HIGHLANDER UNCHAINED

Author: Monica McCarty ISBN: 0345494385 11/2007 HISTORICAL Publisher: BALLANTINE
Time Period: 1607 Scotland

Lachlan Maclean will do whatever it takes to protect his clan—even if it means abducting the most willful woman in the Highlands with the secret intention of wooing her for marriage. A born searing sensual leader possessing brute strength, and an imposing command, Lachlan is unprepared for the beautiful spitfire Flora MacLeod, who jeopardizes his plans to save his clan, and digs beneath his hard, chiseled exterior to expose a tenderness that may be his undoing. The greatest marriage prize in the Highlands, Flora is determined at all costs to avoid her mother's fate of being bartered away as a political pawn. Vowing to make her captor pay for his ruthlessness, she boldly engages him in a battle of wills, sweetening the challenge with dangerous passion-even as the lingering curse and deadly ghosts of a past tragedy reach out to thwart a tender love that has yet to be spoken.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

HIGHLANDER UNCHAINED is SO much better than HIGHLANDER UNMASKED! The writing, characters, plot, and setting is such a turn around from that tale, that I marvel at the change.

While it is not perfection—and let's face it, Highlanders are some of my favorite men to read about, so therefore, I unabashedly expect perfection when I encounter them—this one is good. Naturally, most of the reason for that is the hero, Lachlan, who embodies the roughness of the alpha I love that can never be managed, but is more than willing to redirect his passions to the bedroom. A great Scot is that Lachlan. Great. Oh, and, um, his woman is feisty too, so that makes the book even more enjoyable, although near the end of the book she does something stupid and knocks my opinion of her down a wee bit. But, she does come around so I try not to hold it against her.

I am glad to have been given another chance to check out McCarty's men... er, books, because I honestly enjoyed this one. Will wonders never cease?

Shannon Johnson