Sandy M’s review of To Kiss a Kilted Warrior (Claimed by the Highlander, Book 3) by Rowan Keats
Historical Romance published by Signet 2 Dec 2014
I’m always up for trying new authors who write Scottish historical romance, one of my favorite reads. This is my first book by Rowan Keats, and for the most part I enjoyed this story. The main characters are interesting and getting to know them and watch them overcome adversity are the best parts. You feel Scotland on every page. Even the mystery of Wulf’s loss of both loved ones and his memory is well done. In the end, though, the book falls short from getting a top grade.
It’s the goings-on in Edinburgh make the book drag a bit, too much taking place in a short period of time. But first thing’s first.
I do like the way the book begins, Wulf and Morag living and working together due to their circumstances, which you learn as you go about their daily lives with them. Morag was shunned from her village for believing the sweet nothings from a man who ultimately walked away from her, and the matters became worse when she sought comfort in the arms of the man’s brother, both then working together to paint her as a fallen woman, thus culminating in her living alone outside the village. Wulf was the only man who cared to help her, so she will now help him in any way possible.
His wife and young son slain in an attack that left him near death, it was Morag who saved him, just as he saved her before. He has almost completely healed, except his memories have been lost. So as they lie together each night in the same bed, it’s hell to keep away from one another, but until Wulf can regain his memory to know exactly what happened to his loved ones, he will not claim her as his own. When an attempt is made on their lives, he can no longer take things day by day. So he and Morag make their way to Edinburgh to discover who it is behind such devastating grief.
Without his memories, though, Wulf is flying blind. Thus is where my problem with too much happening comes in. We go from one small detail to another not only with Wulf lumbering about conveniently stepping just right to discover the next clue, but we get right in the middle of Morag and her father and the reasons he left her and her mother behind years before. The off-and-on interactions with the weavers in the marketplace takes away from all we’ve learned about Morag’s skill before this, though I understand why the author goes through it all. The underlying idea of being in Edinburgh is intriguing, but it and Wulf’s and Morag’s relationship gets buried under the extraneous. Though I do like the rescue attempt that happens, along with the escape toward home, which is where the pacing of the book once again picks up.
The long-awaited return of Wulf’s memories is nicely done, and Morag can’t help but have doubts when it happens. Of course, with everything they learned in Edinburgh, life is going to turn around for them both. I do like these characters and despite my issues with the middle of the book, I enjoyed going on their journey with them. I also like the relationship between Wulf and his son. You feel the emotion from both men as they face such a difficult situation. It’s these parts of the book that keep my grade from going any lower.
Grade: B-
Summary:
In the Highlands of Scotland, love and passion rage as fiercely as the storms that sweep the land—and nothing comes between a clan and its laird, a lass and her kin, or a man and his chosen woman….
Shunned by her village, weaver Morag Cameron lives a solitary existence in the woods—until the night she finds a sorely wounded Highlander by the loch. Under her care, the handsome warrior slowly recovers his strength, but his memories have disappeared. Morag is torn. For if she helps him regain his past, she may sacrifice a life with the man she has come to love…
Wulf MacCurran wants nothing more than to claim Morag as his own, but his past holds too many dangerous secrets—secrets that put them both in mortal danger. He must discover who attacked him and left him for dead. Traveling to Edinburgh, Wulf and Morag find themselves swept into a mystery with the power to determine the fate of their passions—and change Scotland forever…
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
