Thursday, April 18, 2013

SINS OF A HIGHLAND DEVIL by Sue-Ellen Welfonder




Publisher:   Forever
Date published:   January 1, 2011
ISBN:  978-0446561785
Genre:   Historical Romance 
Book format: Paperback
Obtained via:  Publisher
Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina Ginalrmreviews@gmail.com

 

The Glen of Many Legends has a long history filled with turmoil, angst and battles to the death. Three clans hold the glen, each believing they hold the true owners.  For decades upon decades the MacDonalds, Camerons and MacIntoshes have claimed the glen as their own. Word of the on-going tensions has reached the king and he is ready to be done with the never ending strife. To that end he has ordered the clans fight to the death. Whichever is standing at the end of a day of fighting will own the glen. The lairds are none too pleased with the king’s order, yet they will obey. It is their women, the sisters of the clan leaders who decide to take matters, as it were, into their own hands. Led by their hearts—their love for their clans, their brothers and the men they wish for their own they devise a plan to save all involved. Despite their best efforts the day of battle arrives. There is bloodshed, but not as much as there could have been had the women not intervened.

It is Catriona MacDonald who leads them leads the way to save the glen and all who share it. She has long been attracted to James Cameron, the man who they say is the Devil himself. James has always made her heart beat a little faster. James who is the man she would most like to spend her life with. James who is the man of her dreams.

But James has no wish for a bride, especially a hated MacDonald. Yet there is something about Catriona that draws James to her. She begins to appear in his every thought, his every wish, his every desire. Can he put aside a lifetime of hatred to listen to his heart?

One of the things I love about Sue-Ellen Welfonder’s books is how she not only captures the reader’s imagination but how she seemingly transports you through time and space to the valleys and glens of her tales. In SINS OF A HIGHLAND DEVIL she not only brings those that lived in a long ago time to life, she transports you to stand by their side—or at least you feel if you look about you will see those characters standing beside you. There were any number of times while reading SINS OF A HIGHLAND DEVIL when I would close my eyes for a moment and when I opened them expected I would be in the Glen of Many Legends. The descriptions of the mist, the creatures, the variances in climate are so vivid you truly believe you are there.

The characters are wonderfully drawn but I have to say I especially liked Scandia. I hurt for her when the truth of her death came about but even ghosts can have their happy endings.

The premise of the story is an interesting one and I liked how she drew on the Viking lore and heritage in the telling. The resolution to decades upon decades of fighting is wonderfully revealed and leaves you eager for the next two books to find out what happens to Isobel and Marjory’s stories.



This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.


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