The Highlander's Secret Son
Grade : C-

The Highlander’s Secret Son has a few things going for it.  I liked Jeanine Englert’s style, and her writing – and research – are very good. The book’s real problem is its characters, however. Oo ee, these characters, who betray and think the worst of each other over and over again.

Clan Campbell and Clan MacDonald have been in a feud for centuries.  Fiona MacDonald and Brandon Campbell are the latest two to tangle in this endless brawl, a pair of ex lovers torn asunder.  Brandon believes Fiona betrayed him and his clan by revealing to her people the existence of a secret tunnel that connected their home castles resulting in a sneak attack and in the death of the wife and child of Brandon’s older brother Rowan. This tragedy plunged Rowan into madness and forced Brandon to become the laird, and their sister Beatrice is faring none too well either.

Brandon cannot forgive Fiona for her part in what happened; but when he comes upon her apparently poaching on his lands, he’s stunned when she informs him that the boy at her side is his son, William. Brandon isn’t ready to immediately believe Fiona, but William bears his clan’s birthmark.  There is little Brandon can do but take the boy back to his stronghold, and Fiona as well – as a prisoner.

Fiona wasn’t poaching – she’d been fleeing her people, hoping to find safety with her cousin and got caught in a swamp. She tells Brandon that she sent him letters repeatedly, telling him of her father’s mistreatment and the birth of the baby, but all were lost. They tentatively begin to heal their relationship, but with Brandon’s clan in financial arrears, the clan Campbell filled with hatred for Fiona, and Fiona worried he will marry another to solve their financial issues, the road to happiness will not be a smooth one.

Our leads are plagued by the plot here, though they themselves are no prizes even without the story beats pushing them.  As Fiona repeatedly shouts, Brandon is weak and willing to be pushed around by his clan due to his lack of preparedness for the role of laird and his immense guilt over a raid caused by his own lust.  Fiona, meanwhile, is a product of her own stubbornness and rashness – her loose lips keep sinking her proverbial ship, but aside from occasional proclamations of guilt of her own, she blames Brandon for not getting the letters she wrote him and for not standing up to the clan on her behalf.  For someone as generally active as she is, it’s a bizarre narrative choice.  It’s as if the book knows Fiona’s foolishness deserves more blame, but won’t let her bear it as the clan tries to put it on her, as if this might make her unlikable.  She’s a good mother or at least tries to be, and Brandon is a good father; she is active and brave, he is generally caring and kind. But I didn’t find either of them terribly likable, however, either individually or as a couple.

This is because a lot of the book’s conflicts are based upon misunderstandings, some left up to fate (the lost letters) others caused by characters eavesdropping on conversations and making snap judgments.  Just before the halfway point, Fiona and Brandon sleep together again – only for her to find out the next day that he’s going to marry someone else, a rich woman with the money to refill the clan’s coffers  The problem could be solved by a bundle of ancestral jewels Fiona has, but naturally she does not trust Brandon enough to offer them up.  And she does not learn any real lessons. By the time Fiona has stomped out of the castle with her infant son in the middle of a storm because she’s tired of Brandon’s inaction, then been captured by her clan – as a plot device to force Brandon into action - I wanted to slam their heads together. It’s as if the second the misunderstanding about the raid is solved other drama must be milled out, and having them talk out their problems like adults is beyond the narrative.  The less said about the deus ex machina that results in a change in Fiona’s future prospects, the better.

I liked some of the supporting characters – I’d actually be interested in a romance about Rowan, whose struggle with his PTSD and trauma are interesting.  But The Highlander’s Secret Son’s romance is too frustrating and clumsy to earn the book anything other than a barely middling grade.

Buy it at: Amazon or your local independent retailer

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Reviewed by Lisa Fernandes
Grade : C-

Sensuality: Subtle

Review Date : June 12, 2021

Publication Date: 05/2021

Recent Comments …

  1. I’m actually talking more about it as a romance trope, not necessarily what goes on in real life. IRL is…

  2. I always admired the US ability to fail and try again. At least, I was told that this is American:…

Lisa Fernandes

Lisa Fernandes is a writer, reviewer and recapper who lives somewhere on the East Coast. Formerly employed by Firefox.org and Next Projection, she also currently contributes to Women Write About Comics. Read her blog at http://thatbouviergirl.blogspot.com/, follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/thatbouviergirl or contribute to her Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/MissyvsEvilDead or her Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com/missmelbouvier
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