Her Vengeful Scot

Highland Warrior Chronicles #2

by Christina Phillips

To avenge his sister’s honor, he must destroy the woman he wants most in the world…

Ordered to remain in Pictland, Cameron MacNeil fights the lust that consumes him whenever he encounters the aloof princess, Elise. Not only is she a cursed Pict, she belongs to the man he has vowed vengeance upon.

Despite her reputation, Elise has no interest in men until she meets Cameron. Lacking the famed Scots charm, his blunt ways enchant her and he ignites a passion she long thought dead. When she is freed from her difficult marriage, Elise places her trust in the tough Scot warrior who has stolen her heart.

Bound by blood oaths, the only way Cam can protect Elise from political schemes is to make her his bride. When Elise discovers the truth, she fears everything she knew about her husband was a lie. All she can do is trust her goddess was right and Cameron is her one true love.

Genres: Historical Romance

300 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 4, 2014

About the author

Christina grew up in England and spent her childhood visiting ruined castles and Roman remains and daydreaming about Medieval princesses and gallant knights. When she wasn’t lost in the past, she was searching for magical worlds in the backs of wardrobes and watching old Hammer Horrors from the safety of behind the sofa. She now lives in sunny Western Australia with her high school sweetheart and their two cats who are convinced the universe revolves around their needs. They are not wrong.

Reviews

[ᑭᑌᑎƳᗩ [Punya Reviews...] · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review contains spoilers and they're mostly my thoughts... for more, visit Punya Reviews...

I just finished book 2 of Christina Phillips’s fabulous The Highland Warrior Chronicles, Her Vengeful Scot. Have to admit I’m loving this series a LOT. This book also had its share of drama and intrigue, much like book 1. The stories are well-written and, as far as I could tell, well-researched too.

The Highland Warrior Chronicles is set during the time of Kenneth MacAlpin, arguably the first king of the Scots, around 843. He makes his appearance in both books, though less in book 2 than book 1. He wasn’t really someone I cared much about. You’ll find out the reasons in my review. He was also the king of now extinct Pictland. The author’s website has a short intro about the Picts and Pictland which I found fascinating.

Book 1, Her Savage Scot, takes place a few months prior to book 2. Connor and his men travelled to the Kingdom of Ce, a segment of the Pictland, with a proposal for the King of Ce from his own King Kenneth MacAlpin. Recently, MacAlpin , the King of Dal Riada has had this notion that he should be the reigning king of Pictland seeing his mother was a Princess. The Royal Lineage, in the case of the Picts, comes via the mother and not the father, so MacAlpin was determined to grab what he deemed was his. The kingdom of Ce, Circinn and the others were being ravaged by the Vikings. MacAlpin asks that the eldest Princess of Ce be married to one of his warriors with Royal blood, in this case Connor’s elder half-brother, Fergus. In return, he’s willing to be allied with the Picts and help them fight the Vikings. Quite a lucrative offer no doubt. Connor was tasked to make sure the elusive Princess and the King, with other nobles be brought back to Dal Riada to discuss everything. If all agrees, the marriage will take place posthaste.

Connor, a second son, knew he had no Royal blood but he wasn’t all that bothered even though Fergus was an all around a$$hole. He pitied the Princess for he knew Fergus will be a horrible husband but it’s the King’s wish. And Connor make sure MacAlpin gets what he wished for. However, fate had other plans when , unknowing to both, Aila, the Princess in question and Connor MacKenzie falls for each-other on spot. Even though physical attraction was what brought them together, they developed feelings for one another very soon. When Aila is announced as the eldest Princess, the King of Ce agrees to MacAlpin’s offer despite his, and everyone else’s, misgivings to strengthen his forces against the Vikings. Connor is now fated to watch the woman he loves marry his brother; a nightmare he never wanted to witness. Aila, though wanted Connor to help break this betrothal, finally decides to do her duty to her country despite the fact that she was numb with the possibility of losing Connor.

The next chapters were filed with much drama; intrigue and climax of murder and betrayal but also of love and hope, when fate brings Connor and Aila together unexpectedly once more. Even though they marry with MacAlpin’s blessings, they still had a long way to go. Mistrust and misunderstandings put their relationship in jeopardy more than once but in the end, love wins over. I really enjoyed book 1 and eagerly dove into book 2, Her Vengeful Scot.

Book 2 begins right after book 1 so I recommend that you read the series in order. Some incidents such as the political intrigue occurring in book 1 plays a big role in shaping of the story here. I never thought Cameron MacNeil, one of Connor’s best warriors, would get book 2. He didn’t have as much mention in there as another guy named Ewan. Elise, on the other hand, was quite an active secondary character. Cameron AKA Cam’s hatred for the Picts were so palpable that he wouldn’t sleep with any Pictish woman when his fellow warriors were doing so left and right. I was very interested to know the reason behind it and to find out how he got entangled with Elise, the last person it seemed he wanted anything to do with.

Cam accompanied Connor to serve MacAlpin, but he had an ulterior motive. He had vengeance in mind; the revenge for the brutal death of his young sister, years ago, at the hand of a Pict who ravaged his home, his sister and killed his father. Cam was barely 16 but already away training and doing what warriors-in-training do. The guilt of not being there for little Isla when she needed him the most had been eating away at Cam every since. This time, he’d found a way to investigate the person in concern, Ferelei mac Urguist. Cam will avenge his sister or he’ll die trying, doesn’t matter what befell him afterwards.

Elise, maternal cousin to Aila and the youngest Princess of Circinn, was married off to an older man thrice her age when she was barely 15yrs. old. It was a MOC and she had no say to her autocratic mother who had only one thing in mind; the monetary gains thru the marriage. So yep, they literally sold their youngest daughter. I’m sure Elise’s older sisters suffered the same fate but they’re not really mentioned much in the story. In fact, Elise’s whole family living in Circinn is there only by mention. Elise don’t visit them in the story, and I certainly understand if she won’t!

Elise was in Ce trying to forget Ferelei’s imminent return by flirting with the warriors around them. She hated to be a ‘wife’ to that POS, though she’d ceased to be one literally because Ferelei was unable to perform in bed anymore. Thank God for small blessings! Elise likes to flirt with the warriors but she never takes her flirtation to bedroom. Even though she wasn’t being true to her a$$hole of a husband, Elise had a reason for not wanting male touch. The reason behind it was the husband himself; that guy was gross, trust me. But Cameron MacNeil was proving to be a different, and difficult, case. That man seems to have all the dislike for her, or her people in general for she’d never seen him smile even once. He’s always glowering whenever she looked at him. And every time, it seemed like his intense gaze is upon her. What in the world...? Elise can’t even imagine what’s on his mind, though she finds her own attraction to him rather disturbing but not disgusting by any means! And that may pose to be a problem, Elise was already aware of it.

Elise was blonde and blue-eyed, very beautiful and Cam all dark haired-eyed tall, muscular warrior hot stuff. :P I couldn’t blame either of them feeling the sizzling attraction. Cam already knew Ferelei was Elise’s husband, while she had no idea of what Cam had planned to do. Though, after they are unofficially introduced and have a chat or two with each-other, Cam begins to waver from his determination. He found that Elise was as vulnerable as any woman he knew of, which appealed greatly to his protective instincts. Cam soon knew that trying to hate her would be pointless, because he liked her more. He knew she was flirtatious but also found out that she had never followed through to any of the assignations planned with his fellow warriors. So what was it? Was she in love with Ferelei, as gross as the thought was? Was she being faithful to him? After knowing her, and finding out her attraction to him, Cam is rather baffled. He knew he was going to kill Ferelei, though he felt really bad for her.

Fate, again, plays its hand when Ferelei returns suddenly. Both Cam and Elise’s life is changed forever after that. She was aghast to see her husband and wished him to go away forever. Cam wished that that bastard was dead. Together, it seemed that fate had decided to grant them their wish. Both are soon relieved of Ferelei’s presence.

Elise is SO stunned by the news of her widowhood that she couldn’t wrap her head around it at first. She had resigned herself to suffer through Ferelei’s presence and being bound to him, it seemed like, forever! Now all she can do is cry the tears of freedom and heave a sigh of relief! She had been having some premonitions and vague visions from Bride but she didn’t know it concerned her own future. As I mentioned before, women of Elise and Aila’s family were gifted that way, though the gift may skip a generation or two. Their grandmother has the same thing as her own grandmother. That’s how it’s been for generations. Elise treasured her gift, even though hers wasn’t as potent as Aila’s. She also felt that Cam would prove to be a valuable asset to her. Elise had a younger half-brother, a long buried secret of her father’s that was forbidden to talk about. Droston was captured by MacAlpin but he wasn’t any important noble. Elise loved him and wanted to free him if he was alive. She needed help and felt that Bride was guiding her towards Cam who was capable in every way possible. But Cam didn’t believe in her pagan beliefs so Elise keeps her plan to herself for the time being.

Elise and Cam begin their affair soon afterwards, not knowing how far they can go. It wasn’t just another lusty affair either. For Elise, she wanted Cam like no other man while, for Cam, he felt something so deep for her already that he couldn’t put a name on it. A warrior can’t think of love and Cam has never been in love. His life was no fairytale to begin with. Even before Isla’s horrific death, Cam’s own legacy was marred by his father’s brutality towards his own mother. He was the product of rape himself, though his father forced his mother to marry later. Twisted irony was, Cam’s mother was also the spoils of a raid, much like Isla, but being only 11 she didn’t live through the ordeal of a baby that followed. Cam hated his life, his home and buried everything in blood and war and in occasional women. Elise, a Princess and such a beautiful one at that, was someone Cam could only look at in awe and reverence. He didn’t understand her attraction to him cause he deemed himself rather uncouth, definitely not someone up-to-the-par of a Princess.

What no one knew was that Cam had noble blood in him. We find he’s a Prince much later in the story cause his mother was a Pictish Princess, even if from a lesser known family. But Cam never acknowledged his maternal side of the family, vehemently disliked them for they abandoned his mother to the brutality of his father and washed their hands off of her. Cam had no social grace for he had no interest in socializing. He was straightforward in his words, something that attracted Elise equally as much as his imposing physique. She knew he would never flatter her to get her to bed. If he wanted her, he’d tell her just that. And Cam made it no secret just how much he wanted Elise.

Upon MacAlpin’s summons, Cam journeys towards Dal Riada and Elise tags along. Connor and Aila were already married and expecting their first child. MacAlpin wanted that child to be born in safety, but Connor made it sure that Aila gets to visit her own family when she’s ready to give birth. Now that this was settled, MacAlpin had other plans churning in his mind. Elise’s own plan to follow Cam was not only to be close to him, but to secure Droston’s freedom, though she was yet to confide in him. On the other hand, Cam was worried about his King’s plans seeing what happened to Aila’s family and those Pictish nobles. His premonition comes true when MacAlpin orders Elise to be married ASAP. He needed one more Princess under his belt (though not the way you think, thank God!). Fortunately, Cam’s own Royal lineage comes into play here. The one he’s hated to acknowledge saves Elise from being married off to some other warrior of MacAlpin’s choosing. Cam receives order to convince Elise and marry her ASAP.

It was the stuff made of Cam’s most forbidden dreams. He had dreamed of proposing to her, make her his own but was never sure if she’d be interested in him beyond an affair. What he didn’t even imagine that Elise was already halfway in love with him, so she surprises the hell outta him by accepting his proposal on spot with much enthusiasm. :D It seemed fate smiled upon them once more.

Cam and Elise’s marriage took place soon. From there, they journey towards Dunmar, even though Cam never wanted to set foot in that place again. Elise was already surprised to know that Cam was a Prince, now she was more than excited to see his home. I mentioned Isla a bit more than I wanted to because in Dunmar, is where one of the most beautiful and heart-wrenching scenes take place. And it was in Isla’s room. Elise already sensed a presence in the house, maybe more than one and she knew it was not Cam’s a$$hole of a father cause the presence wasn’t dark in anyway. One turned out to be his mother and it leads to a great, big discovery that helps Cam accept his heritage as a Pictish Prince. But the scene I’m taking about comes when Elise discovers Isla’s locked up and long abandoned room and something beckons her inside. She feels Isla’s calming presence all over, trapped because she couldn’t move on. :( Because she was aware that her brother was hurting for her. When Cam comes into the room too, Isla makes her presence known by becoming an iridescent aura of rainbow around him, her way of showering him with her love. That scene fairly took my breath away, and I begin tearing up with Elise. Cam later witnesses the aura as well, finally believing in Elise’s words when she said he must forgive himself to help her move on. So Cam’s whole trip to Dunmar wasn’t as bad as he’d initially thought it would be. Old wounds began healing. Alongside Elise, both incidents work as a balm to his soul. He has never been as happy as he was now. At long last, Dunmar begins feeling like home.

But even basking in such marital bliss, both Elise and Cam had their vulnerabilities. Cam’s was worse because he still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that Elise has chosen him. And because MacAlpin played part in it, he was scared of losing her. Cam knew Elise would be disgusted by any notion that suggested he married her on order, and not because he was mad about her. The later was obviously the main reason, however the way Cam keep pushing off telling Elise the truth, I just knew another big misunderstanding was on the horizon. -_- Elise also never told Cam her true relationship with Droston, even though she told him that she wants him freed. She was under blood oath, but hello, when it’s ripping apart your happy marriage with the man you love, will you still continue to keep your so-called blood oath? That’s stupid! Cam was pretty sure Droston was her lover, and she preferred that guy over him (*SMH*) which is why she accompanied him from Ce. Lord help me! *sigh* I mentioned in my review of book 1 that the author overused the trope of misunderstanding there, which was the only thing that vexed me throughout. In here, she didn’t overuse it but it wasn’t any less vexing to know how wrong they were about each-other. >.<

So there it was, the crux of their unhappiness that sprouted its head later in the story. I had wished that they talked and avoided the heartache but that was not to be. BUT, once again, the author manages to neatly tie up all the loose ends and gifts us with a really beautiful epilogue. Believe me, you’d love LOVE Cam because he was one of a kind; an honest man to boots who had simply endured too many heartaches of his own and deserved his HEA. Elise was a great heroine as well and complemented Cam for she believed in him, even through the heartaches. She helped him overcome his sad past and made him happy, which sure made me happy for them both!

I don’t know if there’ll be a third installment or not (I was unable to find any hint in the story or any announcement for that matter :( ) but I really hope the author doesn’t finish the series here. There are plenty more secondary characters IMO who deserve to have their own books. With that note, I’ll end my review with a rating of 4.25 stars. Recommended if you’re looking for a steamy, well-written medieval romance.

[Amanda Ashby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm such a fan of Christina Phillip's wild and steamy Highland books. Her men are tough and wild and her heroines are feisty and passionate. I can't wait for book three...

[Cherie S · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Pict Princess, An Angry Warrior, An Evil King:
This is a deeply emotional and intense love story between Elise a Pict princess and Cameron a Scottish warrior who has great difficulty voicing his feelings. There's also a bit of mystic powers from the Pict's Goddess which enhances this deeply moving love story.
The authors intricate writing of details had me so absorbed in the scenes I felt like I was right there while the characters go through so many different emotions. Many times, my heart was pounding from their undeniable attraction and intimate love scenes, several extremely intense moments where I was at the edge of my seat.
I can't say enough about this book along with Book 1 Her Rebel Scot
This book can be a stand-alone story, but it will only make this story better if you read them all in order.
Mature Reader Advisory:
Descriptive Intimacy:
High Heat Level: 5 out of 5

[Sally Rigby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book in the series and, once again, the author gives us a compelling love story against a back drop of wars in early Scotland. Thoroughly recommended.

[Tina Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magical and Mesmerising!

Christina Phillips once again combines the bloodshed, brutality and political intrigue of ninth century Scotland with lush sensuality and eroticism. This read also contains some of my favourite themes in romance – enemies to lovers and revenge!

In Her Vengeful Scot, book #2 in the Highland Warrior Chronicles, Scots warrior Cameron MacNeil fights a losing battle with the attraction he feels for the Pictish Princess Elise. Although Cameron despises the Picts, he finds it impossible not to fall for Elise, who surprises him at every turn. Despite his oath to those he serves, not to shed Pictish blood, he is determined to avenge the death of his sister, a death brought about by none other than Elise’s own husband. Fate quickly hands him the opportunity for vengeance and Elise finds herself a widow.

Yet a widowed Pictish princess is vulnerable to the political machinations of the Scottish king, to whom Cam owes fealty. He is compelled to marry her, the woman who he cares for deeply, but who is ignorant of his sins against her. How will Elise react when she realises his duplicity and that he is not the honourable man she unwittingly believes him to be?

Christina Phillips’ heroes and heroines are all so different but they are all credible, complex and sympathetic individuals and in the case of the heroes drop dead gorgeous! The author’s way of writing is truly sublime and once again I experienced all the emotions, the hopes and fears and yes the desire, lust and love the hero and heroine have for one another!

I ADORE the man that is Cameron MacNeil. The death of his sister many years ago at the hands of Elise’s husband has rendered him bitter and taciturn, one whose gruff demeanour often causes offence, as does his plain speaking. Despite his hatred for the Picts, I loved how against his better intentions he fell for Elise and throughout the tale his affection, love and concern for her motivated his actions. Elise is both a strong and a vulnerable heroine. Her first marriage was far from a love match and until Cameron she has sought the attentions of no man, merely indulging in a little harmless courtly flirtation.

When her goddess Bride singles Cameron out to her she places her trust in him, a man who has also stolen her heart. After the demise of her husband she consents to his marriage proposal, whilst concealing her own secrets. Yet Elise senses that all is not well and much will be revealed before this couple have a chance of their HEA.

There is a lot of sexual tension and passion between the main couple in this novel and as you would expect from an erotic read some sumptuous and sizzling love making scenes. These scenes are truly beautiful, sensual and erotic and effortlessly portray the characters’ emotions with not only their words but also every glance, touch and breath they take.

As with Her Savage Scot #1 in the series, I loved how the book contains a mystical element, through the connection Elise has to her goddess Bride and the old religion, where women played an important role, at a time when Christianity was on the ascendant. I am looking forward to the next book in this series, Her Defiant Scot, where another unsuspecting Scots warrior is fated to fall in love with a Pictish princess determined to save their beloved land from the savage invaders.

I strongly recommend this book to readers who like their historical romances to sizzle with erotic love making scenes, alpha males, strong heroines and have a page turning plot and romance!

A copy of this novel was given to me by the author for the purpose of a fair and honest review.

[Jonel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is emotional and heartfelt. Phillips invites you in to the world of long-ago and masterfully tells a gripping tale of love, loss, and forever. The eloquence of her descriptions provides a fascinating look at life in the Pictish cort. There is a mysticism that pervades the story as a whole, enchanting you. Phillips combines all of this in an intriguing package, telling a story that stands for all times.

Watching Cam getting knocked from his ‘holier than thou’ perch into the realm of reality was priceless. And my heart definitely went out to Elise. Getting to know these two characters so intimately, after having known them only on the surface in the first novel of the series was amazing. Phillips digs right down to the core of who they are and what makes them tick. I enjoyed understanding what makes them tick and where their public facades come from. They were both a case of ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’. These characters really made the story for me.

Phillips’ evocative writing style will draw you back in time and take you on the ride of a lifetime. I would definitely recommend it to romance enthusiasts.

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down!! A must read!!!