Title: Laird of the Black Isle
Author: Paula Quinn
Genre: romance/fiction/historical
Publication date: May 29, 2018
Synopsis:
Even his heart
All Mailie MacGregor wants is to return home to her family. And the Highland beast who captured her can go to the devil. Her plan: to thwart him at any cost and win her freedom. But she never expected to be so drawn to the fierce warrior and the desire in his eyes.
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REVIEW
Laird of the Black Isle by Paula QuinnMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is my first read by Paula Quinn, and it won't be my last. Laird of the Black Isle was such a pure delight to read! It kind of takes me back to the classic historical romances that I fell in love with when I first started reading romance. The Julie Garwood Laird books in particular. If you loved those books, you'll probably enjoy this book as well! We get the kidnapped heroine, and the morally questionable hero who immediately regrets his dastardly deed. Why? Because she's far from the meek and easy captive he was expecting. She fights him at every turn, and never gives him a moment's peace. Who doesn't love a fiery Scottish woman who puts the brooding hero in his place, and mends his broken pieces back together again?
Mailie is the daughter of Tristan and Isobel from Seduced by a Highlander in the Children of the Mist series. (I really enjoyed meeting her parents in this one, so I'm looking forward to reading their book when I get a chance.) Even though there were a lot of people in her family, and an well established history that I wasn't caught up on, I never felt like I was floundering under an information dump. We got just enough facts to satisfy faithful followers and intrigue new readers at the same time. The focus was purely on Mailie and Lachlan, and I really appreciated that. At 400 pages, it was still a fast and compulsively readable story.
Lachlan is a very tortured man after losing his wife and daughter two years before. Not only does he feel as if he failed to protect them, but his revenge on those who murdered them leaves him feeling as if he's only a shell of the man he once was.
Revenge was a terrible passion that began in men and ended in monsters.
From the start, his broody exterior didn't fool me. Underneath all of his pain lay a devastated man just trying to make sense of his devastating loss. When presented with the possibility that his daughter may still be alive, it was a ray of hope after so living so long in the darkness. Not very keen on kidnapping an innocent woman, he quickly lets go of his conscience in order to cling to this new hope of his old life. He'd be willing to do anything in order to have his daughter back, and that's what Ranald Sinclair is counting on.
It felt good to run and release his pent-up anger. Anger at the world for producing men like the ones who took his wife and daughter. Men who would withhold help in possibly finding his daughter for payment of a kidnapped lass. Men who would give up their souls in exchange for their hearts. Men like him.
Mailie was just the kind of heroine I like. She can take care of herself in even the most harrowing situations. She was brave, kindhearted, and was pretty much immune to all intimidation tactics that were thrown at her. She's lived a safe and privileged life as her father's pride and joy, but that didn't mean she was spoiled or filled with her own self-importance. When she's unexpectedly taken out of the safety of her family's protection, she vows that not only will she make it back home before being delivered into her rejected suitor's dangerous hands, but her captor will pay the price with his life.
Then something happens as she settles into Lachlan's cold and lonely castle. She begins to understand the desperation that drove him to what he did. Her compassion helps to to see a view of the man that very few are afforded. And suddenly, they are both torn over what they should do, and what they desire more than anything. An impossible dream of a future together.
“Ye think there’s hope fer me, then?” Oh aye, aye, she did think so. Hope that would no doubt be her downfall.
One of the things I loved was seeing how Mailie brought Lily and Will into his home and showed him that there was life after loss. There was room in his heart to love again, and be the father that he once was. He put up the good fight at first, trying to keep his distance and his emotions hardened, but fortunately she isn't one who gives up easily.
I thought I knew what to expect with the ending, and it was comfortably drama free, but there was one thing that really took me by surprise (in a good way). My only complaint was that their romance did feel rushed in my opinion, I would have liked for them to have discovered their feelings over the original month she was supposed to be there instead of a two week period. Their deep feelings didn't seem entirely plausible because of that, but it didn't take much away from my overall enjoyment. The writing style was lovely, the plot was fast-paced, and very sweet. I've found myself a new author to follow, and I'll most definitely be checking out some of the books on her backlist as well.
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