Tag: Paula Quinn

Guest Review: Laird of the Black Isle by Paula Quinn

Posted May 22, 2018 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Laird of the Black Isle by Paula QuinnReviewer: Tracy
Laird of the Black Isle (The MacGregors: Highland Heirs #7) by Paula Quinn
Series: The MacGregors: Highland Heirs #7
Also in this series: The Taming of Malcolm Grant, A Highlander's Christmas Kiss, The Scot's Bride
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: May 29, 2018
Format: eARC
Point-of-View: Third Person
Genres: Historical Romance
Pages: 400
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

This Highlander will risk everything to find his daughter...

Lachlan MacKenzie has nothing left to lose since his wife and daughter were killed. But when a shadowy figure reveals his little girl might still be alive, Lachlan will do whatever it takes to find her—even abduct a lass from the MacGregor clan for an exchange. Being caught would mean certain death. But the laird of the Black Isle won't let anything—or anyone—interfere with his mission...not even his beautiful, stubborn captive.

Even his heart

All Mailie MacGregor wants is to return home to her family. And the Highland beast who captured her can go to the devil. Her plan: to thwart him at any cost and win her freedom. But she never expected to be so drawn to the fierce warrior and the desire in his eyes.

Two years ago Lachlan wasn’t home when someone set his house on fire and his wife, small daughter and staff were all burned to death.  He searched and killed the men who were responsible. He’s lived a solitary and quiet life since that time, secretly taking care of his clan.  He’s minding his own business when an emissary for Ranald Sinclair shows up on his doorstep.  He tells Lachlan that his daughter isn’t dead and that Ranald Sinclair has information about where she is.  He’ll give it to Lachlan if he kidnaps Mailie MacGregor.  Sinclair says that Mailie is in love with him but her father won’t allow the match.  Lachland kicks the emissary out but he can’t stop thinking about the possibility of his little Annabel being alive.

Lachlan kidnaps Mailie and while she tries to get away at first she soon stops trying. When she finds out why he kidnapped her, she understands he had no choice and she starts to see life from Lachlan’s point of view.  When she finds out more about the Dragon Laird of the Black Isle she starts to fall in love with him.  Soon, he’s just as in love with her – but how can they be together with the possibility that Annabel is out there, hoping for her papa to rescue her?

Paula Quinn has a great mind. Seriously.  She comes up with some incredible scenarios and makes them work.  This could have easily turned into an eye-rolling Stockholm Syndrome “love” story, but it was so well done that thought never crossed my mind.  Once Mailie knew that Lachlan had no choice, she softened toward him.  (Ok, he could have gone to the MacGregor’s, explained Sinclair’s plot and then ask for their help in getting his daughter back but then that wouldn’t have been as good of a story, would it?) I’m not usually a huge fan of the abductee falling for the abductor but in this case, it really worked for me.

Lachlan made my heart hurt.  He was so despondent over the deaths of his family and everything he’d been through almost made me cry.  He proved himself a good man, however, during the course of the book and a perfect match for Mailie.  He had a good heart.

I truly enjoyed this romance and I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.

Rating: 4 out of 5

The MacGregors: Highland Heirs

four-stars


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Guest Review: The Scot’s Bride by Paula Quinn

Posted February 9, 2018 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: The Scot’s Bride by Paula QuinnReviewer: Tracy
The Scot's Bride by Paula Quinn
Series: The MacGregors: Highland Heirs #6
Also in this series: The Taming of Malcolm Grant, A Highlander's Christmas Kiss, Laird of the Black Isle (The MacGregors: Highland Heirs #7)
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: October 31st 2017
Genres: Historical Romance
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads
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three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

AN IRRESISTIBLE SCOUNDREL

Highlander Patrick MacGregor likes his life just the way it is. Fighting for his coin, enjoying a woman's charms, and bearing no responsibility at all. Aye, that's the life for him. That is, until Patrick sees her-a raven-haired beauty with eyes as dark as midnight. Patrick swore never to fall in love. Not even with a lass as wild as he...especially when she's from a rival clan.

AN UNDENIABLE DESIRE

Charlotte Cunningham knows Patrick is trouble the moment she sets eyes on him. Her only goal is to escape the possibility of marriage. Any marriage. But as the summer days turn into sultry nights, enticing her beyond reason, Charlie is forced to choose between the freedom she craves and the reckless rogue she can't forget.

Patrick MacGregor is a man who’s a bit bored with life.  He sees beautiful, available women and can’t seem to find interest in them.  He thinks there might be something wrong with him. Lol  He sees Charlotte, however, and his interest is piqued.  He follows her and ends up being captured by her father and brothers while on their land.  Charlotte secretly warns Patrick to say that he’s not a Ferguson as her family has a feud with them.  Patrick isn’t a Ferguson but he’s related to them through his mother.  He decides to make himself a Campbell as the MacGregor name is proscribed and being a Campbell, the Cunningham’s welcome him in.  Especially as Charlotte’s father sees a marriage between Charlotte and a Campbell a very good thing.

Patrick is more and more enamored with Charlotte aka Charlie every day.  The more he gets to know her the more besotted he becomes.  Unfortunately when he finds out that her brothers killed his cousin he wants nothing more than revenge.  He has to play his cards right, however, and find out exactly what happened to his cousin Kendrick.

Charlie is a woman on a mission.  She wants out of her father’s house, away from his rule and her brother’s high-handedness.  She‘s trying to find a cure/relief  for her sister’s asthma and as soon as she does she’ll leave town.  She had been in love with her neighbor, Kendrick Ferguson, but her father had ordered her brothers to kill him when he was 15-years-old  just to keep him away from Charlie – she had never forgiven any of them.  She still loves Kendrick and had never looked at another man until Patrick showed up.

Charlie knows that Patrick can change her whole life and she’s not sure she wants that.  As much as Charlie tries to stay away from Patrick his love for her soon has her thinking of a very different future for herself.

This was a good Scottish romance.  I liked Patrick and Charlie a great deal and the story was definitely one that kept my interest throughout.

Patrick fell hard and fast for Charlie which was nice (even though he kept denying it to himself).  Charlie took a bit longer to admit her feelings for Patrick since she’d loved no one but Kendrick for so long.  Of course when true decisions needed to be made I was a bit surprised that Charlie chose Patrick.  Quinn almost did too good of a job telling us of Charlie’s love for Kendrick and it made me doubt her fast-growing feelings for Patrick.

The story had a few plot holes in it but overall it was a decent read.  It wasn’t overly exciting but sometimes that’s a good thing.

The MacGregor’s: Highland Heirs


Rating: 3.5 out of 5

three-half-stars


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Guest Review: A Highlander’s Christmas Kiss by Paula Quinn

Posted October 6, 2016 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: A Highlander’s Christmas Kiss by Paula QuinnReviewer: Tracy
A Highlander's Christmas Kiss by Paula Quinn
Series: The MacGregors: Highland Heirs #5
Also in this series: The Taming of Malcolm Grant, The Scot's Bride, Laird of the Black Isle (The MacGregors: Highland Heirs #7)
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: September 27th 2016
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

A STRANGER'S SMILE

Christmas may be coming to Linavar, but Temperance Menzie is far from joyful. Grief-stricken over the death of her father at the hands of the Black Riders, she almost didn't see the wounded stranger in the woods. And now she's determined to give this braw, brooding Highlander the help she couldn't give her father. But there's a secret lurking in the depths of his blue-gray eyes. And Temperance won't rest until she uncovers it . . .

A LOVER'S KISS

A killer for hire. It's the last thing Cailean Grant ever thought he'd become, but being part of the Black Riders was his only way to survive. Now, his guilt grows day by day, along with his desire for the beautiful, brave lass nursing him back to health. As Christmas, the season of miracles, draws near and the truth of his identity threatens to come out, Cailean must risk the only thing he has left to lose-his heart.

Cailean Grant has hardened his heart and has cut himself off from feeling.  He has become a Black Rider – a mercenary.  His cousin Patrick has traveled with him and has stayed with him constantly trying to talk Cailean into leaving the Black Riders but Cailean refuses.  When Cailean and Patrick are on their way back to the castle that houses the Black Riders Patrick is shot with an arrow and Cailean is out for blood.  When he gets back to the castle the Lord’s son, Duncan, states that it was the Seth Menzie.  When Cailean hears this he believes it as the Grants and Menzies have always been at war.  That night Seth Menzie dies.

After Seth Menzie dies, Cailean goes back to Linavar hoping to catch a glimpse of Temperance Menzie, Seth’s daughter.  He knows he should get nowhere near her but he can’t help himself.  She’s a light in the darkness for him.  When he’s stabbed in the back and Temperance finds him she nurses him back to health.  Cailean falls in love with Temperance day by day.  She makes him see that all is not lost and helps him open his heart to love and life.  Unfortunately he has guilt to deal with.  When Temperance finds out he’s a Black Rider he knows she’ll never forgive him for the death of her father.

This was a great historical Christmas romance.  It was certainly a different kind of romance because of Cailean’s part in the death of Temperance’s father.  I can’t say that I would forgive a man that played a part in my father’s death, that’s for sure.

Despite my doubts of Temperance ever forgiving him I really liked the story.  It was wonderful to see Cailean brought out of that dark and horrible place he had been living in because of the deaths of those he loved.  He found something worth living for and though it happened slowly it was well worth it in the end.

Temperance was an amazingly strong woman.  She was just 19 (I think) and yet did much for her home, her father, her grandmother, her village.  I really enjoyed reading about her and was happy when she fell for Cailean.

The Black Rider issue was a nasty one and Duncan in particular was a right bastard.  I disliked him from the first moment he was on the page and that didn’t change throughout the book.  I was quite happy to see that he did not prevail in the end.

Overall this was quite a good love story and one I very much enjoyed reading.

Rating: 4 out of 5

four-stars


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Guest Review: The Taming of Malcolm Grant by Paula Quinn

Posted October 1, 2015 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: The Taming of Malcolm Grant by Paula QuinnReviewer: Tracy
The Taming of Malcolm Grant by Paula Quinn
Series: The MacGregors: Highland Heirs #4
Also in this series: A Highlander's Christmas Kiss, The Scot's Bride, Laird of the Black Isle (The MacGregors: Highland Heirs #7)
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: September 29, 2015
Format: eARC
Genres: Historical Romance
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

AN ALLURING LASS

Emmaline Grey spends her days with her beloved dog, dreaming of the sea-until a brawling Highlander shatters her quiet life to pieces. Though her blindness prevents her from seeing his face, his voice is a warm blend of velvet and silk, and his rakehell ways unmistakable. Risking the wrath of a rival clan as she nurses him back to health, Emma soon realizes the real danger is the magnetic pull she feels to this half-naked Scot recovering in her bed.

A RECKLESS ROGUE

With his rugged handsomeness and wicked charm, Malcolm Grant wants nothing more out of life than whisky, women, and the occasional war. The only lass he’s ever trusted left him with more scars than a battlefield. Yet now at the mercy of this sweet stranger, Malcolm can barely resist the gentle hands that make him feverish with desire-until Emma, the one he will never have, is the only woman he wants . . .

Tracy’s review of The Taming of Malcolm Grant (The MacGregors: Highland Heirs #4) by Paula Quinn

 

Malcolm and his brother Cailean head to a brothel so that Caileen (age 21) can finally lose his virginity. Malcolm is quite familiar with the brothel as he and the owner, Harry Grey, once saved each others lives. When the two men arrive, almost immediately, Cailean has his eye on a red-headed beauty named Alison. Unfortunately she’s already spoken for for the night by a man from the Winther family. Unfortunately the man, Andrew Winther, treats Alison very poorly and Cailean takes offense. He throws the man out of the brothel but Harry is concerned as Andrew is the brother of the Baron of Newcastle and the Baron is a very vindictive and violent man. He had a right to be worried as Andrew returns that same night and brings extra men with him. After a fight Andrew is dead and Malcolm and Cailean are fighting for their lives.

Emmaline Grey, Harry’s sister, has been staying with her brother for a short time. She found him after many years – years that he thought she was dead. She is blind from the fever that Harry thought killed her but she’s smart and an independent person. She knows her herbs and loves healing – it comes second nature to her. She takes care of Cailean and Malcolm and she saves their lives. The women of the brothel speak of Malcolm’s beauty but Emma only sees the inside of the man and what she sees she starts to fall in love with.

Harry won’t let Malcolm and Emma spend time together as he believes Malcolm is the man that he was many years ago. Malcolm has changed however and in that changing has become a better man. He doesn’t believe in love – the love the men in the family spout on and on about – until it happens to him.

I started reading about the MacGregor’s and way back in 2007. I got distracted and didn’t end up finishing the series so I haven’t read a Quinn novel since 2011! This the 4th book in this part of the series but when I saw the blurb for this book I was enthralled by the idea of Emmaline being blind and snapped it up. Quinn didn’t disappoint. The story had all of the interesting and exciting elements I remember Quinn’s novels having and it was a very good book. I certainly didn’t feel like I was missing anything by not reading books 1-3 in this part of the series.

Emmaline was amazing. She was written so well and I loved almost everything about her. She was blind but certainly not stupid so saw underneath the skin of just about everyone. She knew by the tone of voice when the other women in the brothel were being mean or condescending. She tried to stay out of their way but when they kept going to visit Malcolm (while he was fighting for his life) she couldn’t completely avoid them. She loved healing but the woman who had taught her everything she knew had been accused of being a witch and was killed for it. This was a fear for Emma – that the same thing would happen to her – but Malcolm soon put her mind at ease. She was skilled and not afraid to use all of her knowledge to help anyone who needed it. Emma was just an awesome heroine and I loved reading about her.

Malcolm wasn’t too bad either for that matter. It broke my heart that he honestly believed that he was almost empty inside and not capable of love. He gave it with such vigor to his family so to not be able to give it to a woman confused him. Meeting Emma was one of the best things to happen to the man and he wasn’t afraid to finally show a woman his feelings. He treated her with honor and watching them together warmed my heart.

Overall this was a wonderful book and one I definitely recommend. Cailean’s story is next and since his part of Malcolm’s book ended in tragedy I’m looking forward to seeing who Quinn comes up with for him to love.

Rating: 4 out of 5

This title is available from Forever Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

four-stars


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What I Read Last Week

Posted January 24, 2012 by Tracy in Reviews | 12 Comments

It was a pretty quiet week this week until we got to Saturday.  Apparently on Friday my father had taken my girls to a local drug store for some ice cream and while they were wandering while eating it they happened upon a pet supply.  In the pet supply they happened to have a 3 month old kitten that was a rescue that they were trying to find a home for.  After many hours of my girls bugging the ever-livin crap outta me…we are now officially cat people.  Yes, I caved – especially when I saw the kitten and saw how cute she is.  We brought her home on Saturday morning and so far so good.  The girls named her Echo and she’s incredibly sweet and lovable…and litter box trained (that was a must before I even said yes. lol)  Here are a couple of pictures.  They don’t really do her justice but they’re what I’ve got.  I think she’s camera shy because every time I try to take an up close picture she turns her head. 🙂

Besides that – a pretty quiet week. lol

On to what I read:

I started off the week with a romantic suspense novel called She Can Run by Melinda Leigh.  This story was about a woman who is running from her husband (for many reasons) and trying to protect her kids.  She takes a position as a caretaker at a home and falls in love with its owner.  You can read my review here. 4 out of 5

Next was a novella called A Waltz at Midnight by Crista McHugh.  I normally don’t read books so very far in advance (ok, sometimes I do) but this one just spoke to me when I got it from Netgalley.  It comes out at the end of February from Carina Press.  The story is about a man who starts writing a woman that his father wants him to marry.  The woman is in love with someone else so her maid writes the man intending to dissuade him from writing again. Not only doesn’t she dissuade him but they end up corresponding.  The problem is, he thinks she’s someone else.  It was a really good story.   I’ll post my review next month. 4 out of 5

Buckle Down by Eve Cassidy was the story of Ty who has a police record who has moved to help his brother start the rodeo that he purchased.  He is attracted to Dane the sheriff but the sheriff thinks that Ty had something to do with a local robbery.  The story of the two men being attracted to each other when they were so opposite was compelling but the sheriff thinking that Ty had something to do with the robbery with absolutely NO supporting evidence really drove me a bit nuts.  Ty knew he was innocent so he took it with a grain of salt but STILL. Ug.  In the end it was a bit too pat for me as it all got worked out. 3 out of 5

Tamed by a Highlander by Paula Quinn was my next read and I read this one for The Book Binge.  A great story that wove political intrigue (back in the 1600’s) and romance really did it for me.  The heroine drove me crazy at first and I almost stopped reading but in the end the book ended up being really good.  The hero, Connor and heroine, Mairi had fallen in love and promised to each other but then Connor went off to fight for England.  Feeling betrayed Mairi started to hate Connor and though he wrote and begged her to come to him she refused.  Now she’s in England for a coronation and they see each other after 7 years’ separation.  Love blossoms once again (after a bit of viper biting on the heroine’s part) and all seems well – until the King and Queen get involved. 4 out of 5 You can read my review here.

She Tempts the Duke by Lorraine Heath was my next read.  This one I really liked – you can read my review on Wednesday.

My Tracy’s TBR Challenge read for the week was Enforcer by Lauren Dane.  I can’t tell you how long I’ve had the Cascadia Wolves series and haven’t read it.  Shame on me.  Lex is watching Nina in hopes that her brother, Rey, will surface.  Rey is a werewolf and ran when some bad shit went down.  Nina and Lex end up together but Nina has to deal with some weird werewolf rituals and she’s not all that pleased with it.  I really liked Lex and his brother, the Alpha, Cade.  I liked the supporting characters the story.  I really had a problem with Nina’s mouth.  Yes, she was incredibly strong and intelligent and she distrusted werewolves on principle…but, she was so forthright that there were times I just wanted to tape her mouth shut! lol  3 out of 5

Next up was Safe Harbor by Derek Adams. This story was about Mike Vickers who had his life planned out after high school when he gets sideswiped by the fact that his ex-girlfriend finds herself pregnant with his daughter.  During the summer he meets Eric who is an artist and though they come from different backgrounds they form a friendship.  That friendship turns into becoming lovers but when they are discovered by guys in Mike’s high school he turns on Eric as well.  10 Years later Mike and Eric meet again and try to form a relationship.  I liked the premise of the story but I just didn’t get to see the two men reconnecting as much as I would have liked.  Yes, we get to see some but not enough imho.  I loved the daughter in this one.  3 out of 5

How Miss Rutherford Got Her Groove Back by Sophie Barnes was next up and it was a historical romance about a woman who had her heart broken and bounced back.  I’ll post my review for this later this week.

Last for the week was Reluctant by Lauren Dane.  This was a short about Lex and Cade’s sister Layla.  She heads out for the night to have some fun and ends up with a mate that she doesn’t want.  Not that she doesn’t want Sid himself but she has a plan for herself professionally and it certainly doesn’t include a mate.  The story of Layla coming to terms with having a mate was pretty good.  I will definitely keep reading the Cascadia wolves. 3 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
One Grave at a Time by Jeaniene Frost
Tamed by a Highlander by Paula Quinn

Happy Reading!


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