The Warrior's Touch

MacEgan Brothers #4

by Michelle Willingham

Connor MacEgan is a fighter; it's in his blood. But when his hands are crushed in a brutal attack, he finds he may never wield a sword, or touch a woman, ever again.

He becomes reliant on Aileen O’Duinne, whose determination matches his, for Aileen can no more ignore a person in pain than Connor can stop being a warrior.

But she also holds a secret, one of passion and deception that could break their hearts, long after she has mended his hands...."

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Medieval, Harlequin, Historical Fiction, Irish Literature

304 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

Rita® Award Finalist Michelle Willingham has published over fifty books and novellas. Currently, she lives in Virginia with her family and is working on more historical romance novels. When she's not writing, Michelle enjoys baking, playing the piano, and avoiding exercise at all costs. Visit her website at: www.michellewillingham.com or interact with her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/michellewillinghamfans.

Reviews

[UniquelyMoi ~ BlithelyBookish · Rating 4 out of 5]

**Minor Spoilers**

My Review:

I have to say, I’ve really enjoyed the books in this series, and The Warrior’s Touch is no exception. I can’t really explain what makes them so good except that for shorter stories, the plot and the characters are very well defined.

In The Warrior’s Touch we meet Connor MacEgan, a warrior with a deadly reputation, and a man who can charm any woman into his bed. Deirdre decides that she wants his attentions and wants him to wed her, but Connor isn’t interested. However, she won’t be refused and accuses Connor of dishonoring her and taking her virginity. Her father and his men brutally attack Connor, crushing his hands and taking from him that which was most important to him, his ability to wield a sword and protect his people.

Connor is found lying wounded, near death, and is taken to Aileen, the woman who is healer for her tribe. However, Aileen has been forbidden to practice because a series of tragic deaths have made her people believe she is cursed. Connor, unable to fight, and Aileen, forbidden to heal, can relate with each other on a level no one else can.

I think what I most loved about this story was the focus on people who, in some way, have become disabled, but who in no way, are willing to give up their dreams.

I’m a little sad now because I’ve finished all the books in this series that have been released so far. I understand Trehan will have a story, but it won’t come soon enough.

Discovering Michelle Willingham and her amazing MacEgan brothers has been a real treat, and they will always hold a place of honor in my literary journeys.

[🐝 Shaz 🐝 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars 🌟
I enjoyed this story about Connor and Aileen.
Aileen is a healer, who finds Conner wounded and nearly dead. She has a secret past which includes Connor.
All she has done is try to help people . Yet her tribe see as a curse, because she has not been able to save the children of her chieftain.
Connor is a warrior, who hands have been crushed. She agrees to help him recover.

[Lisarenee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this one a 3 out of 5. While an entertaining read it wasn't my favorite of Willingham's books. About a town with a pagan harvest festival in which an "innocent" couple are brought together for well you can guess. When the original female bows out because her betrothed is upset Aileen secretly takes her place. She attempts to tell him the next morning, but he doesn't listen. Jump 7 years into the future and Aileen is now in charge of healing Connor. He still doesn't know it was her that night or that they created a daughter. Fun read.

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Connor MacEgan is found unconscious with multiple stab wounds and his hands crushed. He's found by Aileen O'Duinne, a healer who is not supposed to practice her craft anymore, but who does so to save his life (and to prove she still can). She knows Connor from when he fostered with the O'Duinnes and she loved him way back when. She also has a secret that she both wants to reveal to him but also wants to keep hidden. When Connor awakes, he is instantly filled with thoughts of revenge, but the condition of his hands makes him question whether he'll ever be able to hold a sword again. But he's determined. So, although initially he's angry with Aileen for not doing a better job, he realizes that there's still a chance and is thankful. He's also falling for her and she for him. But revenge and restoring his honor are more important to Connor...more important than Aileen's unfailing love and support.

Meh. I wanted to smack Connor upside his head. This is one of those stories where the hero is torn between his honor and love for a woman and these are always pretty difficult. They're usually pretty angsty as well. This one didn't quite pull it off though because I never got the sense that Aileen (or Rhinannon for that matter) were in anyway important enough to Connor to cause him that angst. He never struggled with his decision or questioned it or even doubted that doing whatever he could to restore his honor was worth it. Patrick and Bevan are seeing Connor in love with Aileen and I'm all, "really? love?" That I wasn't getting so much. To start, Aileen was just a diversion to Connor back when he was healing and he never thought about anything permanent with her. Then after he learned her secret, he was (justifiably) angry and pretty mean to her. So I didn't feel the love.

As for Aileen's secret, I usually have a problem with women who have a hero's child and don't bother to tell him , but I wasn't as bothered with this one. Maybe it's the time period and the fact that noble men left bastards all over the place and rarely cared and it's not like the heroine could expect him to be any different under the circumstances... wasn't like she could expect marriage or anything. Not to mention she had someone immediately offer her a better solution and being sixteen and painfully rejected by the father of her child, she took it. . She probably never expected to see him either. I mean, did women of that time period show up on a guy's doorstep that was several days journey away and present him with a bastard daughter? . I get why he was angry since his values were actually quite different from what I expected, but I wasn't angry with the heroine about it. So because of that I felt like Connor was overly mean to her about it. Still good, but not my favorite of the series.

[Helena Rodrigues (Aromas de Cor ~ Livrólicos de Cá e de Lá) · Rating 4 out of 5]

O tipo de livro para um par de horas! Gostei muito da história. Deparei-me por acaso com o livro e li a sinopse e foram um par de horas até o terminar.
É um livro cheio de aventuras e desventuras, de crenças antigas e de um amor escondido.
Aileen, curandeira da vila vê-se banida pelo chefe do clã após ter deixado morrer os seus filhos recém nascidos (eram prematuros ela não poderia ter feito muito naquela altura). Não sabendo ainda o que o destino lhe reservava, à sua porta é deixado Connor, o seu grande amor da adolescência. Gravemente ferido cabe-lhe a ela zelar para que ele recupere e realize os seus planos de vingança.
A escrita é simples e sem grandes floreados, descritivo quanto baste é o livro perfeito para um bom momento!

[Therese · Rating 1 out of 5]

Så tråkig så integsägande. The love story was just boring. Allt minnesvärt hände i början med deras skumma tradition. Det tog för evig att för något att hända i denna bok... Dottern i slutet var en ljusglimt måste jag säga hon var rätt rolig. Glad den är över. Tog mig ett tag att läsa asså.

[Jamsu · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I didn't bother writing any notes while reading this because it was in Finnish but I finished this in a day. I was in a reading slump before starting this and it really sucked me in.

I really like how Aileen wanted to prove everyone that she was a good healer. Connor didn't really trust her abilities either but still let her heal his hands.

I really like that it wasn't insta love or lust for him. Aileen and Connor knew each other since they were teenagers but he didn't like her the way she wanted him to.

There were some things I didn't understand at all.

I don't think reading earlier books was necessary to read this but maybe those earlier books explained why were all these kids raised in foster homes? I mean Aileen has a child but her friend was raising her and Aileen had foster child before she had to give it away. Even the chief or something like that had given his child for a foster family. Can't these people just raise their own children?

I didn't really like the hero. Aileen was trying to help Connor but he just complained about everything: his disability, the food. Aileen wasn't that great character either because of that deception she made years ago.

All in all it was great book but I didn't really understand the romance and there were things that annoyed me. I especially liked family interactions.

[Adeselna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was just looking for some light novel to read while I was writing an essay in German and when I saw this one Vivi Annas name crossed my mind, but I find Willingham more serene. It's a good book if your brain is empty, but if you read it thinking it'll be a great Historical Novel stop here!

[Becca · Rating 2 out of 5]

James of the Heather is the ninth son of the Laird and was thrown out at his birth. With the death of his eight older brothers he comes to help his father and maintain the relations with the neighbors. A rather drab historical fiction, that doesn't really linger in my memory for long.

[Candace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be... decent. I enjoyed the plot and writing style, the characters just left a lot to be desired. The hero of the book, a warrior named Connor, spends most of the book being kinda a dick to the heroine, Aileen. There is a lot of petty sniping going on for most of the book. Aileen is nursing Connor back to health after he gets his hands crushed by some other family. Is he grateful that she saved him? No; he spends a lot of time complaining that he needs/wants a better healer and that he's only there because there is no other option, all while knowing that Aileen is sensitive about her skills as a healer.

Then there is the ~big reveal~ about 3/4th of the way through the book. Aileen reveals that she is the woman Connor slept with 7 years prior, not her friend. Cue her feeling bad and Connor having a generic they-lied-to-me-wahhhhh attitude.

The rest of my review is under a spoiler tag as I talk about the aforementioned big reveal. First off, while I am sympathetic to Connor's situation (finding out you had a child and that it was kept from you), he immediately ruins that goodwill because he is still determined to die. Aileen point blank asks if he still plans to go challenge the person who maimed him to a duel and he's just like "yeah", despite the fact he is so insistent that he gets to meet this new daughter of his.

Others have said they also didn't care for Aileen's refusal to tell Connor about the baby/claim it as someone else's because if it was so important, she'd find a way to do it. Frankly, I find it more believable that she wouldn't tell him. The day after the switch, he literally pushes her away (causing her to fall in the mud) because he knows she has a crush on him and thinks listening to what she has to say might lead to her becoming more interested. No, Aileen was just trying to tell him about the switch. Connor nopes out of the village back home and doesn't come back. Two months later when she realizes she's pregnant, there is no realistic way she'd be able to tell Connor OR think that he'd be helpful in this situation.

The real kicker is after all this comes to light, Connor goes back to his own village and Aileen goes after him. She's kicked out of her own village and, just, decides to "follow her heart" to Connor despite him having no redeeming qualities ever.

[Patricia Ibarra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found that so far in the series, this is the story I liked the most (however I´m on my way to complete the series). Aileen is quite a strong character, being forced not only to marry a man she didn´t love but facing punishment for events that were way beyond her capabilities or the resources of that time. Being under these circumstances, finding Connor fighting for his life becomes a double challenge for her: save his life, recovering the full use of his destroyed hands (which even today with would be an uncertain matter, even after several surgical operations), and as a bonus, recover her status as a healer. Not easy when that patient is the same man she was in love years before.
But Connor is too proud for his own good, and must prove himself in a fight to death. But his worst fight woul be against his own pride and anger, to forgive Aileen. At times, to be honest, I thought to myself "leave him be, if he doesn´t want you, the hell with him!". But in truth, the fact that she had denied him of his right to be a father...well, I can only say that she had to earn his forgiveness. And she earned more than that: she got his heart! One can only think about those poor lads who´d pursue Rhiannon in the future, with a father like Connor, it wouldn´t be easy to woo her.

[Daniela · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Explícito). 3.5 Al principio no le veía mucho futuro a la historia, pensé que sería un gran ir y venir entre Aileen y Connor, en cuanto llegué a la parte del pasado. No fue tan así, aunque sí me pareció un poquito desesperante y más cuando decían que Aileen estaba maldita, sé que es por la época y que los habitantes del clan eran muy supersticiosos. Connor es muy terco, algo impulsivo y eso no justifica nada, sólo digo que le debió de dar algo más de crédito a Aileen por curarle las manos, cosa que hizo ya en el final. El final lo sentí hecho a la carrera, no tenía mucho sazón por así decirlo, le faltó. ... Narrado en su mayor parte en tercera persona por los protagonistas pero de vez en cuando sale una narración de otro personaje.

[Karen G · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful love story.

A great beach read if you are in the mood for a well fought for love story. You don’t have to read the previous books to enjoy but it helps as the other brothers are in this one.
Conner is a rake who loves to flirt and have the ladies.
Appropriate ending. ❤️

[Mary Ellen Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Warrior's Touch

Reread. I thought it sounded familiar. I read the first chapter and I knew that I read it before. Oh well.

[Alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.85

[ShortyS · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
I couldn’t get warm with this one.

*** Beware! Some minor spoilers ahead! ***

Deidre wants to marry Connor but he rejects her, so she tells her father that Connor raped her to take revenge and force the marriage. Deidre’s father and his men crush Connor’s hands because he believes his deceitful daughter over his former friend.
Aileen nurses him back to health as good as she can, even if technically she isn’t allowed to heal in her tribe. After some misfortune she is believed to be cursed, but she hopes to redeem herself with the healing of Connor.
Connor challenges Deidre’s father to get revenge and he is driven to regain his strength and honour.
Seven years before Aileen slept with Connor at the feast of Bealtaine by switching the place with another girl, without him realising that it’s not the girl he thinks. The night is not fruitless and she births him a daughter without his knowledge.

For most of the book Aileen and Connor hurt each other, just small things, but still. He questions her abilities as a healer and wonders if his hands would be better had there been another older healer. She pushes him away after clearly wanting him without explaining, letting him think she may be disgusted with his hands. All these small pangs are never talked about, they seldom apologize. This may be realistic, but it feels unfinished. I know I do it too, especially with family, sometimes one of us says some mean things, perhaps not really meaning it but afterward you realize you hurt the other and mostly we just ignore and forget it. But I want books to be better than real life, at least in some accounts. The end of things, the resolution, should be right and good and happy.
I don’t know, I’m just not happy with this.

Then there is the thing with her daughter and Bealtaine. Her attempts to tell him what really happened and about the results are so half-hearted. If you really want to say something so important, you find a way to do it. In many books are situations like this, where someone has to say something very significant or even vital thing and they let it go after a simple “not now, I don’t have time now” or “I don’t want to talk about it” etc. But the others don’t know what they have to say, they don’t know how important it is. If necessary they should just spill it out. Had Aileen said “Rhiannon is your daughter” I’m sure Connor would have wanted to talk about this night. But she was too cowardly to tell him; too afraid he gets angry or disgusted, knowing it was her he slept with; too worried he may not like her anymore and that he wants to have something to say in his daughter’s life.
And I can understand that, but she is his daughter. Aileen had no right to deny him his own child, especially after she deceived him that night. And she deceived her daughter too. And then she is shocked when her daughter won’t accept him as her father immediately? When she says things like “I don’t like him”? It’s her own fault! And just her fault, not his and no one else’s.

But what really made me angry with her was Whelon’s death. How could she not call his parents? How could she withhold the chance to say goodbye? And just because she feared his father the chieftain would learn about the death of the other boy and send her away? Of course he learned of it, it was only a matter of time. And she didn’t even call them after Whelon died. How could she be so cruel?

She is a selfish coward.

And then the fight.
“Cease this battle, and let them wed.” To Deirdre she added, “I won’t stand in your way.”
What the hell? He would never ever wed Deirdre and she should know it. Deidre is the reason he lost his future, why he is so obsessed to fight his former mentor. How could she think it’s her decision whether he ends the fight and marries the bitch? I think that’s the most stupid command in a situation like this. She may have begged him to ask for forgiveness (I wouldn’t have liked that either), or told him she loves him, that he has to win for his daughter… whatever, but this? Even a hysterical “NOOOOOO” would be better.

The end is dissatisfying and disappointing.
Connor wins the fight and Deidre admits her lie and her father isn’t even shocked or angry. He accepts it at once and offers Conner some land as compensation and that’s it. No consequences for Deidre, no heartfelt apology, nothing.


No, I'm not satisfied.

[HÜLYA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Şifalı Eller Michelle Willingham

Bu ayki Harlequin Hayranlari'in Historical Serisi olan Şifali Eller harika bir hikayedi çok beğenerek okuduğumu belirtmeden geçemeyeceğim..Veee yazar gün geçtikçe daha da zevk alıyorum Michelle Willingham'ın kaleminden..

Bu seriye bayıldım yazara da öyle her kitabını büyük bir zevk ile okuyorum..ama bu sefer çeviride harikaydı hiç soluk almadan okudum diyebilirim..Teşekkürler Harlequin Yayınları bu sefer de harika bir iş çıkartmışsınız..

Kısaca hikayeye gelirsek :

McEgan Kardeşlerden Connor'un hikayesi idi bu seferki ve ona ümitsizce aşık olan Klanın şifacısı Ailen ile idi.

Alienn yıllar önce gizlice birlikte olduğu Connor Mcegan ile böylesine karşılaşmayı aklından bile geçirmemişti. Onu elde edemeyen bir kadın tarafından atılan bir iftira sonucunda Connor acımasızca hunharca cezalandırılmıştı..Aileen klanın lanetli bir şifacısıydı hasta iyileştirmesi yasak olduğu halde yıllarca unutmadığı ilk aşkını öylesine bırakamadı onu tedavi etti ama işler hiç de umduğu gibi gitmedi bu yakışıklı savaşçıdan hala çok etkilendiği gibi hala daha ona umutsuzca aşıktı..Onu bir an önce iyileştirip klanına gerçekleri öğrenmeden geri göndermeliydi..Connor'a ise AİLEEN'in dokunuşları bildik tanıdık geliyordu..Bunu bir türlü çözemiyordu..Diğer kadınlar kadar güzel değildi dışarıdan bakıldığında ama yakından tanıdıkça,baktıkça onlardan daha güzel ve kusursuzdu..
Orta çağ romanlarını seviyorsanız bu seriyi kaçırmayın derim..Tavsiye ederim..

[Netanella · Rating 3 out of 5]

An 11th century medieval romance set in Ireland, The Warrior's Touch centers around the warrior Connor, whose hands were cruelly smashed for an unjustified seduction, and the healer Allison, whose skills at healing are questioned by her tribe when the chieftain's immaturely born infants die under her care. The novel contained many elements not typically found in romance but typical of the times - the tragic loss of innocent children to the plague, superstitious beliefs, loss of limb and the consequences of living with this condition. These all added a realistic element to the story that was enjoyable, despite the sad nature of them. Alas, I did not enjoy the author's style of writing as well as the historical elements she enjoyed, and the first 2/3 of the book I felt that the characters were stereotypes of themselves. It was only when Allison followed Connor back to witness his revenge against the misguided Flynn that things got really interested. I would definitely recommend this book.

[Nessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second Willingham book and I have to say, the author really knows how to make the heroine feel like shit (literally mental abuse) based on the hero's sharp tongue. Swear my heart aches whenever the hero shoots the heroine down with his painful words and callousness.

But I am a sucker for those moments BUT like the previous book of the series I feel like the author didn't deliver the right scenarios and emotions to repair the kind of pain or emotional damage.

Trust me I have read a lot of stories where the hero treats the heroine like shit but they eventually redeem themselves throughout the story slowly...because it's more realistic.

Connor is the epitome of a playboy in his time (didn't know he is a year younger than Aileen) and I just cannot overlook the way he treats Aileen. It's like the fight scenes aren't even fun because the hero always wins...but the heroine ends up hurt. give and take people!!

[Melis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Şunu söyleyebilirim ki bütün kardeşler iyiydi, kitap güzeldi. Ama ama ama ne kadar Patrick sinirlerimi bozsada onu daha çok beğendim. Yani ne Bevan ne de Connor hoşuma gitti. Yani Bevan'ı sevmememin nedeni ha bire karısını hatırlaması -ki buna lafım yok. İnsan sevdiğini kaybedince kendini kötü hisseder ama bu biraz abartıydı ki en sonda karısının ölü olmadığı ortaya çıkınca zavallı Genevie'yi başından attı. Bu benim sinirlerimi bozdu. O yüzden 3. kitap pek iyi değildi. 4. kitaptaki Connor ise çok gururluydu yaaa. Gurur murur tamam hoşta abartıydı. Neyse ben en çok Patrick'i beğendiğimi farkettim. Evet İsabel'e olan tavırları, hakaretleri, hareketleri sinirlerimi çok bozdu ama bu kitabı daha çok sevdim. Neyse Harlequin bizi, özellikle beni fazla bekletmedi ve 5.kitabı çıkardı. Mayısta karşımızda olucak Ewan bey, bakalım o nasıl etkileyecek beni :))

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Connor MacEgan, a warrior with a deadly reputation, and a man who can charm any woman into his bed. Because of his reputation and false accusations, Connor is brutally attacked and his hands and are crushed. By crushing his hands the attackers took from Connor what was most important to him - his ability to wield a sword.

Connor is found wounded, almost dead, and is taken by Aileen, the woman who was healer for her tribe. Aileen has been forbidden to practice because of a series of deaths that have made her tribe believe that she is cursed.

The story is quite simple, a healer who is not allowed to heal and a warrior who cannot fight and their past holds a connection that only Aileen is aware off.
I loved the simple story line and the fact that 2 damaged people manage to heal each other and find love at the same time.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ½ Stars! ~~~ Aileen has been in love with Connor since she was 16 and he'd fostered in her village. They shared a night of passion, only Connor thought the woman he made love to was another, a girl he seen in a passionate embrace with another man the next morning. Ten years later, Aileen is shocked to find Connor unconscious and horribly beaten, his hands terribly crushed. As a healer, Aileen must mend Connor and not only is his future at risk but her own, for is she fails she'll be banished from her home. Another delicious MacEgan has met his match! This series keeps getting better and better!

[Mary Craven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given my first Michelle Willingham title by Michelle herself at a Book Expo. Little did I know this new author (to me anyway) would soon be a favorite. I love that the books interconnect the family and their stories. How many times have we finished a book and wonder "what happened to these characters I have grown to love?" I love history and romance and these books are the perfect pairing.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series has been very good. I particularly enjoy that the characters come across as real, believeable people with real issues. And that the issues aren't glossed over with magical sex. The relationships are volitile and unpredictable up until the very last pages.

[Delaney Rhodes · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Warrior’s Touch is a beautifully crafted medieval romance, balancing heart-stirring emotion and authentic historical color. Readers who enjoy slow-burn relationships, Celtic settings, and stories of healing—both physical and emotional—will find this installment deeply satisfying.

[Maggie Hesseling · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one. I'm a big Willingham fan, but this one is definately one of my favorites. I absolutely loved these characters and couldn't help but be sucked into their story as well as the trials they were facing. I'll definately be rereading this one again!

[Sbatdorf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

Wounded warrior finds his way back to life and love.

[Canan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahh benim garibim..Connor'a yer yer çok üzüldüm ama çokda değil :)
güzel bir hikaye daha..

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am loving this MacEgan series. Michelle Willingham is a favourite author of mine and I'm never disappointed by her stories.

[Rachel Graft · Rating 5 out of 5]

On to Book 4 of The MacEgan Series. Book 3 was great. This is a great series. Michelle Willingham is a great author.