Review: Ravished By A Highlander by Paula Quinn

FORBIDDEN LOVE

Davina Montgomery is no ordinary English lady. For her own protection, she’s been locked away from society, her true identity the Crown’s most closely guarded secret. Until a shocking betrayal—and a bold rescue—land her in the arms of a fierce Highlander, a powerful warrior whose searing gaze and tantalizing touch awaken her body and soul.

UNDENIABLE DESIRE

As the firstborn son of a powerful Scottish laird, Robert MacGregor has no loyalty to the English throne, but he’s not the kind of man to leave a woman in distress, even if she is English. He vows to deliver Davina to safety, unharmed and untouched. Yet one stolen kiss leaves them both smoldering with desire… and desperate for more. With Davina’s secret threatening to destroy his clan, Rob must choose between everything he holds dear and the one woman he can’t live without.

Note: I received this book to review from the author.

I have to admit that I'm a big fan of Ms. Quinn's other historical novels that I read a few years back, Lord of Seduction and Lord of Desire (Warner Forever), so I was very excited to start up this new series by her focusing on a clan of passionate Highlanders.

Ravished By A Highlander was a bit of a slow starter for me. This may have more to do with me, though, than the book so I kept with it and I was not disappointed with the ending. The last 2/3 of the book was very good. It was intense and emotional and action packed and the ending was very satisfying.

Ms. Quinn does tend to have a bit of politics in her book, not as heavy as some historicals but the politics of the day do tend to play a big role in the characters' development and the plot. She handled it quite well in this book and I felt that the ending was believable for the set up she'd created. I do have to admit that although she handles historical settings very well, the brogue of the Highlanders got on my nerves just a bit. It's not the terrible cheesy brogue that some authors unfortunately feel compelled to use, but it was still a bit jarring at some points and it might honestly be because it was a more historically accurate one, which would be a bit ironic really. I think it's hard for writers writing historicals, we want them to be accurate enough to be believable, but yet not so accurate that they're unrelatable to our modern sensibilities. I think overall, the author handles that balancing act very well.

There isn't anything shockingly new about this book. It has a lot of standard tropes for the genre, the tight knit highland family filled with hot brothers for possible sequels, the betrayal you could see coming from page one, the sweet and guiless heroine that can also shoot a bow, the fearsome and noble hero.....yeah, it's been done before.....a lot, but it's an enjoyable read and Ms. Quinn always seems to handle the relationship of a father and daughter in a way that always leaves me a bit emotional. The loyalty the characters feel for each other and their duties always feels real and they are likable characters in a world filled with vivid emotion and action and adventure.

I do have to confess that our hero, Robert, was a bit too noble sometimes to really engage me, but when it came to the heroine, Davina, he was not above getting down and dirty and violent and that was verra, verra hawt ;)

Ravished By A Highlander is a good read when you want something comforting. You know basically how it's going to go, and that's what you want. Along with some hot scenes and real emotion, it makes for a somewhat predictable but entertaining read all the same.

Final grade: B-

I also recommend Lord of Desire, Lord of Temptation and Lord of Seduction by Paula Quinn. They have strong political plots and are very good reads of passionate people living in a world of danger and political maneuvering.

Happy Reading!