Willingham
Series: Untamed Highlanders #1
Publisher: Harlequin Historical
Publication Date: September 17, 2019
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Point-of-View: Third
Genres: Historical Romance
Pages: 288
Add It: Goodreads
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three-stars
Series Rating: three-stars

A ruined lady turned governess

Can she tame the Highlander?

Part of Untamed Highlanders. When Frances Goodson is summoned to Scotland to give etiquette lessons, she’s not expecting to tutor a handsome laird! The scandal of her past means going home is not an option, so she must help wild, scarred Lachlan MacKinloch win a wealthy London heiress. She’s determined to fulfill her task and not get distracted by the passion she sees in the powerful laird’s eyes…

Frances Goodson arrives in Scotland and is impressed by the grandeur of the castle where she’s been hired to be a governess.  She’s been told nothing about her charges, but she can’t wait to get started.

When she finally is admitted to the home, she finds out that the Laird’s mother had hired a governess behind her son’s back because she thought he needed help with his manners and etiquette.  He’s to hopefully get engaged to a London lady soon, and the mother wants nothing to get in the way of that happening.

The Laird, Lachlan McKinloch, wants nothing to do with the governess or her etiquette lessons.  He orders her out of the house at once.  She talks him into letting her stay one day but then he insists she must leave.  One day turns to two and then soon she’s there for a month.

Frances is running from a scandal and poverty.  She was from a good family but they turned their backs on her when scandal hit.  Frances will do anything to stay away from London, even stay in Scotland and work for no wages.

Frances is able to get the Laird to work on etiquette like the proper fork to use, dancing, and the biggie: the need to always have a chaperone. Of course they don’t always, and next thing you know the two are falling in love.  Unfortunately the London hopeful has 20,000 pounds as a dowry so Lachlan can’t marry Frances as he needs the money the marriage will bring to save his people, who are starving.  His father wasn’t good with money before he died and made the arrangements with his best friend for their kids to marry.

I really liked this book up until the point where Frances and Lachlan return to London, then it just turned into a disaster.  I knew that Lachlan didn’t want to marry the other girl, but he knew that he was going to, no matter what.  That didn’t stop him from sleeping with Frances right after he asked the other woman to marry him! My God, Lachlan, have some honor!  Frances wasn’t much better but letting him when her brain was saying “no, this isn’t right.” Smart brain.  It all works out in the end but not before some serious issues that I really didn’t think made up for Lachlan’s behavior.

Overall it was a decent story, but not one I loved. You’ll probably have to read it for yourself and see what you think about Lachlan’s actions as well as some of the secondary characters.  If you do, please let me know your thoughts, I’d love to hear them.

Rating: 3 out of 5

three-stars


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Guest Review: Forbidden Night with the Prince by Michelle Willingham

Posted July 5, 2018 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Forbidden Night with the Prince by Michelle WillinghamReviewer: Tracy
Forbidden Night with the Prince (Warriors of the Night #3) by Michelle Willingham
Series: Warriors of the Night #3
Also in this series: Forbidden Night with the Warrior
Publisher: Harlequin Historical
Publication Date: August 1, 2018
Format: eARC
Point-of-View: Third
Genres: Historical Romance
Pages: 288
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

A lifetime of being good…

One night of sin!

A Warriors of the Night story: virtuous Joan de Laurent is fated never to marry. Three betrothals, each ending in the groom’s death, have convinced her she’s cursed! But only her hand in marriage can help darkly brooding Irish prince Ronan win back his fortress. To break the curse, Joan must risk all to spend one forbidden night with the royal warrior…

Joan de Laurent believes she’s cursed.  She has had two betrothals and both of her intendeds died before the wedding!  She heads off to Ireland to meet her third betrothed and guess what?  He’s dead too!  Of course he was older, but still!

Ronan Ó Callaghan is an Irish prince who heads to the MacEgan holding to gather reinforcements.  His step-brother staged a coup and took over his father’s throne, taking his father hostage.  Ronan cannot let this stand and asks the MacEgan’s for warriors.  They say they’ll provide them but the de Laurent brothers can also provide warriors.  Unfortunately they’ll only do so if Ronan marries their sister.  Ronan isn’t interested in marrying but when he meets Joan he is quite taken with her.

Joan doesn’t want to get betrothed again.  She doesn’t want to take the chance of killing another man.  When she starts to have feelings for Ronan, she especially doesn’t want him to die.  She gets desperate and goes to an old medicine woman to ask how to break the curse.  The woman tells her to have Ronan drink a potion and then Joan is to lay with him and once they have the curse will be broken.  Joan is skeptical but she’s also desperate, so she goes for it.  They spend a wonderful night together and Ronan even agrees to marry Joan, but Joan won’t marry him as he refuses to have kids.  (He believes he killed his brother and nephew.)  The two need to come to an agreement so that Ronan can get the warriors he needs and save his father like he couldn’t save his other family members.

This was a good story.  I felt so bad for Joan!  With her believing that she’s cursed and everyone acting like she’s the devil, I’d want to leave as well.  Ronan was good for her as he brought her out of her self-induced shell.  She wasn’t a meek and mild person but felt she needed to act like one in order to break the curse.  I loved how Ronan dealt with Joan and she with him., they were really perfect for each other.

I felt that the part of the story that dealt with Ronan and his step-brother was also well done.  It seemed very realistic – something that I could imagine happening (even though I’m not really up on my Irish medieval history).

In the end I enjoyed the book and found it entertaining – a nice way to spend a quiet evening.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

Warriors of the Night

three-half-stars


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Guest Review: Forbidden Night with the Warrior by Michelle Willingham

Posted June 28, 2017 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Forbidden Night with the Warrior by Michelle WillinghamReviewer: Tracy
Forbidden Night with the Warrior by Michelle Willingham
Series: Warriors of the Night #1
Also in this series: Forbidden Night with the Prince (Warriors of the Night #3)
Publisher: Harlequin
Publication Date: June 20th 2017
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

One wicked night for an heir!

Rosamund de Courcy has always loved Warrick de Laurent, but was forced to marry another. Now her husband's dying command is that she must provide him with an heir. To do so, she will have to spend one sinful night...with Warrick!

The powerful warrior was wounded by Rosamund's abandonment years ago, and Warrick refuses to let her touch his heart again. But this illicit night is impossible to resist, and soon he is determined--he will not only possess her, but reclaim her for his own!

Three years ago Rosamund met and fell in love with Warrick.  She wanted nothing more than to be with Warrick but her father had other ideas about her future – not one where she wed a third son with no property.  Under threat of death to Warrick, Rosamund marries.  Now it’s three years later and her husband, Alan, is dying.  He summons Warrick to him and tells him that he wants him to lie with his wife to produce an heir.  Alan doesn’t want his evil brother to inherit and he knows he can’t produce an heir.  Rosamund is adamant that this not happen but Alan gets his way.

Being with Warrick again brings back all of the old feelings she once had for him.  She knows she never stopped loving him but she is still married to her husband.  When he dies Rosamund fears for her life fro Alan’s brother, Owen, and fleas her home.  Unfortunately Owen is determined to have Alan’s estates as well as Rosamund.

I never am one to read books that involve infidelity but this was a different take on everything.  I still didn’t care for it but I could deal with it better because of the circumstances.  Alan truly gave Rosamund no choice in the matter and that pissed me off.  He even forced it on her by coming to her in the dark –   he wanted her to believe that it was he that she was having sex with.  Of course she knew immediately it was Warrick.  That whole scene had me cringing because Warrick – who I had really liked  up until that point was involved.  It was a bit weird to say the least.

The story revolves around not only the issues with Alan and his wishes for Rosamund before he dies, but the issues with his brother Owen as well.   Then there was Rosamund and Warrick working out their issues from the past as well as the problems they faced currently.  There was a lot going on but as usual Willingham wrote it in such a way that it flowed easily.  She took all the different parts of the story and brought it into one cohesive and very good book.  I really enjoyed all of the parts of the story and definitely recommend this one.

Rating: 4 out of 5

four-stars


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What I Read Last Week

Posted August 26, 2013 by Tracy in Features | 1 Comment

How is everyone? What have you been up to lately? Tell me everything!

Things here have been…interesting. My oldest daughter is trying to feel her oats and in the process is making me feel..mental. Ah the joys of having a 15 year old. All I can say on the matter is if you’re the praying sort please put us in your prayers cuz we can use all we can get.

On to what I read this past week:

First up for the week was Freefall by Tess Oliver. This was a book I saw on Goodreads and was interested. The story is about a tattoo artist and his relationship with a girl who already has a boyfriend but the boyfriend is controlling and well, whack. It was an interesting and good book but I definitely had some issues with it. You can read all of my thoughts on the story here in my review. 3.5 out of 5

Next up was The Vampire With the Dragon Tattoo by Kerrelyn Sparks. Dougal is a vampire who was once in love. His love died but when he meets geneticist Leah Chen he believes that she may have the soul of his dead love. He does fall in love with Leah – whether she’s Li Lei or not but he doesn’t believe he’s the best person for her. Leah has a problem believing that vampires can be good people but eventually she does especially when she realizes she’s falling in love with Dougal. I’ll post my review of this one this week so you can read my thoughts on the book. 3 out of 5

To All The Rakes I’ve Loved Before by Anne Barton is a novella that has our heroine Amelia taking a beaten man into her home when her mother’s away. Amelia nurses Stephen back to health and they realize they have feelings for the other. It was a sweet story and though it all happened rather quickly I thought it was well done. 4 out of 5

Unexpected by Maisey Yates is the story of Kelsey who wants a child and finally does something about it by having in vitro. Cole finds out that his sperm was used accidentally and that he’s now going to be a father. Kelsey and Cole try to come to terms with the fact that they will be co-parenting but also with the fact that they find themselves falling in love. It was a cute story that I had more than a few niggles with but it was a decent read. 3 out of 5 (read for Book Binge)

Unbound by Cara McKenna has Merry hiking across part of Scotland but falls ill and seeks help from Rob who is a recluse. She brings him out of his shell and they find compatibility sexually with Rob as the submissive. Rob’s got his shame to deal with about his alcoholism and the fact that he never dealt with it – more just ran away from it. It was a decent read that I thought was well written but I personally wasn’t a fan of the sex scenes on a certain level. My biggest issue was the end of the book when they fall in love but we see no solid HEA. Very disappointing. 3.5 out of 5 (read for Book Binge – FYI: releases in October) 

Last for the week was To Sin With A Viking by Michelle Willingham. This story has Styr and his wife Elena heading off to Ireland to start a new life. They have a tumultuous marriage and Styr hopes that this new life will give them what they need to get things on track. They are attacked when they hit land and taken hostage. Styr by Carragh who just wanted to save her brother from certain death at Styr’s hands. After a while she lets him go and agrees to go find her brother, his men and his wife with Styr. Throughout their time together they find themselves falling in love but of course he’s married. I liked the story and I liked the h/h to a point. Unfortunately I don’t normally read books about infidelity. Styr kisses Carragh a couple of times and does touch her sexually in a minor way – but it’s the emotional infidelity that really got me. I just wish that this could have been a story of the two of them without the wife involved – it would have been great. 3 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Ad-Dick-tion Volume 3: 10 Tales of Hot Male Obsessions by Various Authors
Lover at Last by JR Ward

Happy Reading!


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Guest Review: Tempted by the Highland Warrior by Michelle Willingham

Posted September 12, 2012 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Judith’s review of Tempted by the Highland Warrior (MacKinloch Clan #3) by Michelle Willingham

After years of brutal torture, Callum MacKinloch is finally at of his captors–but his voice is still held prisoner. He’d never let anyone hear him scream.Although Lady Marguerite de Montpierre’s chains may be invisible, they threaten to tie her to a loveless and cruel marriage.

When Marguerite discovers Callum waiting to die, her heart aches for the warrior beneath the suffering–but they can have no future. Yet she is the one woman with the power to tame the rage locked inside him. Maybe he can find another reason to live…for her.

We often encounter kindness in many forms and most of us realize that kindness is one of the most sneaky human actions. Just simple kindness, the sort that reaches out in small measure, the variety that simply expresses concern and caring in the most minor way, has the unbelievable power to overwhelm depression, hopelessness, and deepest despair, the kind that overwhelmed Callum in a time when slaves and captives were less valuable than manure on the bottom of the shoes of their captors. The torture was extreme and the pain almost unendurable. Simple kindness to Callum at a time when his life was almost at an end was deeply imprinted on his spirit and he kept the small piece of fabric that always represented Marguerite’s kindness, her treatment of him as a man of worth.

This story is filled with seeming dead ends that keep the reader on the edge of the chair, with readers often convinced that Marguerite and Callum have no future. Time and time again it is only Callum’s unflagging determination and Marguerite’s willingness to participate in the intrigue against those who would keep them apart that makes it possible for them to be together at all. All this together with the politics of the times, there is a steady level of tension throughout the story. It is one of those wonderful historical novels that not only entertains but educates as to the politics of the times, the social norms, the attitudes and actions that mark the clear boundaries between nationalities and the prejudices that drive people and their decisions. Yet at the center of this story is the tender regard, the deep love that allows two people to find their way toward each other, the love that makes it possible for a man to once again find his voice. This novel is a beautifully written offering that will please readers who love historical romance that is complicated, involved, and steeped in the social and political context that makes this time period on history so colorful and intriguing to contemporary readers.

I have read other novels from this time period and this author has not trouble, in my mind, at holding her own with the best of them. Lovers of historical fiction owe it to themselves to experience and enjoy this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Series:

Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.

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


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