historical

The Trouble With Highlanders by Mary Wine

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

The Trouble with Highlanders (Highlander, #5)
Grade-B
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-None
Series-Highlanders #5
Reviewed by Mary Wine

This fifth installment in Wine’s series is a great read. Everything it should be: funny, suspenseful, hot and Scottish. Scottish Highlander romance is my favorite in the historical genre. The hero is Norris Sutherland, an earl’s son.The heroine is a fallen woman, Daphne Macleod. Norris was instrumental in her ruining so she could escape a loveless marriage to a man she considered her friend.

Norris has never forgotten the girl he deflowered and he desires seeing her any chance he has. He needs to marry to advance his clan but is so hesitant. Daphne is his choice but she is without a dowry on top of her fallen woman status. She accepts her decision at ruining herself but doesn’t want Norris to let his clan done with there being no advantage to their match.

I love this series. I have read every one and will continue to do so. If you want to start them I would suggest doing so with McJames series before this one since I think they blend together.

Caden’s Vow by Sarah McCarty

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Caden's Vow (Hell's Eight #6)
Grade-A
Hotness Level-Inferno
Kink Level-Low
Series-Hell’s Eight #6
Reviewed by Kay

This focus of this book is on Caden and Maddie. Caden is one of the Hell’s Eight. Eight boys who were the only survivors of a massacre in the town they lived in. This attack happened when they were all boys and it bonded them all together. They had to survive on the streets until they were found by Tia, who took them in and basically saved their lives. They as adults built Hell’s Eight Ranch and became Texas Rangers. Their reputations are fierce and well known.

Caden is tired of all the matrimonial bliss going on around him and decides to leave and find his own place in life. Maddie is also living at Hell’s Eight. She escaped from a whorehouse she was born and raised in, taking refuge at Hell’s Eight. She is love with Caden and it’s a difficult situation. Maddie retreats in her own mind a lot. This causes others to see her as crazy or childlike.

I looked at some reviews of this book and was scared to read it. They were not favorable. I agree that Sarah McCarty has slipped with the last few books in this series. The last book I truly enjoyed by her was Tucker’s. For me, Tracker’s and Shadow’s were borderline sub par. The stories were okay but the heat level was tanking and that was one of the reasons I have enjoyed her work so much in the past.

I loved everything about this book. I can’t stress that enough. I think McCarty has hit her stride. The characters broke my heart, especially Maddie. She’s always been viewed as fragile and for most of the book she is, but you know a little bit more why. She is an extremely damaged young woman. She was pimped out by her mom at age eight. She cares horrific self-esteem issues. I was furious at some comments made by Caden to her about her. I openly bawled several times in this book because of her view of what she deserved for circumstances in her life she had no control over. Her defense mechanism was too retreat inside her mind and with her past it is totally understandable. Fans of this series will cheer this book. It is my favorite in the series easily.

Pride and Pleasure by Sylvia Day

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Pride and Pleasure
Grade-D
Hotness Level- Inferno
Kink Level-None
Series- None
Reviewed by Kay

Eliza is an heiress but one with a brain. After being pursued for five Seasons, she is looking forward to getting the sixth over with as well. If she doesn’t find a man to settle down with, she will be allowed to take her inheritance and live her life as she wants.

Jasper is a thief-taker, which I thought of as a person who skirted the law. He has revenge on his mind and nothing will stop him from achieving it. He agrees to work for Eliza so he can keep her safe and an eye on one of her prospective suitors.

Both of these characters have secrets in their past. I did enjoy that part of this story but honestly that was about it. I have read Sylvia Day’s historical novels before and never been a fan, but a friend suggested it to me. I thought I’d try it for her. She had used the word epic in her description of this book. Let me explain something, I love historical romance. Not just a little but an enormous amount. I believe my favorite genre is contemporary but I crave historical in a way that I don’t contemporary. When I salivate over a possible epic historical, like I did this one, I worry. Worry about heightened expectations and possibilities of disappointment. I got that here in spades.

I love Mrs. Day’s Crossfire Series and highly recommend it but not this book.