Series: Murray Family, book 20
Source: Tasty Book Tours / NetGalley
Rating: ★★★★
New
York Times bestselling author Hannah Howell brings back the daring Murray
family in a brand-new tale of dangerous love rekindled. . .
Lady
Annys MacQueen has no other choice. The deception that enabled her to keep her
lands safe is on the verge of being revealed by a cruel kinsman. To shield her
young son from the sword and her people from devastation, she must turn to the
one man she could never forget. . .
He
lives for duty and honor. So the only way Sir Harcourt Murray could repay the
laird who saved his life was to agree to father a child with Sir MacQueen's
wife. . .Lady Annys. Now the passion he still feels for the lovely
strong-willed widow is as all-consuming and perilous as securing her lands. But
to convince her that his love is forever real means confronting her most
wrenching fears--and putting everything they treasure most at stake...
about Hannah || Hannah D. Howell is a highly regarded and prolific romance
writer. Since Amber Flame, her first historical romance, was released in
February 1988, she has published 25 novels and short stories, with more on the
way. Her writing has been repeatedly recognized for its excellence and has
"made Waldenbooks Romance Bestseller list a time or two" as well as
was nominated twice by Romantic Times for Best Medieval Romance (Promised
Passion and Elfking's Lady). She has also won Romantic Times' Best British
Isles Historical Romance for Beauty and the Beast; and, in 1991-92 she received
Romantic Times' Career Achievement Award for Historical Storyteller of the
Year.
Hannah was born and raised in Massachusetts (the maternal
side of her family has been there since the 1630's). She has been married to
her husband Stephen for 28 years, who she met in England while visiting
relatives, and decided to import him. They have two sons Samuel, 27, and Keir,
24. She is addicted to crocheting, reads and plays piano, attempts to garden,
and collects things like dolls, faerie and cat figurines, and music boxes. She
also seems to collect cats, as she now has four of them, Clousseau, Banshee,
Spooky, and Oliver Cromwell.
{ excerpt } .
Harcourt
looked at Annys and his heart actually skipped a beat. He would have laughed if
he was not so filled with conflicting emotions. Such happenings were the stuff
of bad poetry, the sort of thing he had always made jest of. Yet, there he
stood, rooted to the spot, frantically thinking of what to say and how to hide
the tangled mass of emotion that was nearly choking him. He nodded a greeting
to her and watched her beautiful moss-green eyes narrow in a look that did not
bode well for an amiable talk later. Talking was not what he was thinking
about, however. He was recalling how soft that long blood-red hair of hers was,
how warm her pale skin felt beneath his hands, and how sweet those full lips
tasted. That was a memory he needed to smother and fast.
“Are
matters as bad as young Ian indicated?” he asked Nicolas, and inwardly winced
when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Annys cross her arms under her
breasts.
“Aye,”
Nicolas replied. “We can have that talk with her ladyship in attendance as soon
as we get all of you sorted.”
Harcourt
nodded and turned his attention to seeing to the matter. Once the horses were
taken care of, their supplies unloaded and carted away, he knew the time had
come to actually face Annys. He took a deep breath and started toward her where
she still stood on the steps only to come to a halt when a small child rushed
by him and ran up to pull at her skirts.
"Maman!
Ye got us more soldiers.”
“I did,
Benet. I thought it might help stop all the trouble we have been having.”
The
moment the child turned to look at him, Harcourt clenched his fists at his
side. The boy’s eyes were a match for his own. Bright amber eyes watched him
closely and Harcourt fought against the urge to shout out his claim to this
child. He had given up all rights. It had been the debt owed for his life. He
could feel the eyes of his companions fixed upon him though and knew he would
be facing a lot of questions.
It took
every ounce of strength he had to start walking again. He stepped up until he
was standing just below Annys and the boy. It was easy to read the fear in her
eyes. Young Benet’s eye color was not an exact match with his and could be
attributed to the tiny gold specks in her eyes or just a different shade of the
brown David’s eyes had been. The boy’s hair was black but so had David’s been.
As long as he did not say or do something to give the secret away, all would be
fine. Yet, Harcourt knew it was going to be a long hard battle not to reach out
and claim his son.
“M’lady,”
he said and took her hand in his to brush a kiss over her knuckles.
That
tiny soft hand trembled slightly in his grasp and his body reacted to the sign
that she was not as indifferent to his presence as she appeared to be. Harcourt
knew it would be unwise to try to begin an affair with her but he was not sure
he was strong enough to resist if she gave him even the smallest hint that she
would welcome his attention.
“Sir
Harcourt,” she said and nodded as she almost yanked her hand out of his grasp. “Where is Ian?”
“He
was injured in his travels. Nay badly, but I thought it best if he remained at
Gormfeurach for a while. He is being given the best of care.”
“Thank
you for that. I was most concerned when he did not return.” She turned slightly
and took Benet by the hand. “Shall we go to the hall where you can quench your
thirst and have some food while we talk?”
Annys
fought to keep from racing into the keep, putting as much distance between her
and Sir Harcourt as she could. The touch of his lips on her hand had nearly
undone her hard-won composure. It had been five years since she had felt his
touch yet the moment his flesh met hers, even in the innocence of a proper
greeting, her mind had gone back to those nights by the burn.
Guilt
left a sour taste in her mouth. David was barely cold in his grave and she was
allowing herself to weaken at the touch of another man’s hand. What had
happened between her and Harcourt had been wrong, even if it had been condoned
by David. She nearly laughed. Condoned? It had been meticulously arranged.
David had been the sweetest, kindest man she had ever known but he had also
been a man who would not hesitate to do whatever was needed to get what he
wanted. He had wanted a son.
She
glanced down at Benet who kept looking back at the men following them into the
keep. Until she had seen Harcourt again, she had not allowed herself to even
think on how much Benet looked like the man. All she could do was pray no one
else noticed, especially since there had been the faintest similarities in
coloring between David and Harcourt. She would also have to be very watchful
for even the smallest possibility that she or Harcourt were giving the secret
away in how they treated the boy.
“M’lady,”
Joan whispered in her ear as they entered the hall and pulled away from the men
who went to wash their hands, “it is not as clear to see as ye think it is.”
“I pray
ye are right, Joan.”
“I am.
I only see it because of what I ken and I have ne’er heard a whisper that would
tell me anyone else here kens the truth or that those who may would e’er say a
word. So, ye just be careful in what ye say and do and all will be weel.”
Annys
wished she had the confidence in that that Joan had. The looks on the faces of
the men who had come with Harcourt, looks the men were doing a pitiful job of
hiding, told her that they noticed something already. She prayed Harcourt would
have a stern word with them all.
“Allow
me to introduce my companions, m’lady,” Harcourt said once they were all
seated. “This is Sir Callum MacMillan, Sir Tamhas Cameron, Sir Nathan
MacFingal, Sir Ned MacFingal, and Sir Gybbon Murray.”
Annys
nodded a greeting to each man as he was introduced. Two redheads, a brunet, and
three raven-haired men. All handsome. All warriors. All tall and fit. It was
not going to be easy to stop the maidens of the keep from seeking them out.
They were, however, a treasure of skill and strength she could not turn away,
no matter how much she worried over the chance that her secret might come out.
“I
thank you all for coming,” she said. “Please, eat, drink, and we can talk once
ye take the edge off your thirst and hunger.”
The
only conversation that ensued as the men ate concerned the journey they had
taken. Gormfeurach was not as far away as Annys had thought, although far
enough when one half of the partners in a huge secret were concerned. She ate
very little, her stomach tied in knots, as she struggled to push aside all
worry about what might or might not be exposed by Sir Harcourt’s presence. The
people of Glencullaich needed these men. They had to take precedence over all
of her fears.
{ review } .
Whenever I pick up a historical, whether I'm able to read a few pages before purchasing or not, I know that I'm taking a huge gamble. Some I can get into just fine, but others, the ones where the language is thick and true to the time, I find myself confused and wanting to just get to the main thick of the story.
...that was the case with HIGHLAND GUARD.
Was the storyline good?
Yes.
Did I enjoy Harcourt and Annys, and their relationship?
Sure did.
It was just a chore for me to read -- I felt like a struggling reader where English was not my first language... well, let's be honest, Scottish (?) isn't my first language, and while I can get through the 'dinnae' and 'bairn'... it took me some reading and context to figure out that 'ken' was 'know'.
Harcourt had been in an accident and Annys's husband saved him. In return to the gesture, if you will, David 'ordered' Harcourt to bed his wife until she produced a child, as David was unable to do so himself. In a tale true as time, Harcourt and Annys had feelings for one another, but could not do anything with them -- he had nothing to offer her, and she was wed to another man.
When I'd first read that Harcourt was Benet's father and that she'd been wed to someone else, I was a bit shocked -- children out of wedlock, as well as laying elsewhere, was a huge sin in those times. Surely she'd been frowned upon -- especially seeing as Benet, while he could pass as David, resembled Harcourt so fiercely.
But when you learn the story behind why Annys had lain with another man, it makes sense. To the public, Benet was David's.
Annys is a strong female. Not only did she honor her husband's request and sleep with another (unintentionally losing her heart, as well, as he had to leave), she has lived through the murder of her husband, and has been acting as reigning person of David's land. When it comes out that perhaps David has been murdered, Annys tries to figure out why and how, as well as going about training her current men for battle -- which is where Harcourt comes in.
Harcourt doesn't feel worthy of Annys, but in my opinion, if anyone is worthy of her, it is he. Even though he's slow to say it, to even show it for respectable reasons, he has loved her over the years they've been apart.
That all said...
It was a good book. If you are a historical romance reader, and the language isn't something that trips you up (because let's be honest, if you are solely, or even mainly a historical reader, you're used to these 'issues' of mine) -- this would easily be a 5 star. Storyline, characterization... it rates a 5. But at some point in my rating, I have to put a little honesty into it and average it out with my personal feelings and my ease of reading... so it lowered it to a 4 -- still not a bad way to go out.
...that was the case with HIGHLAND GUARD.
Was the storyline good?
Yes.
Did I enjoy Harcourt and Annys, and their relationship?
Sure did.
It was just a chore for me to read -- I felt like a struggling reader where English was not my first language... well, let's be honest, Scottish (?) isn't my first language, and while I can get through the 'dinnae' and 'bairn'... it took me some reading and context to figure out that 'ken' was 'know'.
Harcourt had been in an accident and Annys's husband saved him. In return to the gesture, if you will, David 'ordered' Harcourt to bed his wife until she produced a child, as David was unable to do so himself. In a tale true as time, Harcourt and Annys had feelings for one another, but could not do anything with them -- he had nothing to offer her, and she was wed to another man.
When I'd first read that Harcourt was Benet's father and that she'd been wed to someone else, I was a bit shocked -- children out of wedlock, as well as laying elsewhere, was a huge sin in those times. Surely she'd been frowned upon -- especially seeing as Benet, while he could pass as David, resembled Harcourt so fiercely.
But when you learn the story behind why Annys had lain with another man, it makes sense. To the public, Benet was David's.
Annys is a strong female. Not only did she honor her husband's request and sleep with another (unintentionally losing her heart, as well, as he had to leave), she has lived through the murder of her husband, and has been acting as reigning person of David's land. When it comes out that perhaps David has been murdered, Annys tries to figure out why and how, as well as going about training her current men for battle -- which is where Harcourt comes in.
Harcourt doesn't feel worthy of Annys, but in my opinion, if anyone is worthy of her, it is he. Even though he's slow to say it, to even show it for respectable reasons, he has loved her over the years they've been apart.
That all said...
It was a good book. If you are a historical romance reader, and the language isn't something that trips you up (because let's be honest, if you are solely, or even mainly a historical reader, you're used to these 'issues' of mine) -- this would easily be a 5 star. Storyline, characterization... it rates a 5. But at some point in my rating, I have to put a little honesty into it and average it out with my personal feelings and my ease of reading... so it lowered it to a 4 -- still not a bad way to go out.
{ giveaway } .
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