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Murray Family #3
Highland Promise
"New York Times" bestselling author Hannah Howell revisits the 15th century Scottish Highlands, where an embattled knight meets his fate in a young beauty fleeing for her life...
Eric Murray was the youngest of his brothers, determined to gain his rightful inheritance after thirteen years of bitter dispute with his father's family. Starting out alone to confront his tight-fisted kinsmen, he encountered a chestnut-haired beauty set upon by thieves. When she begged for Eric's protection for herself and her infant nephew, Eric promised to deliver them to safety.
Bethia Drummond's only hope for escaping her ruthless kin, who planned to kill her and her orphaned nephew, and claim their inheritance, was Eric Murray. Then Bethia learned that Eric, too, was seeking land and coin from his own people-her family's closest allies. How could she love a man she might one day be forced to stand against? And yet she could not ignore what her troubled heart knew-that this proud knight had more than inspired her deepest passions...he had become her very destiny...
347 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1999
366 people are currently reading
1612 people want to read
About the author
Hannah Howell
116 books2,643 followersHannah Dustin Howell is a best-selling American author of over 40 historical romance novels. Many of her novels are set in medieval Scotland. She also writes under the names Sarah Dustin, Sandra Dustin, and Anna Jennet (see below).
She has also used the following pseudonyms:
Anna Jennet, Sarah Dustin and Sandra Dustin
She has also used the following pseudonyms:
Anna Jennet, Sarah Dustin and Sandra Dustin
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 113 reviews
April 28, 2018
Bethia and Eric
Bethia Drummond is escaping Dunncraig keep with her infant nephew, James. She is spiriting him away to her parents's keep. While taking a break and tending to James, they are set upon by thieves. Eric Murray rides across the scene and offers his aid. The thieves dispatched, Bethia sees her only recourse to getting home safely with her nephew is to enlist Eric's help. They set off for Bethia's home, Dunnbea, together.
William Drummond has spent too much time and energy on getting Dunncraig for his own. He will kill (not the first time he's done it) to obtain what he feels is his. What's standing in his way is one small woman and a baby. They must be eliminated to secure his claim.
Bethia is convinced that if she and James are behind the Dunnbea's walls, then William Drummond will not be able to kill them. She knows he poisoned her sister, Sorcha, and the Laird of Dunncraig. She doesn't have proof but she knows William did. He must pay with his life for the murders.
Eric is on his way to his mother's clan when he rescues Bethia and James. After thirteen years of diplomacy and petitions, Eric will try to enlisted his mother's clan, the MacMillans, to aid him in his rightful claim to Dubhlinn Keep as the true laird. Sir Graham Beaton will fight to the death to hold on to Dubhlinn, and that means battling Eric Murray.
Eric is falling in love with Bethia. Bethia is falling in love with Eric. When they are caught in a compromising situation by Bethia's brother and friends, they are forced to marry. Bethia feels Eric was forced to marry her. Eric wants his wife's affections. Neither wants to be the first to say "I love you."
Highland Promise is the third book in the Murray Brothers series. It is the first novel in the series I have read. It can standalone, but I feel reading the first two books would have added dimension to the many characters. Eric and Bethia are well rounded characters and do carry the novel quite well. The plot is wrapped up nicely. I wish the "I-love-you-but-won't-make-myself-vulnerable" plot had not carried on for as long as it did. I feel the William and the Sir Graham Beaton subplots were well executed. The description is good. The setting changes many times, but each setting is anchored by Bethia and Eric. This novel is well written and a joy to read.
Bethia Drummond is escaping Dunncraig keep with her infant nephew, James. She is spiriting him away to her parents's keep. While taking a break and tending to James, they are set upon by thieves. Eric Murray rides across the scene and offers his aid. The thieves dispatched, Bethia sees her only recourse to getting home safely with her nephew is to enlist Eric's help. They set off for Bethia's home, Dunnbea, together.
William Drummond has spent too much time and energy on getting Dunncraig for his own. He will kill (not the first time he's done it) to obtain what he feels is his. What's standing in his way is one small woman and a baby. They must be eliminated to secure his claim.
Bethia is convinced that if she and James are behind the Dunnbea's walls, then William Drummond will not be able to kill them. She knows he poisoned her sister, Sorcha, and the Laird of Dunncraig. She doesn't have proof but she knows William did. He must pay with his life for the murders.
Eric is on his way to his mother's clan when he rescues Bethia and James. After thirteen years of diplomacy and petitions, Eric will try to enlisted his mother's clan, the MacMillans, to aid him in his rightful claim to Dubhlinn Keep as the true laird. Sir Graham Beaton will fight to the death to hold on to Dubhlinn, and that means battling Eric Murray.
Eric is falling in love with Bethia. Bethia is falling in love with Eric. When they are caught in a compromising situation by Bethia's brother and friends, they are forced to marry. Bethia feels Eric was forced to marry her. Eric wants his wife's affections. Neither wants to be the first to say "I love you."
Highland Promise is the third book in the Murray Brothers series. It is the first novel in the series I have read. It can standalone, but I feel reading the first two books would have added dimension to the many characters. Eric and Bethia are well rounded characters and do carry the novel quite well. The plot is wrapped up nicely. I wish the "I-love-you-but-won't-make-myself-vulnerable" plot had not carried on for as long as it did. I feel the William and the Sir Graham Beaton subplots were well executed. The description is good. The setting changes many times, but each setting is anchored by Bethia and Eric. This novel is well written and a joy to read.
June 12, 2023
Enjoyable Scottish clan read.
Eric want his land, which was stolen by a uncle. Bethia is trying to save her baby nephews life , from a man who has killed his parents and grandmother for their land. They meet while travelling. He save her from thieves and then he protects her and her nephew.
Eric want his land, which was stolen by a uncle. Bethia is trying to save her baby nephews life , from a man who has killed his parents and grandmother for their land. They meet while travelling. He save her from thieves and then he protects her and her nephew.
June 6, 2018
I read all of Ms Howell's books Back to Back to Back.. while this is a fun series I seriously do not recommend anyone doing so. The plots tend to be repetitious and run together. If you want to enjoy the Murray Clan, take your time.. there is much to enjoy just one at a time.
October 5, 2018
This was a decent book, not great, but not bad either. The hero and heroine were both likeable characters and there was a decent amount of action to drive the plot, but it all felt a bit too superficial. Like we didn’t really get into the psyches of the two MCs. The book also got a bit tedious and repetitious towards the end and the resolution to one of the threats was pretty anticlimactic.
All in all this was just an okay story. Bethia’s self-esteem hangups were tough to take after a while. I didn’t get her righteous indignation over the “fighting for land” business. And the ending was kind of weak since I also thought it was a bit far fetched that the baby James was so completely perfect all the time. He never cried or fussed or was anything but adorable even once during the whole book.
Altogether not a bad book but not a great one either.
All in all this was just an okay story. Bethia’s self-esteem hangups were tough to take after a while. I didn’t get her righteous indignation over the “fighting for land” business. And the ending was kind of weak since I also thought it was a bit far fetched that the baby James was so completely perfect all the time. He never cried or fussed or was anything but adorable even once during the whole book.
Altogether not a bad book but not a great one either.
July 2, 2021
Ерик Мъри и Бетия Дръмънд
Лейди Бетия Дръмънд е в беда. Извикана на помощ от своята сестра близначка, щом се отзовава в дома й, Бетия открива, че сестра й и съпругът й са мъртви, а до клана се опитва да се домогне роднина, за който Бетия е убедена, че е убиеца и на пътят му към леърдския стол и земите седи единствено Джеймс, малкия племенник на Бетия. Взимайки бебето със себе си, Бетия бяга от дома на мъртвата си сестра с надеждата да успее да се добере до собствения си дом, където да потърси закрилата на семейството си.
Ерик израства в клана Мъри и се смята за един от тях, докато на 13 годишна възраст не научава истината. Родният му баща, Битън, леърд на Дъблин, е вярвал, че Ерик не е негов син, и че е роден прелюбодейският съюз на съпругата му с леърда на клана Мъри. Оставяйки детето да умре, Ерик е спасен от клана Мъри. След години обаче, когато Ерик е на 13 той бива отвлечен от Битън, който макар да не вярва, че му е син го обявява за свой наследник. Благодарение на полу-сестрата си Малди, Ерик научава, че той наистина е син на Битън и единственият законен наследник на Дъблин. (това се случва в книгата
Сега, вече силен и влиятелен рицар, Ерик е готов да се бори за рожденото си право. След като писмата, които е праща към краля и роднините си, не са довели до никакъв успех, той решава да замине и лично да се срещне със семейството на майка си, за да разбере, дали ще го признаят за наследник на Дъблин. По пътят се натъква на разбойници, които смятат да наранят младо момиче защитаващо само с един нож себе си и едногодишният си племенник.
Съгласявайки се да отведе Бетия до дома й, Ерик все повече се убеждава, че иска да преласти младата дама и е решен дори да я направи своя съпруга. Затова няма никакъв проблем с факта, че с Бетия са уловени в компрометираща ситуация и биват принудени да се венчаят. Сега само трябва да убеди младата си съпруга, че от самото начало е искал да се ожени за нея. А проблемите им не се свършват с това. Ерик трябва да се срещне с роднините си, за да разбере дали ще го подкрепят. Трябва да замине за двора, който е гнездо на пепелянки, за да изиска кралят да го обяви за лигитимният наследник и леърд на Дъблин, трябва да опази Бетия от опасностите, които я дебнат и същевременно да я отдалечи от дома й, където собствените й родители се отнасят с нея по най-ужасен начин.
Книжката беше страхотна. Ерик, който вече познаваме добре, беше сладък и грижовен герой. Бетия беше изстрадала толкова много, живеейки в сянката на красивата си близначка, и неглижирана и обиждана от родителите си, които гледат на нея като на слугиня, която да върши всичко вместо тях. Сега срещайки доброта, разбиране и подкрепа в лицето на Ерик не бе изненадващо, че само след няколко дни в компанията му тя беше лудо влюбена в него. Не ми допадна факта, че за да не обидят някакви си там мърли, Ерик се оставяше да му се качват на главата, а Бетия стоеше настрани и се измъчваше, гледайки как бившите любовници на съпруга й се опитват да се домогнат до вниманието му. Иначе приключенията, екшъна и любовта бяха на ниво. Бах убедена, че ще обикна книгата на Ерик и Бетия и така и се случи. Факта, че видяхме отново Балфор и Малди, както и Найджъл и Жизел е допълнителен бонус към интересната история. 5 звезди на Хана <3
Лейди Бетия Дръмънд е в беда. Извикана на помощ от своята сестра близначка, щом се отзовава в дома й, Бетия открива, че сестра й и съпругът й са мъртви, а до клана се опитва да се домогне роднина, за който Бетия е убедена, че е убиеца и на пътят му към леърдския стол и земите седи единствено Джеймс, малкия племенник на Бетия. Взимайки бебето със себе си, Бетия бяга от дома на мъртвата си сестра с надеждата да успее да се добере до собствения си дом, където да потърси закрилата на семейството си.
Ерик израства в клана Мъри и се смята за един от тях, докато на 13 годишна възраст не научава истината. Родният му баща, Битън, леърд на Дъблин, е вярвал, че Ерик не е негов син, и че е роден прелюбодейският съюз на съпругата му с леърда на клана Мъри. Оставяйки детето да умре, Ерик е спасен от клана Мъри. След години обаче, когато Ерик е на 13 той бива отвлечен от Битън, който макар да не вярва, че му е син го обявява за свой наследник. Благодарение на полу-сестрата си Малди, Ерик научава, че той наистина е син на Битън и единственият законен наследник на Дъблин. (това се случва в книгата
Сега, вече силен и влиятелен рицар, Ерик е готов да се бори за рожденото си право. След като писмата, които е праща към краля и роднините си, не са довели до никакъв успех, той решава да замине и лично да се срещне със семейството на майка си, за да разбере, дали ще го признаят за наследник на Дъблин. По пътят се натъква на разбойници, които смятат да наранят младо момиче защитаващо само с един нож себе си и едногодишният си племенник.Съгласявайки се да отведе Бетия до дома й, Ерик все повече се убеждава, че иска да преласти младата дама и е решен дори да я направи своя съпруга. Затова няма никакъв проблем с факта, че с Бетия са уловени в компрометираща ситуация и биват принудени да се венчаят. Сега само трябва да убеди младата си съпруга, че от самото начало е искал да се ожени за нея. А проблемите им не се свършват с това. Ерик трябва да се срещне с роднините си, за да разбере дали ще го подкрепят. Трябва да замине за двора, който е гнездо на пепелянки, за да изиска кралят да го обяви за лигитимният наследник и леърд на Дъблин, трябва да опази Бетия от опасностите, които я дебнат и същевременно да я отдалечи от дома й, където собствените й родители се отнасят с нея по най-ужасен начин.
Книжката беше страхотна. Ерик, който вече познаваме добре, беше сладък и грижовен герой. Бетия беше изстрадала толкова много, живеейки в сянката на красивата си близначка, и неглижирана и обиждана от родителите си, които гледат на нея като на слугиня, която да върши всичко вместо тях. Сега срещайки доброта, разбиране и подкрепа в лицето на Ерик не бе изненадващо, че само след няколко дни в компанията му тя беше лудо влюбена в него. Не ми допадна факта, че за да не обидят някакви си там мърли, Ерик се оставяше да му се качват на главата, а Бетия стоеше настрани и се измъчваше, гледайки как бившите любовници на съпруга й се опитват да се домогнат до вниманието му. Иначе приключенията, екшъна и любовта бяха на ниво. Бах убедена, че ще обикна книгата на Ерик и Бетия и така и се случи. Факта, че видяхме отново Балфор и Малди, както и Найджъл и Жизел е допълнителен бонус към интересната история. 5 звезди на Хана <3
May 5, 2011
Bethia Drummond is taking her dead sister’s baby and running from her kinfolk. They are evil and bent on power and destruction, and she knows she has to save her sister’s baby from growing up in that atmosphere. In the woods, she is about to be robbed when she meets Eric Murray, who saves her and the babe from the robbers. As he delivers them to safety, he also steals her heart. Bethia finds that Eric is trying to find his people, who are enemies of the clan Bethia is from. How can she be with a man who she might have to stand against one day? What will she choose: love or clan loyalty?
Highland Promise by Hannah Howell is the third book in The Murrays series. I found that parts of this book keep it from being a standalone story. There is a lot of reference to people from previous books in the first couple of chapters. However, it did not detract from my enjoyment of this particular book.
Bethia is a very strong woman. She is also a very good-hearted soul. She knows her clan is not headed in the right direction so she flees with her infant nephew. I found her courage to be really amazing for the time period and circumstances she is in fleeing alone and with no man to help her with an infant. But lucky for her she is not alone for too long.
Eric wants to be his own person. He wants to know where he came from yet make his own way, earning coin and buying his own land on his terms. In search of his mother’s people, he runs into Bethia, who quickly discovers that he is kind, sweet, and loyal, not to mention handsome and brave. I really liked his strength of character and his kind heart; it made me fall in love with him, right along with Bethia.
Overall, I really enjoyed Highland Promise. It flows beautifully, the action adventure and romance blending perfectly. This book will not disappoint a reader who loves a good Scot’s hero. I recommend it.
Highland Promise by Hannah Howell is the third book in The Murrays series. I found that parts of this book keep it from being a standalone story. There is a lot of reference to people from previous books in the first couple of chapters. However, it did not detract from my enjoyment of this particular book.
Bethia is a very strong woman. She is also a very good-hearted soul. She knows her clan is not headed in the right direction so she flees with her infant nephew. I found her courage to be really amazing for the time period and circumstances she is in fleeing alone and with no man to help her with an infant. But lucky for her she is not alone for too long.
Eric wants to be his own person. He wants to know where he came from yet make his own way, earning coin and buying his own land on his terms. In search of his mother’s people, he runs into Bethia, who quickly discovers that he is kind, sweet, and loyal, not to mention handsome and brave. I really liked his strength of character and his kind heart; it made me fall in love with him, right along with Bethia.
Overall, I really enjoyed Highland Promise. It flows beautifully, the action adventure and romance blending perfectly. This book will not disappoint a reader who loves a good Scot’s hero. I recommend it.
April 11, 2013
I liked the story but the whole "I love him/her but I can't tell them because I don't' want to possibly be rejected even though he/she has boinked me into oblivion and acts as if they care" scenarios. I know that's the general personal conflict between the men and women in this highland historicals so Before I get too fed up I'm going to take a break and find me a few vampires to cleanse my reading pallet.
Story - 3
Narrator - 3
Story - 3
Narrator - 3
October 27, 2018
4 stars.
This is the story of the youngest Murray brothers, Eric, who is actually not a blood sibling (we learned of this in the first book Highland Destiny).
After years of trying to petition his King for his rightful inheritance, Eric decided to make a more personal approach to his lands. On the way, he foiled a murder attempt of our heroine Bethia and her nephew and together, they set upon a journey to recover his inheritance and revenge her sister's murder.
There are so many enemies for both Eric and Bethia to keep track of, but I did think the tangent with the one after Bethia did drag on for a bit too much. However, it's still a very enjoyable HR. I'm curious about the next books though, now that the three Murray brothers have had their stories.
This is the story of the youngest Murray brothers, Eric, who is actually not a blood sibling (we learned of this in the first book Highland Destiny).
After years of trying to petition his King for his rightful inheritance, Eric decided to make a more personal approach to his lands. On the way, he foiled a murder attempt of our heroine Bethia and her nephew and together, they set upon a journey to recover his inheritance and revenge her sister's murder.
There are so many enemies for both Eric and Bethia to keep track of, but I did think the tangent with the one after Bethia did drag on for a bit too much. However, it's still a very enjoyable HR. I'm curious about the next books though, now that the three Murray brothers have had their stories.
August 23, 2013
"Noisy, hairy things though men be, they can be verra fine to curl up with." loc.3040
Author: Hannah Howell
First published: 1999
Length: 4582 locations
Setting: Scotland, 1444. Scottish Highlands and Scottish Court.
Sex: frequent but not always explicit. She is pregnant for part of the story.
Heroine: Ignored and criticised by her parents since birth, Bethia struggles with the toll emotional abuse has taken on her.
Series: Book 3 of the Howell's Highland series. Picks up 7 years after Book 2.
An easy to read Medieval which hits all the right notes for pleasant characters whom we know will achieve HEA, and we are happy for them. A little Insta-Love and a need for The Talk but it works for their circumstance and backgrounds.
I liked it.
Murray Family:
Three brothers – the patriarchs of the Murray Family
Book 1 Highland Promise - Lord Balfour Murray, laird of Donncoill and Maldie Kirkcaldy
Book 2 Highland Honor - Nigel Murray and Gisele Deveau
Book 3 Highland Destiny - Eric Murray and Bethia Drummond
References:
Author's website: http://hannahhowell.com/
(ISBN 9780759287785)
-CR-
Author: Hannah Howell
First published: 1999
Length: 4582 locations
Setting: Scotland, 1444. Scottish Highlands and Scottish Court.
Sex: frequent but not always explicit. She is pregnant for part of the story.
Heroine: Ignored and criticised by her parents since birth, Bethia struggles with the toll emotional abuse has taken on her.
Series: Book 3 of the Howell's Highland series. Picks up 7 years after Book 2.
An easy to read Medieval which hits all the right notes for pleasant characters whom we know will achieve HEA, and we are happy for them. A little Insta-Love and a need for The Talk but it works for their circumstance and backgrounds.
I liked it.
Murray Family:
Three brothers – the patriarchs of the Murray Family
Book 1 Highland Promise - Lord Balfour Murray, laird of Donncoill and Maldie Kirkcaldy
Book 2 Highland Honor - Nigel Murray and Gisele Deveau
Book 3 Highland Destiny - Eric Murray and Bethia Drummond
References:
Author's website: http://hannahhowell.com/
(ISBN 9780759287785)
-CR-
September 26, 2020
3.75 stars for this audiobook. Good story. Liked the characters. But didn’t blow me away. Enjoyable though.
June 8, 2024
What the hell was the 'promise' in Highland Promise? I promise YOU, you will be left bewildered by the character dynamics of this couple.
I liked the plot and pace of the book in some areas, but like the first two books, the storyline is decent, the romantic plotline was fumbled. There was a lot of action; fighting over titles, inheritances, castles, revenge, bastard children, travel, etc. But believe me, there were some WEIRD decisions in this book, first of which, and kind of trivial, we have ANOTHER side-character named Grizel, and she has a bunch of dialogue too! I know that people back then had a lot of similar names, but WHY would you use the same name like that when you had an EVIL Grizel in the first book! I just want to know why, lol!
This storyline is a ghost of Book 2, Highland Honor, in a lot of ways. We have the female lead being pursued across the countryside by people who want to murder her, and she meets up with male lead, Eric Murray, who is escorting her for her protection. This time we add the fact that they're transporting a baby, and instead of the trauma of being a battered wife, this time the female lead, Bethia, is the family scapegoat, and has an inferiority complex.
From the very beginning, the premise didn't make a lot of sense to me. In Book 2, it's made very clear why people are pursuing Giselle -- they are trying to avenge the murder of her husband, but she's innocent, etc. In this book, I never felt it was concretely explained why there are people chasing Bethia, and at a certain point the book seems to throw its hands up and go... I dunno! William's just a crAzY guY! He's doing random shit because he's insane!
Quick backstory, Bethia had a twin sister named Sorcha who married this guy Robert, and they were rich. They had a baby boy, James. Sorcha and Robert are both hot, but they're also both really stupid, and they both get assassinated by poison, meaning baby James is now apparently the only surviving family member left to inherit Robert's keep and wealth. Bethia takes baby James, her nephew, and runs, trying to make it back to her parents keep, Dunnbea, with him, because there are extended relatives of Robert who want to kill James and take his stuff. This is apparently Robert's uncle by marriage: William Drummond and his psycho sons Ian and Angus. These guys chase Bethia down throughout the book, even after it no longer makes sense to do so, even though they only have a tenuous relationship to Robert in the first place and wouldn't be the inheritors even if James was dead. The sons get killed at some point, but the father continues to pursue Bethia even after they're named traitors by the king and can't go through with their stealing scheme anymore. I still don't understand why they're targeting BETHIA though. It makes no sense to kill her, her parents are still alive, wouldn't James' wealth revert to them as his grandparents? Why not go after THEM to steal the stuff? I don't know, I think Hannah Howell just wanted to rehash the running and hiding from a vengeful family while having sex in the woods thing from Highland Honor.
So we get a date here in the first chapter, we're told it's 1444, which is interesting because naming a concrete date gives us some more clues as to what's happening here. 1444 would place this book during the Stuart Dynasty, and that means the king mentioned in this book must be James II of Scotland, the king with a very distinctive birthmark on his face who died in an exploding cannon accident. But bro was only born in 1430, meaning that during the book, he'd be 14 years old. Interestingly, he became king at like 6 years old because his father was assassinated, which honestly could've worked with the storyline of this book! But the author clearly is describing an older man as the nameless king. This oversight seems really strange considering it's very apparent Hannah Howell did research in other areas. The naming tradition of Scottish castles/keeps, she added descriptions of the Normans fighting the English, she researched the names for clothing items from the era, etc, but just inserted a random king then decided to give us a specific year this took place. It just reveals a lot about how she went about writing these books. She's written about 100 books set in Scotland but very little of it is based in reality or references real historical figures of the time. It's a little disappointing. This is a fantasy version of medeival Scotland in which shirtless men ride around on horseback in kilts, and is in no way a depiction of a real place or time period that actually existed. Which is okay, that's a fun idea! It just makes me wonder why we were told the specific year, 1444. What was the purpose of that. Maybe I'm thinking about it too hard and it's not that serious.
All right, character analysis! Bethia is our lead in this book and our first description of her is that she's tiny. All of the heroines so far in this series are described as absolutely miniscule, and I guess to keep upping the ante, this time Bethia is so small that she's even smaller than Giselle and Maldie! She's literally described as 'child-like', which makes everything about her relationship with Eric so much creepier. Her face is also described with almost word-for-word the same descriptions as Maldie and Giselle were. She just has a different hair color. Oh, and she has heterochromia for no apparent reason other than to make up an excuse as to why this girl who was just described as beautiful, is apparently the ugliest little troll ever to live, because her eye colors don't match. I hate when authors do this, give their character a flaw that in no way detracts from their physical beauty, but makes everyone in the story act like it's disfiguringly ugly. Anyway, personality-wise, Bethia is a dutiful daughter, a tomboy, and the family scapegoat.
Lets go into that for a moment. A major aspect of this book is family tension, and Bethia's bad relationship with her parents. Bethia had a twin sister, Sorcha, who was the golden child of the family. We hear so much about how Sorcha was the pretty one, loved by everyone, got all the attention, and the family put all of the money into Sorcha's dowry because they thought she would be the one to make a good marriage, and just wanted to keep Bethia as a slave, basically, because she's a dutiful daughter. Which was strange because they also didn't seem to want her around and completely neglected her through childhood. She's a tomboy! She's mouthy, supposedly, but we never see that. She got to play with the boys, so she has a cool knife that she's no good at using, and we never see any evidence of wilderness skills or knowledge of the outdoors! I also don't see why her parents wanted to keep her there as a servant, because there were actual maids within the keep. Anyway, it's not explained. Her parents hate her and there's no reason for it other than to make us feel bad for her.
Now we have Eric. I'm hesitant, because I liked Eric in the first two books. He's described as a sweet boy to no end. This is apparently happening 13 years after the events in Highland Destiny, in which Eric got kidnapped by his dad and the Murrays saved him. Eric was 13 in that book, so he's now 26, and is trying to go back and claim his inheritance, because obviously Beaton is dead now and had no other son. The keep has been held by a pretender since them, and he wants to boot him out and take what's his. He comes across Bethia in the woods with the baby, and I'll just say it. Eric is a pig. He's a horndog and he's obsessed with the idea of 'possessing' Bethia and owning her as if she's an object. "You're mine, say it," and all that other bullshit we thought was cute in middle school.
During the couple's very first meeting, after hearing Bethia's story, Eric decides he's going to seduce this girl -- and if she gives in, THEN he'll marry her! Why not just propose marriage NOW then, you dog? He puts her up on his horse and tells her he's going to help her get to her parents keep, and he theN LEANS IN AND SNIFFS HER HAIR -- and when Bethia goes, 'what... what are you doing,' he goes, 'Smelling your hair --!' What on earth?! Holy shit Bethia, I don't know why after this strange man in the woods who literally smelled your hair and then told you to your face that his intention is to seduce you-- why on earth did she not run away from the camp with the baby at night and continue on alone. Any woman would be anticipating a rape after all that strange behavior, and would be trying to get away from this threatening man as soon as possible -- but instead, Bethia is like oh, tee-hee //blush//, I hope I'm strong enough to resist him! WHAT. These books really cheapen love, by the way. Bethia is 'in love' with Eric after two days and then sleeps with him. If a person is in love after literally knowing him for two days, how much can that 'love' possibly mean. It's honestly insulting. Build up some romantic tension for godsake. Make us believe in the relationship!
That's one thing I hate about these books. They hit you over the head with reminding you about how a woman's virginity/reputation is everything back in medeival times, and yet all the heroines so far, all of them well-born women, give in to sex outside of marriage like its nothing. Religion was on people's minds all the time, it was part of every aspect of their lives, and yet-- there's almost no mention of sin or guilt. I find it hard to swallow that Bethia had sex with a man she met days prior because Eric was just SOOO irresistible when it's extremely well known that women were expected to be chaste until marriage. The stakes for sex are so low in these books, but saying 'i love you?' The stakes are HIGH.
One of our side-plots is that neither of them can tell the other 'I love you.' The men in these books are obsessed with 'showing their love' without actually telling the girl, I love you. Instead he'll substitute, 'You are mine,' or have sex with her some more. Or excuse me, 'the passion they share.' I swear to god if she uses that phrase one more time, I'll just die. Anyway, men in these books do not experience love. They experience possession and lust. Here's a tidbit of Eric's thought process that he shares out loud with another guy: "When she became my lover, she sealed her fate. She just doesn't know it yet, she is mine.' Then is like, buT iM nOt sUrE whAt i fEel aBoUt hEr!! and doesn't know if he loves her. It's very telling that he can easily admit that he wants possession of her, but can't say that he loves her. It's ridiculous.
Then we get the heel-turn that is Chapter 13, what I'd like to call the toxic jealousy chapter, after they've gotten married and are visiting 'court' to ask the king to kick out the guy who stole Eric's land. It really sucks that the couple's relationship takes a weird toxic nose-dive here, because this is when the plot is starting to get pretty intersting. There are so many things going on. We get a major flip in personality for Eric and Bethia and I really started disliking this book for a time. The whole court chapter was BONKERS. Both of them are apparently being hounded and surrounded by horny suitors. We also find out that Bethia is pregnant.
Bethia becomes a pick-me and a NLOG girlie in chapter 13. Bethia keeps dissing the other court ladies because they're 'whores' and are flirting with Eric. Apparently everyone is a whore except for Bethia! Don't these ladies know that adultery is a sin! HAH! Says the girl who LITERALLY JUST HAD PREMARITAL SEX WITH A MAN SHE MET IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WOODS! Like, girl, you don't give a shit about what's a sin or not, you fornicate just as much, if not more, than these women do. Bethia just takes on this attitude that she's better than other women, other women are bitches and hos, we also get some implied 'being busty makes you a whore, and being flat-chested means you're pure' stuff that I haven't heard since I was in catholic school in the 00s. Girl, I was flat-chested for 25 years and I know jealousy when I see it. Bethia is salty that she's flat-chested and comforts herself by saying, well these curvaceous women are whores anyway!
Anyway Bethia is upset because there are these two women, Katryona and Elizabeth, flirting with Eric, and 'he's so oblivious to it.' Which, don't make me fucking laugh. Lady-killer, man-whore Eric is 'oblivious' to all these women supposedly after him? Whatever you need to tell yourself, Bethia. He's fully aware of their attention, and he's enjoying it. She then calls them both whores to her face and slams the door. Then cries on her bed that maybe he'll cheat on her while she's pregnant because she doesn't have boobies! It was just so obvious that she was projecting her anger onto these women, rather than onto Eric. Idk about you but, finding out that your new husband (who you're secretly pregnant by) knowingly brought you to a castle full of women he used to sleep with and didn't warn you and made you an object of ridicule would be IT for me, but instead, Bethia reverts to this, 'it's all these whores' fault, not my man' and doubles down on the BS.
Bethia calling them whores and slamming the door was supposed to play off as a really badass moment, but it was just cringey! Girl, you laid down and slept with him without being married too, how are they whores and you're not. If anyone is a whore here, it's Eric, LOL! This chapter was honestly the downfall of Bethia. She's a pick-me, and a NLOG. I'm not like other girls, I hang out with my boy cousins and brothers and in the woods and I have a knife! I'm not like other girls, I'm not a slut like other women, even though I had sex with a man I knew for two days! I'm not like other girls, other women put their hair up in braids and I leave mine loose bc I think hairstyles are frivolous, even though it's historically inaccuate and women of that time period always had their hair up and covered unless they were young children/maidens. Ever seen Brave? Bethia would've been wearing a wimple, lol! If anything, she would have at least been wearing braids, it's fucking scotland.
Then to make his wife feel better, Eric calls these women, that HE SLEPT WITH, 'bitches.' It just revealed so much about how he, and by extension, the author, thinks of and sees women. At one point, he literally says aloud that 'a man doesn't need to like or respect the women he beds,' which is such a disgusting attitude. This mindset is one that views the act of sex as inherently degrading to women. Eric can sleep with women he hates and contempts, because he sees sex as an act of possession, domination, and to degrade her and 'put her in her place'. Of course you can do that to a woman you hate! We also find out that Eric lied to them to get them to have sex with him, but he says well they were sluts anyway, so it's fine that I lied! He literally admits he used 'wooing, trysts, and sweet love words' to seduce them, so he was lying to them that he cared about them to get sexual access, then discards them and calls them disgusting sluts. LMAOOOO. If they're bitches, what is he. All we know about these two women, Katryona and Elizabeth, is that they slept with Eric years ago, after he lied to them about loving them. Meanwhile, he's slept with hundreds of women -- and we're supposed to believe they're the bad guys. Except then the book makes them the bad guys, for no real reason except to justify Eric and Bethia's hatred of them for being sluts.
He then later tells Bethia that 'I know I had a past, and I regret it.' He wishes he had come to her 'pure.' Then why didn't you, Mr. Mega slut? Why didn't you? Why did you act exactly like your worthless father, Beaton? Why was it so important that Bethia be a virgin for you to possess but you've been dipping your stick in every hole across Scotland. I am SO fucking tired of the virgin girl/slutty bad boy pairing. Can we shake it up a bit, PLEASE?
Back to the pregnancy plotpoint. Bethia is preggo, apparently got pregnant the first time they had sex in the woods, lmao. I'm actually surprised that pregnancy hasn't been a plot-point in the book series up until now. I've been expecting it. (I've noticed that books like these end one of two ways: either with marriage, or if they get married too soon during the book, the story ends with pregnany/birth.) Anyway, the first thing Bethia does after finding out she's pregnant is drink 'a tankard of wine.' Which, funny you mentioned it was 1444, medeival people absolutely knew that alcohol effected the fetus. What is you doin' girl.
Then, because Katryona and Elizabeth are apparently such duplicitous whores, it also means that they'd set Bethia up to be kidnapped/raped/murdered?????? Because they want her to be tarnished and then Eric won't love her. What the FUCK? So not only are they sexually confident, busty, curvaceous sluts, but they're also evil. What the fuck was the purpose of that. Katryona and Elizabeth are literally caricatures of women that a pick-me would imagine in her head. "I'm not like other girls," Bethia furiously murmurs, Katryona and Elizabeth being 'the other girls.' Lmao.
Anyway, the villains are killed and this book ends with a whimper. There's no definitive climax that I could identify. And we end on the 'i can't say that i love you' plot, which is honestly so nuts. You can have sex with someone you just met, get married and are having a kid with them in under three months, but you're scared to say i love you? That's too intimate????? Dude. They're both so ridiciulous. I do like that towards the end of the book, we get to see Maldie and Giselle again, I liked to see all of the past characters interacting, so that was nice.
AND FINALLY. We get an epilogue and we find out that, yeah, that sister Sorcha we've been hearing about for the entire book, Sorcha was sooo much better than Bethia and made Bethia live in her shadow???? Bethia NAMED HER BABY AFTER SORCHA. AFTER SPENDING THE ENTIRE BOOK MAKING CLEAR THAT SORCHA OUSTHONE HER AND MADE HER THE FAMILY SCAPEGOAT. Why. WHY would you do that! I'm at a loss for words.
Well anyway, that was the first 3 books following each of the brothers, the main trilogy, I think the rest of the series was a later addition that only sort of follows the family line of the Murrays. It looks like Book 4 follows one of Maldie and Balfour's kids. I hope we get some more variety when it comes to the kinds of couples and storylines of this series.
I liked the plot and pace of the book in some areas, but like the first two books, the storyline is decent, the romantic plotline was fumbled. There was a lot of action; fighting over titles, inheritances, castles, revenge, bastard children, travel, etc. But believe me, there were some WEIRD decisions in this book, first of which, and kind of trivial, we have ANOTHER side-character named Grizel, and she has a bunch of dialogue too! I know that people back then had a lot of similar names, but WHY would you use the same name like that when you had an EVIL Grizel in the first book! I just want to know why, lol!
This storyline is a ghost of Book 2, Highland Honor, in a lot of ways. We have the female lead being pursued across the countryside by people who want to murder her, and she meets up with male lead, Eric Murray, who is escorting her for her protection. This time we add the fact that they're transporting a baby, and instead of the trauma of being a battered wife, this time the female lead, Bethia, is the family scapegoat, and has an inferiority complex.
From the very beginning, the premise didn't make a lot of sense to me. In Book 2, it's made very clear why people are pursuing Giselle -- they are trying to avenge the murder of her husband, but she's innocent, etc. In this book, I never felt it was concretely explained why there are people chasing Bethia, and at a certain point the book seems to throw its hands up and go... I dunno! William's just a crAzY guY! He's doing random shit because he's insane!
Quick backstory, Bethia had a twin sister named Sorcha who married this guy Robert, and they were rich. They had a baby boy, James. Sorcha and Robert are both hot, but they're also both really stupid, and they both get assassinated by poison, meaning baby James is now apparently the only surviving family member left to inherit Robert's keep and wealth. Bethia takes baby James, her nephew, and runs, trying to make it back to her parents keep, Dunnbea, with him, because there are extended relatives of Robert who want to kill James and take his stuff. This is apparently Robert's uncle by marriage: William Drummond and his psycho sons Ian and Angus. These guys chase Bethia down throughout the book, even after it no longer makes sense to do so, even though they only have a tenuous relationship to Robert in the first place and wouldn't be the inheritors even if James was dead. The sons get killed at some point, but the father continues to pursue Bethia even after they're named traitors by the king and can't go through with their stealing scheme anymore. I still don't understand why they're targeting BETHIA though. It makes no sense to kill her, her parents are still alive, wouldn't James' wealth revert to them as his grandparents? Why not go after THEM to steal the stuff? I don't know, I think Hannah Howell just wanted to rehash the running and hiding from a vengeful family while having sex in the woods thing from Highland Honor.
So we get a date here in the first chapter, we're told it's 1444, which is interesting because naming a concrete date gives us some more clues as to what's happening here. 1444 would place this book during the Stuart Dynasty, and that means the king mentioned in this book must be James II of Scotland, the king with a very distinctive birthmark on his face who died in an exploding cannon accident. But bro was only born in 1430, meaning that during the book, he'd be 14 years old. Interestingly, he became king at like 6 years old because his father was assassinated, which honestly could've worked with the storyline of this book! But the author clearly is describing an older man as the nameless king. This oversight seems really strange considering it's very apparent Hannah Howell did research in other areas. The naming tradition of Scottish castles/keeps, she added descriptions of the Normans fighting the English, she researched the names for clothing items from the era, etc, but just inserted a random king then decided to give us a specific year this took place. It just reveals a lot about how she went about writing these books. She's written about 100 books set in Scotland but very little of it is based in reality or references real historical figures of the time. It's a little disappointing. This is a fantasy version of medeival Scotland in which shirtless men ride around on horseback in kilts, and is in no way a depiction of a real place or time period that actually existed. Which is okay, that's a fun idea! It just makes me wonder why we were told the specific year, 1444. What was the purpose of that. Maybe I'm thinking about it too hard and it's not that serious.
All right, character analysis! Bethia is our lead in this book and our first description of her is that she's tiny. All of the heroines so far in this series are described as absolutely miniscule, and I guess to keep upping the ante, this time Bethia is so small that she's even smaller than Giselle and Maldie! She's literally described as 'child-like', which makes everything about her relationship with Eric so much creepier. Her face is also described with almost word-for-word the same descriptions as Maldie and Giselle were. She just has a different hair color. Oh, and she has heterochromia for no apparent reason other than to make up an excuse as to why this girl who was just described as beautiful, is apparently the ugliest little troll ever to live, because her eye colors don't match. I hate when authors do this, give their character a flaw that in no way detracts from their physical beauty, but makes everyone in the story act like it's disfiguringly ugly. Anyway, personality-wise, Bethia is a dutiful daughter, a tomboy, and the family scapegoat.
Lets go into that for a moment. A major aspect of this book is family tension, and Bethia's bad relationship with her parents. Bethia had a twin sister, Sorcha, who was the golden child of the family. We hear so much about how Sorcha was the pretty one, loved by everyone, got all the attention, and the family put all of the money into Sorcha's dowry because they thought she would be the one to make a good marriage, and just wanted to keep Bethia as a slave, basically, because she's a dutiful daughter. Which was strange because they also didn't seem to want her around and completely neglected her through childhood. She's a tomboy! She's mouthy, supposedly, but we never see that. She got to play with the boys, so she has a cool knife that she's no good at using, and we never see any evidence of wilderness skills or knowledge of the outdoors! I also don't see why her parents wanted to keep her there as a servant, because there were actual maids within the keep. Anyway, it's not explained. Her parents hate her and there's no reason for it other than to make us feel bad for her.
Now we have Eric. I'm hesitant, because I liked Eric in the first two books. He's described as a sweet boy to no end. This is apparently happening 13 years after the events in Highland Destiny, in which Eric got kidnapped by his dad and the Murrays saved him. Eric was 13 in that book, so he's now 26, and is trying to go back and claim his inheritance, because obviously Beaton is dead now and had no other son. The keep has been held by a pretender since them, and he wants to boot him out and take what's his. He comes across Bethia in the woods with the baby, and I'll just say it. Eric is a pig. He's a horndog and he's obsessed with the idea of 'possessing' Bethia and owning her as if she's an object. "You're mine, say it," and all that other bullshit we thought was cute in middle school.
During the couple's very first meeting, after hearing Bethia's story, Eric decides he's going to seduce this girl -- and if she gives in, THEN he'll marry her! Why not just propose marriage NOW then, you dog? He puts her up on his horse and tells her he's going to help her get to her parents keep, and he theN LEANS IN AND SNIFFS HER HAIR -- and when Bethia goes, 'what... what are you doing,' he goes, 'Smelling your hair --!' What on earth?! Holy shit Bethia, I don't know why after this strange man in the woods who literally smelled your hair and then told you to your face that his intention is to seduce you-- why on earth did she not run away from the camp with the baby at night and continue on alone. Any woman would be anticipating a rape after all that strange behavior, and would be trying to get away from this threatening man as soon as possible -- but instead, Bethia is like oh, tee-hee //blush//, I hope I'm strong enough to resist him! WHAT. These books really cheapen love, by the way. Bethia is 'in love' with Eric after two days and then sleeps with him. If a person is in love after literally knowing him for two days, how much can that 'love' possibly mean. It's honestly insulting. Build up some romantic tension for godsake. Make us believe in the relationship!
That's one thing I hate about these books. They hit you over the head with reminding you about how a woman's virginity/reputation is everything back in medeival times, and yet all the heroines so far, all of them well-born women, give in to sex outside of marriage like its nothing. Religion was on people's minds all the time, it was part of every aspect of their lives, and yet-- there's almost no mention of sin or guilt. I find it hard to swallow that Bethia had sex with a man she met days prior because Eric was just SOOO irresistible when it's extremely well known that women were expected to be chaste until marriage. The stakes for sex are so low in these books, but saying 'i love you?' The stakes are HIGH.
One of our side-plots is that neither of them can tell the other 'I love you.' The men in these books are obsessed with 'showing their love' without actually telling the girl, I love you. Instead he'll substitute, 'You are mine,' or have sex with her some more. Or excuse me, 'the passion they share.' I swear to god if she uses that phrase one more time, I'll just die. Anyway, men in these books do not experience love. They experience possession and lust. Here's a tidbit of Eric's thought process that he shares out loud with another guy: "When she became my lover, she sealed her fate. She just doesn't know it yet, she is mine.' Then is like, buT iM nOt sUrE whAt i fEel aBoUt hEr!! and doesn't know if he loves her. It's very telling that he can easily admit that he wants possession of her, but can't say that he loves her. It's ridiculous.
Then we get the heel-turn that is Chapter 13, what I'd like to call the toxic jealousy chapter, after they've gotten married and are visiting 'court' to ask the king to kick out the guy who stole Eric's land. It really sucks that the couple's relationship takes a weird toxic nose-dive here, because this is when the plot is starting to get pretty intersting. There are so many things going on. We get a major flip in personality for Eric and Bethia and I really started disliking this book for a time. The whole court chapter was BONKERS. Both of them are apparently being hounded and surrounded by horny suitors. We also find out that Bethia is pregnant.
Bethia becomes a pick-me and a NLOG girlie in chapter 13. Bethia keeps dissing the other court ladies because they're 'whores' and are flirting with Eric. Apparently everyone is a whore except for Bethia! Don't these ladies know that adultery is a sin! HAH! Says the girl who LITERALLY JUST HAD PREMARITAL SEX WITH A MAN SHE MET IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WOODS! Like, girl, you don't give a shit about what's a sin or not, you fornicate just as much, if not more, than these women do. Bethia just takes on this attitude that she's better than other women, other women are bitches and hos, we also get some implied 'being busty makes you a whore, and being flat-chested means you're pure' stuff that I haven't heard since I was in catholic school in the 00s. Girl, I was flat-chested for 25 years and I know jealousy when I see it. Bethia is salty that she's flat-chested and comforts herself by saying, well these curvaceous women are whores anyway!
Anyway Bethia is upset because there are these two women, Katryona and Elizabeth, flirting with Eric, and 'he's so oblivious to it.' Which, don't make me fucking laugh. Lady-killer, man-whore Eric is 'oblivious' to all these women supposedly after him? Whatever you need to tell yourself, Bethia. He's fully aware of their attention, and he's enjoying it. She then calls them both whores to her face and slams the door. Then cries on her bed that maybe he'll cheat on her while she's pregnant because she doesn't have boobies! It was just so obvious that she was projecting her anger onto these women, rather than onto Eric. Idk about you but, finding out that your new husband (who you're secretly pregnant by) knowingly brought you to a castle full of women he used to sleep with and didn't warn you and made you an object of ridicule would be IT for me, but instead, Bethia reverts to this, 'it's all these whores' fault, not my man' and doubles down on the BS.
Bethia calling them whores and slamming the door was supposed to play off as a really badass moment, but it was just cringey! Girl, you laid down and slept with him without being married too, how are they whores and you're not. If anyone is a whore here, it's Eric, LOL! This chapter was honestly the downfall of Bethia. She's a pick-me, and a NLOG. I'm not like other girls, I hang out with my boy cousins and brothers and in the woods and I have a knife! I'm not like other girls, I'm not a slut like other women, even though I had sex with a man I knew for two days! I'm not like other girls, other women put their hair up in braids and I leave mine loose bc I think hairstyles are frivolous, even though it's historically inaccuate and women of that time period always had their hair up and covered unless they were young children/maidens. Ever seen Brave? Bethia would've been wearing a wimple, lol! If anything, she would have at least been wearing braids, it's fucking scotland.
Then to make his wife feel better, Eric calls these women, that HE SLEPT WITH, 'bitches.' It just revealed so much about how he, and by extension, the author, thinks of and sees women. At one point, he literally says aloud that 'a man doesn't need to like or respect the women he beds,' which is such a disgusting attitude. This mindset is one that views the act of sex as inherently degrading to women. Eric can sleep with women he hates and contempts, because he sees sex as an act of possession, domination, and to degrade her and 'put her in her place'. Of course you can do that to a woman you hate! We also find out that Eric lied to them to get them to have sex with him, but he says well they were sluts anyway, so it's fine that I lied! He literally admits he used 'wooing, trysts, and sweet love words' to seduce them, so he was lying to them that he cared about them to get sexual access, then discards them and calls them disgusting sluts. LMAOOOO. If they're bitches, what is he. All we know about these two women, Katryona and Elizabeth, is that they slept with Eric years ago, after he lied to them about loving them. Meanwhile, he's slept with hundreds of women -- and we're supposed to believe they're the bad guys. Except then the book makes them the bad guys, for no real reason except to justify Eric and Bethia's hatred of them for being sluts.
He then later tells Bethia that 'I know I had a past, and I regret it.' He wishes he had come to her 'pure.' Then why didn't you, Mr. Mega slut? Why didn't you? Why did you act exactly like your worthless father, Beaton? Why was it so important that Bethia be a virgin for you to possess but you've been dipping your stick in every hole across Scotland. I am SO fucking tired of the virgin girl/slutty bad boy pairing. Can we shake it up a bit, PLEASE?
Back to the pregnancy plotpoint. Bethia is preggo, apparently got pregnant the first time they had sex in the woods, lmao. I'm actually surprised that pregnancy hasn't been a plot-point in the book series up until now. I've been expecting it. (I've noticed that books like these end one of two ways: either with marriage, or if they get married too soon during the book, the story ends with pregnany/birth.) Anyway, the first thing Bethia does after finding out she's pregnant is drink 'a tankard of wine.' Which, funny you mentioned it was 1444, medeival people absolutely knew that alcohol effected the fetus. What is you doin' girl.
Then, because Katryona and Elizabeth are apparently such duplicitous whores, it also means that they'd set Bethia up to be kidnapped/raped/murdered?????? Because they want her to be tarnished and then Eric won't love her. What the FUCK? So not only are they sexually confident, busty, curvaceous sluts, but they're also evil. What the fuck was the purpose of that. Katryona and Elizabeth are literally caricatures of women that a pick-me would imagine in her head. "I'm not like other girls," Bethia furiously murmurs, Katryona and Elizabeth being 'the other girls.' Lmao.
Anyway, the villains are killed and this book ends with a whimper. There's no definitive climax that I could identify. And we end on the 'i can't say that i love you' plot, which is honestly so nuts. You can have sex with someone you just met, get married and are having a kid with them in under three months, but you're scared to say i love you? That's too intimate????? Dude. They're both so ridiciulous. I do like that towards the end of the book, we get to see Maldie and Giselle again, I liked to see all of the past characters interacting, so that was nice.
AND FINALLY. We get an epilogue and we find out that, yeah, that sister Sorcha we've been hearing about for the entire book, Sorcha was sooo much better than Bethia and made Bethia live in her shadow???? Bethia NAMED HER BABY AFTER SORCHA. AFTER SPENDING THE ENTIRE BOOK MAKING CLEAR THAT SORCHA OUSTHONE HER AND MADE HER THE FAMILY SCAPEGOAT. Why. WHY would you do that! I'm at a loss for words.
Well anyway, that was the first 3 books following each of the brothers, the main trilogy, I think the rest of the series was a later addition that only sort of follows the family line of the Murrays. It looks like Book 4 follows one of Maldie and Balfour's kids. I hope we get some more variety when it comes to the kinds of couples and storylines of this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2024
This was a good story about how blood family is not always your best family but the family you make with great friends can be better. Bethia and Eric learn about that. This can be read as a stand alone but characters from the other stories are part of this one as well.
August 12, 2017
!!Spoilers!!
Somewhat refreshing. I always start romance novels with expectations based on all the novels read so far...not just by the current author, but by all of them. They tend to stick with predictable characters and plot lines and Hannah Howell surprised me a bit by first having her heroine attempting to keep herself and her nephew alive while being hunted. Yes, she was a damsel in distress but that didn't bother me much in this particular case.
Then, the hero and heroine were forced to marry and for two-thirds of the novel we know for a fact that they both love each other but can't possibly say anything because that would risk making them vulnerable. I ignored this for the most part, mostly because I was surprised once again. It is typical for one of the characters to not fall in love until late in the novel and Howell had them both smitten early on. I was curious to see how it would play out and I think she managed it nicely.
The biggest flaw, which is why I took a star away, was the heroine's hunter. It was implausible and downright idiotic for her to continuously go away from the safety of her home/court several times, always without her husband. Each time, her hunter was waiting for her (obviously), and got a crack at her. Then, the biggest letdown was that neither her nor her husband were the one to kill him in the end. If we're going to suffer the agony of him being out there the entire time and her dangling herself like a fluorescent bunny, we should have been given the satisfaction of a personal triumph over him.
Overall, the clean writing was enough to allow me to ignore some of the poor plot choices and I would read another by Hannah Howell as long as she continues to surprise me.
Somewhat refreshing. I always start romance novels with expectations based on all the novels read so far...not just by the current author, but by all of them. They tend to stick with predictable characters and plot lines and Hannah Howell surprised me a bit by first having her heroine attempting to keep herself and her nephew alive while being hunted. Yes, she was a damsel in distress but that didn't bother me much in this particular case.
Then, the hero and heroine were forced to marry and for two-thirds of the novel we know for a fact that they both love each other but can't possibly say anything because that would risk making them vulnerable. I ignored this for the most part, mostly because I was surprised once again. It is typical for one of the characters to not fall in love until late in the novel and Howell had them both smitten early on. I was curious to see how it would play out and I think she managed it nicely.
The biggest flaw, which is why I took a star away, was the heroine's hunter. It was implausible and downright idiotic for her to continuously go away from the safety of her home/court several times, always without her husband. Each time, her hunter was waiting for her (obviously), and got a crack at her. Then, the biggest letdown was that neither her nor her husband were the one to kill him in the end. If we're going to suffer the agony of him being out there the entire time and her dangling herself like a fluorescent bunny, we should have been given the satisfaction of a personal triumph over him.
Overall, the clean writing was enough to allow me to ignore some of the poor plot choices and I would read another by Hannah Howell as long as she continues to surprise me.
November 25, 2014
encore un très bon tome !
May 25, 2016
These books keep getting better.
April 1, 2024
This is the first time I've read something by Hannah Howell. Yes, I've started the collection with book 3 and, no, it is not the first nor will it be the last time I have made this. I have no regrets. Her writing is good, dynamic, clean and something easy and fast for the days that is all you want.
She gives us a little bit of the classical and sweet Scottish clan romance - nothing more and nothing less.
Bettie is a brave, smart, loyal and sometimes bold, yet not confident, self-conscious and with a dramatic past to be faced kind of protagonist. Eric is strong, determined, terribly handsome, ready to support and protect the girl he saved from some thieves. He can be quite rational too, compared to other protagonists when he needs to be.
A good couple with good chemistry.
Now, some essential points about plot (hopefully vague enough to not be spoilers):
Bettie is used to always living as a shadow of the so-precious-beautiful-perfect (now dead) twin sister, as well as with the fact that her parents never valued her even a fraction of how they did Sorcha.
This is the kind of book with some self-growth, learning to love yourself and how to recognize who truly loves you. The first topic really needed to be worked on.
There is a cute baby. Bettie needs to protect her sister's son now that she is gone (maybe from even more than the threat that initiates the book). Eric isn't bothered at all. But, really, James is a sweetheart and I feel like I couldn't have enough of him.
A lot of people haunt Bettie in several ways. Point a place where she goes and you will see some sort of threat around or awful people. I think it is part of the Scottish romance combo, though.
Lands, lords, fights, war.
The marks that we wait for in every romance? They take a good while. No hurry at all. Good though.
Spicy at a great level for me.
Maybe a little more talk between the main characters would be better (but maybe I am comparing too much with other readings).
The secondary characters are beautifully built and they fill some parts really well. Bowen and the boys are great. Maldie was amazing and totally had my attention at every line she participated- her book may be my next.
This leaves us with a nice and light reading at the end of day. Not surprising in any point for me (this is why 4 stars) and the couple isn't between my favorites of historical romances, even if they are great (It was supposed to be 3 stars to be honest, but I have my favorite authors and I feel that this would be unfair and totally biased).
She gives us a little bit of the classical and sweet Scottish clan romance - nothing more and nothing less.
Bettie is a brave, smart, loyal and sometimes bold, yet not confident, self-conscious and with a dramatic past to be faced kind of protagonist. Eric is strong, determined, terribly handsome, ready to support and protect the girl he saved from some thieves. He can be quite rational too, compared to other protagonists when he needs to be.
A good couple with good chemistry.
Now, some essential points about plot (hopefully vague enough to not be spoilers):
Bettie is used to always living as a shadow of the so-precious-beautiful-perfect (now dead) twin sister, as well as with the fact that her parents never valued her even a fraction of how they did Sorcha.
This is the kind of book with some self-growth, learning to love yourself and how to recognize who truly loves you. The first topic really needed to be worked on.
There is a cute baby. Bettie needs to protect her sister's son now that she is gone (maybe from even more than the threat that initiates the book). Eric isn't bothered at all. But, really, James is a sweetheart and I feel like I couldn't have enough of him.
A lot of people haunt Bettie in several ways. Point a place where she goes and you will see some sort of threat around or awful people. I think it is part of the Scottish romance combo, though.
Lands, lords, fights, war.
The marks that we wait for in every romance? They take a good while. No hurry at all. Good though.
Spicy at a great level for me.
Maybe a little more talk between the main characters would be better (but maybe I am comparing too much with other readings).
The secondary characters are beautifully built and they fill some parts really well. Bowen and the boys are great. Maldie was amazing and totally had my attention at every line she participated- her book may be my next.
This leaves us with a nice and light reading at the end of day. Not surprising in any point for me (this is why 4 stars) and the couple isn't between my favorites of historical romances, even if they are great (It was supposed to be 3 stars to be honest, but I have my favorite authors and I feel that this would be unfair and totally biased).
May 21, 2024
I've been listening to quite a few Hannah Howell books recently because they are included in my Audible subscription. I enjoy her stories but have become annoyed that the heroines all seem to be teeny tiny waifs. I can think of one FMC that was average, to maybe above average height from the Wherlocke series. The body types don't even seem to vary much, and strike me as pubescent in their descriptions. Because the books have steamy scenes the body type (singular) gets alot of page time, but also in the banter and inner dialogue. I guess I can understand the irresistible temptation to use the term "Bonnie wee lass" when writing highlander romance, but the big man and pocket-sized heroine (they literally, barely reach chest high on the men) trope starts to wear thin and make the stories feel too similar. Add to that, the: shared insecurities, miscommunications and reluctant to admit love, tropes that are leaned heavily on throughout, plus a hearty dollop of TSTL decisions on the part of the females, and the stories start to feel samey. I guess I enjoy the paranormal stories more because the psychic gifts add variety and set up different storylines. I wish I could tell from a story synopsis if these issues persist throughout all of her series, or if it is something that she realized and started to switch up at some point.
November 26, 2024
I enjoyed "Highland Promise"; the main couple (Bethia and Eric) is mostly likeable, there's both a righteous quest and two imperiled innocents, there are two villains to "love to hate," and the steady conflicts are set against a medieval Scotland backdrop.
There are some misses for me, though. Bethia's "I don't believe in battles over land or money" stance is absurd for both the time period and her station, and its use as a potential deal-breaker for romance is ridiculous. Eric's self-confessed whoredom is distasteful and makes his responses to cats from his past unbelievably disingenuous and possibly misogynistic (he does exhibit some redemptive self-awareness, though). The final battle with William is underwhelming and anticlimactic. The biggest fail is in editing/proofing; those crimes are too numerous to note.
This is still a worthwhile read, and I look forward to seeing more from this author.
There are some misses for me, though. Bethia's "I don't believe in battles over land or money" stance is absurd for both the time period and her station, and its use as a potential deal-breaker for romance is ridiculous. Eric's self-confessed whoredom is distasteful and makes his responses to cats from his past unbelievably disingenuous and possibly misogynistic (he does exhibit some redemptive self-awareness, though). The final battle with William is underwhelming and anticlimactic. The biggest fail is in editing/proofing; those crimes are too numerous to note.
This is still a worthwhile read, and I look forward to seeing more from this author.
January 16, 2020
3.5 stars
Third book of the Murray series. Technically works as a standalone but I recommend reading the first of the series for a more in depth look at Eric's journey and complicated family relations.
I found this book to be a joy to read. I personally find it rare to find romance books that include teasing and playful banter between their couples without it being a heavy handed, personality trait of one of the characters. I felt this book nailed it. The playful ribbing and our main couple actually attempting to communicate their struggles with each other (while not always successful) were refreshing.
We have here two earnest people trying to make a go of it without starting with any deceit or secrets between them. The villains are so due to external reasons and the couple reveal their troubles with these men and the reasons for their troubles upon meeting. No surprises, no secrets. A very refreshing take.
I was a little confused at the start of the book. Eric is hesitant to reveal his reason for traveling fearing Bethia would find the similarities to her villains motivations distasteful. This ended up being true when he told her, however, I didn't quite grasp those similarities that were so evident to the couple. I found Eric's motivations more similar to that of baby James and thought that would further endear him. I ended up just having to overlook this as, "there's something here I'm missing but over which causes concern/distress".
A much more domestic romance with more coolly rationally leads compared to the 2nd book. A fun read.
Third book of the Murray series. Technically works as a standalone but I recommend reading the first of the series for a more in depth look at Eric's journey and complicated family relations.
I found this book to be a joy to read. I personally find it rare to find romance books that include teasing and playful banter between their couples without it being a heavy handed, personality trait of one of the characters. I felt this book nailed it. The playful ribbing and our main couple actually attempting to communicate their struggles with each other (while not always successful) were refreshing.
We have here two earnest people trying to make a go of it without starting with any deceit or secrets between them. The villains are so due to external reasons and the couple reveal their troubles with these men and the reasons for their troubles upon meeting. No surprises, no secrets. A very refreshing take.
I was a little confused at the start of the book. Eric is hesitant to reveal his reason for traveling fearing Bethia would find the similarities to her villains motivations distasteful. This ended up being true when he told her, however, I didn't quite grasp those similarities that were so evident to the couple. I found Eric's motivations more similar to that of baby James and thought that would further endear him. I ended up just having to overlook this as, "there's something here I'm missing but over which causes concern/distress".
A much more domestic romance with more coolly rationally leads compared to the 2nd book. A fun read.
December 26, 2021
I’ll admit that I’ve been hard on this series as I’ve been rereading it. It just hasn’t sit very well with me that the plot in each of these books has relied to some degree on the characters being dumb and making dumb choices. There is some of that in this book as well, but it wasn’t obnoxiously so.
In this installment, the dumbness comes from a blatant lack of communication between the two main characters. I still think it’s an unfortunate choice by the author to dumb down her characters to create story conflict rather than accomplishing that by making her plot points more interesting and complex.
At this point I am assuming the rest of the books will be the same. I will continue rereading the books I already own before donating them, but I have no intention to finish the whole series.
In this installment, the dumbness comes from a blatant lack of communication between the two main characters. I still think it’s an unfortunate choice by the author to dumb down her characters to create story conflict rather than accomplishing that by making her plot points more interesting and complex.
At this point I am assuming the rest of the books will be the same. I will continue rereading the books I already own before donating them, but I have no intention to finish the whole series.
October 5, 2024
Hannah Howell was my first experience with historical romantic fiction...specifically 15th century Scotland. To say I was hooked would be a profound understatement. In the period of two weeks I bought ever book by Mrs Howell with the word Highland in the title. (a rough estimate was about 20 novels) The language was fluid but authentic yet didn't take away only added to the story. Especially the dialogue...who could have thought that words like...aye, wee, lass, bonnie and nay could be so enjoyable? While the main premise of the story is historical romance there are "wee" sprinklings of paranormal...which is my genre of choice. Mrs. Howell also does my favorite thing to find in books, characters that span several books.First as the protagonists then as secondaries in others. In the Highlands they are kinsmen or clan members. Loved it so much. Buy it you won't be sorry.
November 25, 2018
I just love Hannah Howell's books -- I cannae help mysel'. This one had moments when I wanted to give someone a good smack, but it was still kind of enthralling. A really really BAD bad guy, and some pretty bad girls -- all trying to hurt or kill Bethia, who has not had an easy life. And then there is Eric, who is beautiful and trying to get a castle which is really his. There's a lot more to it, and the old theme of "does she/he really love me" gets pretty old, but I still enjoyed it. Keep it up, Hannah.
September 12, 2019
In this story you learn about Eric and his adventures at getting his family lands from an uncle who took it from him when he was a child. Bethia is running from a man who wants her nephew dead. When he takes on a vow to protect her and the child he did not know that it would end in marriage. But he is enthralled with her. And her ability to turn a blind eye of her parents hate of her. Will they ever figure that the feelings are more than passion. Cant wait to read more of those in this series. I have read this years earlier but now am leaving a review after reading it again.
August 29, 2020
Tremendous read.
Great story.Poor Eric had sad life, they want rd him dead,then he was adopted by another clan who took good care of him and taught him how to be a warrior. He fell in love with a women who was abused by her parents and twin sister. Eric has to save her and her sisters child from getting killed. Eric takes care of both of them. He marrys Bethia and they have a daughter and raise James her sister's son and lives happy ever after Great read. Thanks. Diane DeMoulin
Great story.Poor Eric had sad life, they want rd him dead,then he was adopted by another clan who took good care of him and taught him how to be a warrior. He fell in love with a women who was abused by her parents and twin sister. Eric has to save her and her sisters child from getting killed. Eric takes care of both of them. He marrys Bethia and they have a daughter and raise James her sister's son and lives happy ever after Great read. Thanks. Diane DeMoulin
June 7, 2021
Eric and Bethia meet when she needs him most. He is a very good looking man and is propositioned even when Bethia is standing next to him. But he only has eyes for Bethia. No one, including Bethia, can figure out why he is so attracted to her. Everyone, including her family, sees her as a small, plain woman. Her family treated her like a slave until her sister needed her help. It was too late to save her sister, but Bethia could save her nephew. Eric and Bethia have to run and fight for their lives, but they do it together. Will they find a home and lasting love?
October 31, 2017
Please no more Angela Dawe. I really wanted to like this book, but man, that voice, I just couldn't take it. I made it to chapter 15 but it took several tries. then I just couldn't listen to that voice anymore.
April 23, 2018
It was fine, but slow. And they all kept doing the same things and seemed surprised when the same thing kept happening. Yes, that was vague, but I was trying to avoid spoilers in case someone actually reads this.
January 6, 2020
Good tale
Gotcha does but before she does she sends a message to her sister to watch over her son. A little time later that same sister runs off with the child after learning that she is meant to be poisoned. She meets her protector.
Gotcha does but before she does she sends a message to her sister to watch over her son. A little time later that same sister runs off with the child after learning that she is meant to be poisoned. She meets her protector.
January 29, 2020
3.5 stars. I enjoyed the narration and the dynamic with the ex and the current women. The characters were too much like all the rest in this series. What probably contributes to that is the same narrator for them all.
September 25, 2021
While I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it either. Can’t quite pinpoint what it was. And, it may just be one of those situations where it had nothing to do with the actual story/writing rather my inability to connect with the time period/language.
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