The Highlander's Bride
Grade : D-

Some say it’s all in the details. If so, Donna Fletcher missed that memo. The Highlander’s Bride is filled with bad dialogue and a bad plot tied together neatly with a vague setting. Not a detail in sight except for many, many descriptions of the scent and color of the heroine’s red hair.

Sara McHern has been stuck in a convent for two years, avoiding marriage. Now her father, a Highland chieftain, has picked a man for her. Unless she finds another man to wed, less repulsive than her father’s choice of suitor, her only other choice would be to take her vows. Thank the stars that a handsome man happens by the convent looking for the lovechild of his now dead sweetheart. He’s told at first that the child died after its birth, but Sara overhears this and presses her advantage.

Cullen Longton, recent prison escapee and man on the run, was told by his saintly lover Alaina that they had a child together. With her last breath she made him promise to find the child. Cullen is heartbroken to learn that the child he never knew existed died, until a tall, feisty, redhead says that she saved the child herself and sent him to safety. She will take him to the child if he agrees to marry her and convince her father they are well and truly wed. And this means the two must consummate their relationship.

Off they go on the week-long journey to the McHern lands battling snow storms (hey, there’s a cozy abandoned cottage), torrential downpours (must get out of these wet clothes and snuggle to stay warm), a revenge-minded earl and his soldiers, and fighting over when and where to do The Deed.

And, oh, how they fight about sex! Cullen and Sara take turns fighting for or against consummation and also fight about who has the upper hand in deciding for or against no less than 11 times before they finally manage to give in to their attraction. The arguments are all the same, consisting of much the same unimaginative dialogue.

“I’ll not let you go this time,” he warned.
“I’ll not submit to you,” she argued.
He shook his head. “I see the desire raging in your eyes. You have denied yourself too long.”
“I will not-“
“You will,” he snapped.
“I won’t.”
“You want me.”
“I don’t-“

There you have it, folks. Just multiply by 384 pages, add some mild love scenes and a too obvious plot, sprinkle with an adorable child and you have The Highlander’s Bride.

The incessant arguing wasn’t my only problem, though. While a blurb by the author at Amazon indicates the story is set in 1514 - and some online sleuthing indicates that the imprisoned brother of Burke Longton in Taken by Storm is likely Cullen - no specific time is ever hinted at in the book. And yet, at one point Cullen mentions that when all is said and done, he wants to travel to America to join his brother in the Dakota Territories. But the Dakota Territories didn't exist until the 1860s, which may be why the Romantic Times review gives the setting as "1800s", and why I was thoroughly confused by young women living in convents, death by sword, the making of bows and arrows, and a friar and his wagon full of wine casks being chased down by ruffians.

The book is saved from an F by a slight showing of compassion on my part towards Sara as she battles her love for a man still in love with a ghost. But The Highlander's Bride is a sad excuse for an historical romance. Save your $5.99.

Reviewed by Lisa Gardineer
Grade : D-

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : August 14, 2007

Publication Date: 2007

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Lisa Gardineer

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