He’s a Highlander from the past, seeking his soulmate. She loves coffee and air conditioning. He’s determined to take her back to his time. She’s dead set on keeping him in hers.
Newly divorced, teetering on bankruptcy, and about to lose her land, Rachel Hawkins is hanging on by a frazzled thread, but she’s still hanging on and that’s what counts. But when she dreams about a handsome Highlander who treats her to a hotter night of loving than any she’s ever read about and then shows up on her doorstep the next morning, she wonders if her frazzled thread has snapped. While it’s true her grandmother was a talented witch and trained Rachel before she died, Granny never said anything about conjuring up the perfect lover in a dream and having him delivered to your door the next day. The last thing she needs right now is a man to complicate the mess that is her life. Unless he wants to rent out the room over her garage. Rent money? She can use that. A relationship? Not so much.
Caelan MacKay, laird of Clan MacKay in the Highlands of Scotland in the year 1379, is cursed. As was his father before him, and his father’s father, and so on. Cursed to dream of his soulmate until he finds her and makes her his wife—as he has done in all previous incarnations and will do in all future ones—as long as he succeeds in this one. But the woman haunting his dreams can’t be found anywhere in Scotland, and the dreams have become sheer torment. So, he seeks help from the old druid who once advised his father. The seer finds her living in the year 2007 in an unknown land called Kentucky.
So, a bargain is struck with the Fates and the Goddess Brid. Caelan is granted the full cycle of seven moons to travel to the future and convince his true love to return with him to the year 1379 of her own free will—no trickery or Highland kidnapping allowed. At the end of the allotted time, he returns to his era whether he succeeds or fails in his quest. If he fails, he’s doomed to a life alone and possibly the end of the MacKay bloodline, a bloodline gifted with power both envied and feared by the other clans.
Against her better judgment, Rachel can’t resist Caelan, but no way is she going back to 14th century Scotland and trying to survive that country’s dangerous past—time for Plan B. With the help of Granny’s grimoire, she’ll bind Caelan to her time, and they’ll have their happily ever after with modern conveniences. But that’s the thing about the Fates and the Goddess Brid. They ignore everyone’s Plan B but their own.
Maeve Greyson is a USA TODAY bestselling author, Amazon Top 100 bestseller, Amazon All Star, multiple RONE Award winner, and a multiple HOLT Medallion Finalist.
Her mantra is this: No one has the power to shatter your dreams unless you give it to them.
She and her husband of over forty-five years traveled around the world while in the U.S. Air Force. Now they're settled in rural Kentucky where Maeve writes about her courageous heroes and the fearless women who tame them. Sometimes her stories are historical romances, time travel romances, or escapist romantasies, but the one thing they always have in common is a satisfying happily ever after. When she’s not plotting the perfect snare, she can be found herding cats, grandchildren, and her husband—not necessarily in that order.
Blessed by a Highland Curse The Origin Story MacKay Clan #0 Maeve Greyson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rachel Hawkins is feeling like she's about to lose her mind, but she's still hanging in there, which speaks volumes in itself. But she finds herself dreaming about a handsome highlander who treats her so amazingly hot, which is better than any night of loving she's read about. He shows up on her doorstep the next morning and she wonders if she might have finally lost her mind. Her grandmother was a talented witch who trained Rachel before she died, but she sure, as heck, never said anything about conjuring the perfect lover in her dreams and then having him show up at her door the next day. Rachel has been through so much, and what she really needs is to finally catch a break and have something good happen to her. The last thing she needs is another man to complicate the shambles her life is in. But apparently, he wants to rent the room over the garage, and heavens knows she needs that rent noney to survive. But a relationship? No, that she thinks she doesn't need.
Caelan MacKay is the laird of Clan MacKay in the Highlands of Scotland in the year 1379, and he's cursed as well. So was his father before him, and his father's father, and so on. He's cursed to dream of his soulmate until he finds her and marries her. Something that is not as easy as it sounds. The problem is that the woman is not in Scotland, and his dreams have become pure torment. He ends up seeking help from the old druid that once advised his father. The seer finds the woman of Caelan's dreams in the year 2007 in an unknown land in a place called Kentucky.
Now, they have struck a bargain with the fates and the Goddess Brid. Caelan is granted seven moons to travel to modern-day Kentucky and convince Rachel to return with him to the year 1379 of her own free will with no trickery, and that involves no Highland kidnapping. At the end of the seven moons, he has to return to his time with or without Rachel. If Rachel doesn't come with him, he's doomed to a life alone, and what could possibly be the end of the MacKay bloodline, a bloodline gifted with power, both envied and feared by the other clans.
Even though Rachel has sworn off men, she can't resist Caelan, but there is no way at all that she'll be going back to 14th century Scotland. So she decides on plan B, but plans don't always go as one hopes they will. She figures that if she binds Caelan to her time, they will have their happily ever after in Kentucky with all the modern conveniences. But as we know, the fates don't always do what a person wants.
Maeve Greyson is absolutely incredible. This book had me from the get-go, and after reading it, I understood a lot more about the MacKay clan. I couldn't put this book down. It reeled me in and didn't spit me back out until the end. There are so many things that happen in this book that there is never a dull moment. I also wanted to say this book made me understand so much more about the other books I've read about this family. Ms. Greyson, this was a fabulous book, and I truly enjoyed every second of it.
Ms. Grayson has taken time travel to a whole new level. I you like time travel, you will love this book. Racial is an interesting character. She is a modern girl that has never been cared about by anyone other than her grandmother. Caelan is a highland laird determined to have her as his soulmate wife. The problems they have to get through will keep you involved until the end of the book..
Another outstanding story by Ms.Greyson! This story is a prequel to the MacKay clan. It had me drawn in from the beginning. The characters were easy to connect with and you felt like part of their story. I had read the other books in the series already, as I have everything this author has written. Her writing is exceptional and I’m looking forward to her story of Ronan and anything else she writes!!
I loved this story! It drew me in from the beginning. It was hard to put down. I loved all of the characters and the magic. Maeve Greyson has exceptional writing skills that keep your interest, makes you laugh and cry. She brings you into the story. One of my favorite authors!
This was such a great read. Caelan and Rachel are quite the couple and Emry's spells along the way weave an engaging tale of magic, love, love lost, separation, reconnection, defining true love, survival of the fittest, raising triplets in Medieval times and a very, very, special end. Loved this story!!!
Mystery, magic, and eternal love. Placed in the Highlands, and guided by the Goddess, readers will discover that there is nothing better than a love as strong as eternity.
I loved this book, it has a sweet romance, time travel (my favorite), magic and babies and dogs. A perfect mix for a perfect book! Great story Maeve, keep’em coming.
This book made me laugh out loud. It’s the first that I have read from this author. I look forward to reading more from this author. What a wonderful, thoughtful and fantastical imagination this author must have! Congratulations on the wonderful way you shared this incredible tale.
I found the storyline engaging and entertaining. I also found the plotting and characters kept me wanting to know what came next. The time travel and mystical aspects were fun and inventive and kept me turning pages
This book was chosen for the title and a different type of story. I enjoyed reading this story and couldn't put the book down until I finished. This story made me laugh and cry.
The story was all over the place. I had to reread parts because I thought I had skipped pages. The story has potential but the consistency of the characters and storyline need improvement.
Bless by the Highland Curse is filled with originality and creative characters and concepts. Like stories of old, every page is written to entice the reader to continue to the end. Maeve Greyson is an imaginative master of imagery and dialogs. I highly recommend "Highland Curse"
I enjoyed this book. I know true love happens but as today is my 85th birthday and my love of 58 years has been gone almost 10 years. I look forward to the next book.
Caelan from 1379 went to 2007 to get his love. Rachel didn’t like the past. Druid’s, Magic, witches,and three babies as a wolf, a seal and a fox as their cape abilities.
In 1379 in the MacKay Keep of the Scottish Highlands, Laird Caelan MacKay is tormented by a beautiful raven haired violet eyed temptress that he sees only in his dreams. Caelan demands that his second in command find the woman so that he can make her his wife and finally be at peace. When the druid Embrys tell Caelan that the woman, Rachel Hawkins doesn’t exist in 14th century Scotland but 21st century. Caelan tells Embrys that Rachel will complete him. So Embrys brings Caelan to rural Kentucky where Rachel is and when he finally meets her, he is determined to take her back to the 14th century Scotland. Rachel falls deeper for Caelan too, but he holds many secrets, and he wants to take her back to his home. Rachel will do whatever it takes to keep him with her in her time but not everything goes according to plan either nor is love going to be easy no matter what time period they are both in. What a lovely time travel romance that I just absolutely loved! I couldn’t help but get swept up in the story too! Ms. Maeve Greyson also writes beautifully blending fantasy and historical that it even seems like it could happen. The time-travel aspect of the story even seems believable and the characters from the major, minor to the pets and even a Goddess included are all wonderfully written that it isn’t hard to get swept up in the story. Sure, I wanted a little bit more of the back story on some of the characters I still wasn’t disappointed. Caelan the hardheaded swoon-worthy highlander might be a bit abrasive and hard to reason with but that is part of his charm. That I couldn’t help but fall for him too. Yes, he is perfect fodder for a dreamy book boyfriend. Rachel the modern-day feisty witch heroine is a great combination of stubborn and whiney, yet I still loved her. I just can’t wait to read more in the series and will even reread the book again!
The lairds of clan McKay in the 14th century are blessed or cursed (depending upon your viewpoint) with only being able to marry their soulmate. Caelen has been haunted for over a year by dreams of a woman with black hair and violet eyes. He has searched everywhere in Scotland and not found her. He turns to his ancient druid advisor who looks through the Mirrors of Time and finds her in Kentucky in 2007. Caelen travels through time to 2007 Kentucky and is given 7 months to win Rachael over and convince her to return with him to 1379 Scotland. While Rachael is immediately attracted to him and feels a connection, she is afraid to commit to anyone given that everyone in her past didn't truly love her. Read the story to see if Caelen can win her over and they can get their happily ever after. I enjoyed the story and felt the author portrayed the challenges for Rachael to suddenly live in a time without modern conveniences very well. You can easily understand how she would feel. The story also included a lot of Druid and wise woman lore which I enjoyed reading about. Overall I found it to be an enjoyable story.
Such a different time travel story. I must admit, I didn't care for the H/h at times. He was soft, and not much of an alpha. She was more self-absorbed. Especially at the end, when she SAW, what her absence did to the H and didn't chose a different outcome earlier.
Lovemaking within marriage (mostly), heat level 5 out of 5.
There was a villain in her time period, and I wanted to know his reaction, to what she did about her farm. No cheating, no cliffhanger, interesting epilogue, HEA, some romance and steam. Story ends at 92% on my e-reader, rest is blurb for the next in the series. Story is worth the read because of it isn't a cookie cutter. Has more than a touch of magic from more than one source.
I can't improve on the blurb, just giving you extra tidbits to decide whether to purchase. (ljb)
All the ingredients were here for a great story: time travel, fated mates, Medieval Scotland and magick, and yet it felt disjointed. Some parts had a more detail than it was needed, and at other parts it felt like it was skipping vital elements. The change in character personality halfway through felt jarring. It’s like the FMC was two different characters, and not very likeable either. The MMC doesn’t have a lot of growth and is fixated on the obsessive vision. The magick portion took over in a big way that felt incongruent to the start of the story. I didn’t DNF-d it because I had already invested into seeing the time travel aspect of the story. I give it 3 stars because of the time travel aspect and because it’s set in Scotland. I wished it was better because it had all the good bones to be so.
Rachel is a modern 21st century woman whose background was emotionally toxic. Except for her grandmother she was emotionally abused by her parents and former husband. She blames herself as being unworthy of love and is a strong independent woman with an emotional barrier. Caelan is a 14th century warrior laird cursed to only love one woman who he must find. Emrys is the Druid guide who brings Caelan to the future to find his love. There is a lot of quick contrived tension and resolution that plays into the romance and then the introduction of Fantasy that is a highlight of the story and the real tension. It’s an interesting story I couldn’t put down until I finished it and will continue the series.
1. On the one hand it is well written….no editing issues, no cliffhanger endings, there is Magick, wonderful dogs, and I liked it quite a lot. Would have given it 5 stars. Except: 2. On the other hand…..there is WAAAY too much unnecessarily graphic sex that I skipped over and I was tempted to give it 2 stars and skip the book completely. Almost stopped reading the book after the 2nd bout of unnecessary graphic sex…except for “on the one hand”.
Because of “on the one hand” I will probably read the next book and hope there is less/no graphic sex.
Fast paced fantasy novel; Caelan was a clan chief, in 1379, cursed to find the perfect wife for him. He had searched far and without finding just the right lady.His Seer was consigned to find her and found her in 2007. Magic is used for him a d the seer to travel forward in time. They were to an 7 months to woo her. Story line was moving, happi!y ever after. Well written and enjoyable. Great job Maeve Greyson.
My wife thought this book might be fun to read together. It was OK. The premise was interesting, but it didn't pan out well. First of all, too much language and sex scenes that I had to skim through; language PG-13, but too much; sex was pornographic, had to skip pages. Poor character development. I don't know why these characters are in love, except for the sex. The timeline never made sense. I had trouble telling if it had been days, weeks, or months since the previous scene. The characters and the premise had potential. Could have been a nice love story, but it wasn't.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
In my opinion, the book would have been more believable had the roles been reversed. The man travels through time 700+ years and understands the concept of our worldly innovations somehow. A little far fetched. Feel in love too quickly and if she was hurt why didn’t she go to the ER?
5 stars for this book. Rachel and Caelan Past and Future join them on their journey as they navigate their way after being: Blessed by a Highland Curse. I highly recommend this Author and all her books .
I really enjoyed this historical time travel story it was just so good in so many ways. The curse to was the need for the character to travel and there was a bit of slow burn on Rachel’s because of her past. Just a really good must read.