Highland Vow

Murray Family #4

by Hannah Howell

Ten years after rescuing a wounded young knight, beautiful healer Elspeth Murray is reunited with Cormac Armastrong, the man she had fallen in love with a decade earlier, but her growing feelings for Cormac are threatened by his betrothed. Reprint.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Medieval, Scotland, Audiobook

346 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 2006

About the author

Hannah 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

Reviews

[Libby · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. Usually when one of our romantic protagonists is TSTL it's the heroine. In this case, it's our highland hero. Believe me when I say TSTL - it is almost literal. Cormac, our incredibly earnest hero, has made a vow to Lady Isabel to be faithful and hold their love true. He keeps that vow for 10 long years in spite of the overwhelming evidence that she is a lying , cheating, conniving, and murdering whore. Oh, and she goes through 4 marriages in 10 years. She has a serious black widow issue. Pretty much everyone sees that she is a lying, cheating, conniving,and murdering whore except for Cormac. How is this even possible?????? Oh, Cormac goes on and on about his honor and how important his honor is, but, man, when no one can respect you because you are sooooo stupid, what good is honor? Would you want this man to be your laird?

Anyhow, when our too deserving heroine, Elspeth, finally has had enough she wonders just what kind of fool she has been for wanting this idiot. Well, I was wondering the same thing. Damn, I keep going back and re-reading the last 50 pages or so hoping that the ending will change. Friends, that is not a good sign. I read this one because it was recommended as a good read with some really good hero groveling. In my opinion, there is not enough groveling in the world to make this hero a keeper. It's not that he treats the heroine so badly he can't be redeemed. It's seriously because he is sooooo stupid. This man's genetic line does not need to be continued. So, here is my alternate ending. Elspeth dumps Cormac, falls in love with and marries the mightiest highland warrior in the land and has her HEA. Cormac's alternate ending? Eh, who cares? This dude is a loser.

[KatieV · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.... 2-2.5? I kept listening. The narrator was pretty good and the story wasn't bad. It just didn't excite me.

This is definitely a wallpaper historical. I don't mind that much, personally. Mostly I just want to feel immersed in a different time and place and don't usually fuss too much over details (unless it happens to be something I know is wrong). My main pet peeve is historical characters with modern mindsets, patterns of speech, etc. I did feel there was some of that with the open way the h and H handled their affair. The girl was the virgin daughter of a Laird for crying out loud and they didn't even attempt to hide the fact that they were traveling across Scotland banging one another with no commitment whatsoever. Other characters didn't seem all that shocked either. Felt odd to me.

There are lots of improbable Mary Sue actions on the heroine's part, but I could go with it. It's kind of hard to hate on the heroic cat she rescued. I love my cats, but pretty sure they'd eat me if I died and no one found my body. This heroic cat would have dialed 911 with his little grubby paw after pulling a sheet over my body.

First and foremost I am not a fan of 'heroine in pursuit' novels. In my fantasy world, the hero is super smitten and all about pursuing the heroine. So, this had a mark against it going in. YMMV, obviously. Despite the theme, I picked this up because I saw it rec'd as a good grovel and we all know we need more of those. Yeah there was a grovel, but it lacked emotional impact for me for several reasons.

1) I didn't feel the heroine was too terribly wronged. She deliberately seduced the hero knowing he had pledged himself to another (eeeeeeeevil) woman. Granted, the h acknowledges the fact she was gambling on winning his love and may lose. She was hurt and angry, but honest enough to admit she also had a hand in creating the mess. I didn't revel in her hurt or anything like that, I just didn't feel all that sorry for her and therefore wasn't all that out for the hero's blood. You play with fire and you might get burned, as they say.

2) Hero was told how he had to grovel. He didn't come up with the method himself, which diminished the impact for me. This guy has no original thoughts of his own. The heroine had to spell out for him exactly what he needed to do to get her back. Dude wasn't a bad guy, but he was stupid and easily led. Not my preferred hero material.

The audio performance was pretty good. It was a bit odd that the heroine's voice was a bit deeper than the hero's due to the narrator's attempt to interpret the heroine's husky voice, but it didn't put me off that bad. I'd listen to the narrator again.

[Jac K · Rating 5 out of 5]

March is my Highlander month. (much like May is my military reads month) It's just one of my numerous quirks that I can't seem to quit. Highland Vow is one of my fav's. (although I do have to note that almost all my friends are not impressed 🤣) It's pretty fluffy... there's not buckets of angst as he pines for the OW. (she's not around until the end) It's not historically accurate, or very logical. The "Scottish tidbits" don't flow easily, and it could be clunky for some. (I have a couple examples at the end of the review) Cormac is blindly in love with another woman, but he's not cruel, and Elspeth isn't crying herself to sleep at night. I think I keep going back because it's different. Elspeth is the aggressor, and she's tough. I would totally be her friend IRL which I can't say about many h's. I love that the OW gets comeuppance, and her unleashing on Isabel and Cormac was pretty awesome...making him literally crawl on his knees for forgiveness wasn't bad either. I love this book, but you really need to be in the mood for entertaining fluff cuz this isn't deep or bursting with feels.

*************original review**************

This is the story of Elspeth and Cormac, young Elspeth saves Cormac's life and spends her youth dreaming of the lad she believes is her soulmate. Unfortunately, Cormac doesn't get the memo and moons over the manipulative bitch Isabel, and did I mention the psycho that is obsessed with young Elsbeth.....

Although this book is not a literary masterpiece. I really, really found it entertaining...here are a few of my pro's.

Elspeth was completely kickass, she was tough (no whining here) She made brave (reckless) choices to woo her man away from the clutches of the evil ho-bag. She didn't beg, or belittle him, and she didn't allow herself to become a doormat. When she was pushed to her limit, she simply bowed out and moved on. (w/ a tongue lashing)

It's fast paced with two separate villain storylines. Villain A-Sir Colin (the psycho) and Villain B- Lady Isabel (the bitch) I especially liked that the villains were separate, so there was plenty of action throughout the story. There're no long stretches of nothingness filler that so many books are plagued with.

Cormac was a complete moron when it came to seeing what EVERYONE around him so clearly saw about Isabel, but I liked that the hero was the dumbass for a change. Other than his complete stubbornness to see truth, both characters acted like grown-ups. There weren't any back-and-forth silly games, they didn't circle each other chapter after chapter. Their relationship progressed pretty quickly so I wasn't bored.

The audiobook is free on audible escapes, and it was very enjoyable to switch back and forth between book and audio. I did not read the first three books which are the stories of Elspeth parents and aunts & uncles, but I didn't feel like that hurt at all with any backstory.

I'm typically stingy with my 5* ratings. To me a five star is... I couldn't put the book down, really enjoyed it without rolling my eyes or making aggressive notes in my kindle:) I've read this book twice, and still enjoy it.

To Cormac “Nay? I loved ye. I gave ye all a woman can give a mon. I tossed my pride, my chastity, and my heart at your feet, and I was willing, nay, eager to give ye whate’er else I could if ye had but asked.” Her anger grew as she spoke and her pain began to slowly break free of the tight bonds she had placed upon it, adding a soft agony to her voice. “But I wonder if ye ken what love is? I would ne’er have left ye. I would have had to be dragged, chained and screaming, to stand before the altar with another mon. I would have been at your side whilst ye fled the Douglases and would have turned o’er every rock to find the real killer. I would have cried your innocence loudly from one end of Scotland to the other. Love is like that. ’Tis nay meekly going from one husband to another nor summoning ye only when trouble brews. “Fine. Ye have chosen the bed ye wish to lie in. Ye will have your precious honor. For all I ache and rage, I pray that we are all wrong about Isabel, that she is indeed the poor, sweet madonna ye think she is. But I believe ye will find it a rocky bed. Mayhap ye will think on me, on all I offered ye, and all ye treated so callously, all ye tossed aside. For tossed it aside ye have, and ’twill take more than ye may have to offer to e’er pick it up again.

Aye, heed this, my bonny lover: If ye decide in my favor after I am gone, ’twill take more than pretty smiles and fair words to make me want to risk this agony a second time. If ye do decide ’tis me ye want, ye are going to have to crawl—just as ye have crawled to Isabel for ten, long, wasted years.”

To Isabel “I speak not of passion, mistress, but of love. I loved him completely, without demands, without restraint. He kens I loved him, for I told him so. And there is where ye will fail to conquer me, for ye have ne’er loved him. For ten years ye have spat on a gift many women would kill for. Ye have abused his honor and his love. And that, mistress, is why I despise ye and always will. That is why I believe ye are an even greater fool than poor Cormac.”

“Tsk, Isabel. Ye truly should be a wee bit more discreet, a wee bit less sexually gluttonous. If ye dinnae start keeping your white thighs pressed together more often, there isnae going to be a mon left in Scotland whom Cormac can look in the eyes.” Ignoring Isabel’s hissed curse, Elspeth walked away. Losing to such a woman made her feel ill, but she fought to walk away straight and proud.

[Eliza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a fan of the girl chasing the guy and definitely not a fan of a wishy-washy guy.

[❋ · Rating 1 out of 5]

What I've learned from this book: The road to writing a bad book is paved with easy options.

I did not like this book. AT ALL.


I haven't written an angry review in so long, you'd think I'd discreetly relish it. But I'm so mad I can't enjoy this.



The biggest issue when it comes to bad books is the WASTED POTENTIAL!

Yes, I was prepared for it to follow a cliche- hell the OW was eeeevil. If that alone ain't cliche enough, the hero had no clue. Add in the surprising and albeit refreshing twist that the heroine pursued the hero (who doesn't love a lil fighting for love?) and you have the recipe for success (somewhat) - yes recipe my friends, a very easy, simple, no room for error guideline to an average book. But this book got it all wrong!

Do tell me how you can get something so simplistic as a cliche so incredibly wrong!?



What I'm not prepared for is to be a hypocrite. And no matter how much certain aspects of this book infuriate me, I won't allow it to belittle me into being a hypocrite. Because, I, like a lot of other readers, enjoy a good cliche. There's fun in taking something tried and tested and adding a little flair or a unique new twist. Every new character that fills a cliche is, infact, startlingly different. For each new character breathes new life into the mould they must fit. For example, not every alpha male is the same. And thank god for that because I love me some delicious testosterone-driven men.

(Look at me being all logical and matter-of-fact about my hate when really I want to scream)


As I was saying, it's the characters more than anything that can really make or break a novel.
The characters in this book were unrealistic and annoying. I found the plot to be silly and superficial, and the characters I was relying on were such nuisances.

The hero was an idiot who couldn't see that the OW was a vile and pathetic creature. It might've worked if she was shrewd in that way that most evil women are in books. The underhand, tactful sort of deceit. But everyone saw this but him! How is that possible?! On top of that, the main characters were both so unrealistic. They had modern minds in a historical novel. The heroine was a young virgin from a small, sheltered clan. Yet she was open in her lustful thoughts about the hero and very much the pursuer. I just have a hard time believing the way events turned out and it wasn't true to the time period at all.



I think the heroine should've just left the hero in my opinion. She pursued and seduced him knowing that he was pledged to another (again, pretty out of character especially given the time period it was written in). Now this is a bit of a pet peeve of mine but how dare she feel wronged when he wasn't hers to seduce. Obviously the fact that the OW was evil is a coincidental and handy little silver lining, but what if she was actually nice?


(Of course, the author would never do this because readers just luvvv the drama and how else could the heroine's tacky advances be justified?). Ughhh so transparent.



When she first saw him again, 10 years on from when she was a child, she kissed him. The thought occurred to her that he may have a wife, maybe kids, but you know what? She's a beautiful, selfish and spoiled brat. So to hell with any of that. If she wants him, she'll have him. So she continues on, kissing him and thinking that if it's true, if he has a wife and kids, then what they're doing is just a minor trespass. A MINOR TRESPASS!!!



That's not how things work honey.

Just so wrong wrong wrong on so many levels.
If that was her hubby, I'm not sure she'd be so lenient as to label cheating as a minor trespass.
Furthermore, fair enough, he wasn't married. Does that magically make what she does okay? And he was promised to another so I'd say it's a similar betrayal.



I promise you I'm not so over-thinking and prudish/stuck-up. I've read many books where either the hero or heroine pulls some real questionable shiz. But I'm of the opinion that intentions are of more import than the act itself (with a few exceptions). Her intention was purely selfish and so that's a big mark against her.

It's so hard to warm to a book with horrible main characters. I was so looking forward to enjoying this book. It had so much promise but with a heroine who didn't know when to quit and a hero who was easily led and fickle, it wasn't my cup of tea.



Such a disappointment.

[Serial Romance Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was entertaining despite its historical inaccuracy. The h does all of the pursuing even though the H chooses another woman over he. The h finally has enough and leaves pregnant and ruined. The H has no backbone and is one of the dumbest H’s I think I’ve ever read. Almost TSTL dumb! He does grovel, but follows a roadmap the the h basically drew. Despite the absurdity of the plot, I didn’t hate it. I would’ve really liked it had there been more angst.

[Grisette · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

After seeing many recs for this one for years, I finally got round to reading it. I had some difficulty to get into the story, mainly because of the old Scots terminology and the uneven pacing of the plot, but I was soon caught up with the drama and I ended up enjoying it. And even if some repetitive ideas leaden the pace, the writing had some very beautiful and sensible lines. I also enjoyed the layer of humour and wit that was infused in the prose.

Elspeth was an admirable heroine (so mature, even when she was only 9!) and had the will of a lioness to deal with such a stubborn (and slow!) Cormac. I am not entirely convinced he would have set Isabel aside had he not witnessed her treachery, but oh well, with his openness to admit his wrongs I was willing to try to believe him. I enjoyed him going down on his hands and knees to grovel even if I could have done without the manly reluctance to it (I get that the latter was period relevant though) - I am such a sucker for grovel scenes like this 😅.

All in all, a good book that I would recommend for the drama and quality of the plot.


P.S. That cover is an insult because the heroine is raven haired (I hope it was not meant to depict the OW who was a blonde 🤨). Was that how it was done back in 2006, slap together any kind of cover nevermind the story?

[Cruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

"In the end he would be using Elspeth, sating his body with hers while holding all else for another." p.89, loc.1169

Author: Hannah Howell
First published: 2000
Length: 329 pages, 4493 locations
Setting: Scotland, 1456. Scottish Highlands and (briefly) Scottish Court.
Sex: frequent but not always explicit. There is a lot of Almost Cheating - with a tavern wench as well as the OW. His devotion to OW is apparent during Elspeth's bedding.
Heroine: Almost rape including violence.
Hero: Cormac has a remarkable similarity to the H from Book 3 (Bethia) - poorly used by those who claim to love him. His eyes are opened to Reality and Love by his One, Elspeth.
Series: Book 4 of Howell's Highland series.

A nice Journey book as Elspeth and Cormac travel across the countryside, avoiding the BadGuy, exploring their sexual sides.

I appreciated how Howell has packed a number of plot threads in their Road Trip which wind around each other and come to ends at different points - it's not just a sudden wrapping of every plot in the final chapter. It allowed me to enjoy each line without stressing over their overlaps or a forced marrying of concepts.

What I didn't enjoy was Cormac's constant Almost Cheating. While I understand The Vow and Honour aspects of him not "betraying" Isabel, it was extremely tiring. Yes, there was grovel. Pretty damn good grovel. But the whole lead up of using Elspeth, and not even caring or checking if she was pregnant, was tiresome and slap-worthy. For the both of them.

Ultimately, it's a good, solid Medieval with nice, flawed characters in a good setting. It could have been MORE. But it works as an easy Medieval read.

Murray Family:
Three brothers – the patriarchs of the Murray Family< /i>
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
The daughters
Book 4 Highland Vow - Elspeth Murray and Corac Armstrong (Balfour+Maldie's daughter)
Book 5 Highland Knight - Avery Murray and Cameron MacAlpin (Nigel+Giselle's daughter)
Book 6 Highland Bride - Gillyanne Murray + Conor MacEnroy (Eric+Bethia's daughter)

References:
Author's website: http://hannahhowell.com/

(ISBN 9780759260245)

-CR-

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book in the series is about Elspeth and Cormac. They had met ten years before when she found and healed a seventeen year old lad. She was not but nine at the time. Now she had been kidnapped and was told she was to wed another. Cormac happened to be there and was able to help her escape. But theirs was not a smooth courtship. He had pledged himself to another ten years before. And held that vow. Even though the woman had been married and widowed several times. She, Elspeth, was not deterred. She was determined to get her man. Will Cormac uphold his vow or will the feelings he has growing for Elspeth finally break the hold the other woman has had?

[Firesofwinter · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a hateable couple. The only good part of this book was the improbably heroic cat.

This next trilogy, books 4-6, are apparently about the daughters of the Murray brothers in books 1-3. Elspeth is the daughter of Maldie and Balfour, and this book is about her affair with Cormac Armstrong. Cormac has promised himself to the woman he loves, Lady Isabel, but Elspeth has fallen for him, and has decided she will entice Cormac to cheat on Isabel with her so she can have him for herself. Her ultimate plan is to 'win' Cormac's heart by showing him that she has the best vagina of all! The book justifies this relationship by going out of its way to explain that, it's actually okay that Elspeth is a homewrecker and Cormac is a cheating philanderer, it's okay that they're having an affair even though Cormac is engaged, because Isabel is a bad person!!! This is cheater logic, lmao. This is 'side-chick' math. Very 'his gf is a bitch anyway, so it's okay that I'm trying to 'steal' him, I'm better than her anyway, she doesn't deserve him' energy.

Not only does this affair show off the poor moral character of our two MCs, the way they're so open with their sexual relationship was really improbable. Why are all these upper-class young women so eager to throw away their virginity on dudes they just met? These stories always take pains to tell us that their society sees woman as either pure or tainted. Once you've been tainted, you can never be pure again, and yet all of these books have well-born young virgins who think nothing of losing their V-Card to randoms. Elspeth also does nothing to hide this affair, and is even open about it with Cormac's friends. She doesn't fear being viewed as sexually tarnished, or being disowned by her family, even when she later discovers she's pregnant with Cormac's child-- she's 100% confident her family will accept her and her bastard child. Lol, no? Do you know anything about the society you're writing about? Men were allowed to have illegitimate kids, but a noblewoman? Absolutely not. Her baby would've been either adopted out in secret, or she would have been turned out and been forced to give birth in a Magdalene home and her baby taken by the church. Modern readers/authors really don't seem to understand how unacceptable 'sexual impropriety' in women, especially the upper classes, was.

But I haven't touched on how our couple meets yet! Elspeth meets Cormac Armstrong when she is ///nine years old///. Yep, and we even get a borderline p*do line where Cormac thinks to himself, 'This nine year old will be a very beautiful woman when she grows up.' I don't know about you, but that's way too close to, 'i can't wait till you turn 16.' How... romantic. Fucking weird.

Anyway, fast forward 10 years, Elspeth has become a rape magnet. (You may think me insensitive for saying so, but Elspeth gets kidnapped for rape 3 different times just in the first half of the book. All by different people with entirely separate motivations. Bonkers.) At the start of the book, Elspeth has been kidnapped by Sir Collin, for a forced marriage and rape. Cormac happens to rescue her, and they have a, 'omg, it's you from 10 years ago' moment. They're then on the run from the people who are trying to kidnap her back to Sir Collin in a way that's very reminiscent of books 2 and 3. Elspeth sets her heart on winning Cormac for herself, and decides to seduce him, because she's decided that ' we are mates ', because she had a crush on him when she was nine. She keeps trying to get him horny so that she can get him to change his mind and sleep with her. Cormac, despite being attracted to a now age-appropriate Elspeth, tells himself "No! I promised myself to lady Isabel!.... Okay, sure, I've cheated on Isabel before, but I can't cheat with Elspeth. I'd better have sex with a prostitute instead, y'know, someone socially inferior, so that the cheating 'doesn't count'" Ah yes, he can't have sex with a rich, well-bred virgin, but widows, tavern-maids, and prostitutes, y'know, women that have no worth or social value to him, they're okay to have sex with, because they're already 'dirty.' This story's internal logic is that sex is something inherently degrading to women, that men can use sex as a tool of domination and humiliation, that men are inherently dirty and lustful, and when they touch a woman, that dirt rubs off onto her and she is forever branded a dirty slut.

How does Elspeth respond to this situation when she finds out that Cormac isn't responding to her seduction and is instead going to release his horniness at a brothel? She 'cleverly' thwarts his attempts to have sex with women other than her by PHYSICALLY THREATENING THE WOMEN HE PLANS TO SLEEP WITH. This happens repeatedly! She literally threatens women with KNIVES to not have sex with Cormac rather than confronting him directly, because, y'know, everything is women's fault in this book, men's lust is the fault of women, men can't be held accountable for their actions, it's the WOMEN who must be threatened with knives! This is extremely cringey, it's very 'my man cheated on me and I beat up the girl he slept with instead of just breaking up with him' energy.

Yeah, so Elspeth goes and physically threatens the prostitute that Cormac has sought out? What a psycho bitch? Leave her the fuck alone, she's literally just doing her job, but SOMEHOW, the prostitute Annie is actually CHARMED immediately by Elspeth's explanation, and it works! They're instant besties. The Mary Sue ability to instantly win allies strikes again! Anyway, Elspeth explains about Lady Isabel and that she's trying to win Cormac's heart from Isabel by sleeping with him, and she and Annie are both like, "what a bitch whore that lady Isabel is."

Anyway, Elspeth eventually succeeds, and Cormac decides to cheat on Isabel with her, and they have sex. The sex scenes are CRAP and use repetitive euphemisms like 'ease the intimacy of their embrace' 'love him with her mouth' 'passion they share'. These phrases are used so frequently through the series that you really get sick of it after a while. The sex scene where Elspeth goes and takes a bath in the lake was too much for me, yeah, totally believable that a virgin girl cums from him putting his finger inside for like 3 pumps. Yep. And for the last time, the hymen doesn't 'pop' like a freshness seal and bleed. Also wow, and he came in her, this virgin girl he knows he's going to dump for his fiance. What a piece of shit. Of course she gets pregnant from this, and of course this is going to be how she gets Cormac to choose her, right? A baby will make him stay!!!

Actually, oh no, wow, what? After they have sex for the first time, Cormac is being cold and indifferent? Wow, having sex didn't make him immediately fall in love with me and by my 'mate'? Wow! Didn't see that coming, a man who attaches no value to sex and thinks nothing of cheating on his fiance of 10 years is now treating me with indifference after he got what he wanted! No fucking shit! But Elspeth is okay with this, she's a cool girl. 'She knew she shouldn't push too hard, she had to be patient and understanding.' As if he's a baby or something. Reminder that Elspeth was the virgin in the situation and Cormac is like 10 years older and sexually experienced. He's not a baby who needs emotional coddling, ELSPETH is the baby in the situation! She SHOULD be upset! No matter how much Elspeth was goading him to fuck her, Cormac still has agency and the power to say no! He chose to have sex with her, knowing he was going to discard her! But Elspeth isn't mad! Wow, what a cool girl! She's not making a big deal that he took her virginity on a riverbank and now he's being cold! She's not like other girls, who would cry and bitch and moan that he's being emotionally distant now that he got what he wanted. Elspeth is so cool and different! Ugh.

Then in Chapter 5, Elspeth the Rape Magnet gets kidnapped for rape AGAIN by some random highwaymen as she's walking through a village in broad daylight to buy food. Cormac gets pissed at her for 'going out alone' as if she somehow invited this to happen. Is this fucking Saudi Arabia? Women can't travel unaccompanied for even a shopping trip in broad daylight? It's her fault for assuming she's safe to go out alone in a village? Cormac then thinks to himself. 'Elspeth doesn't understand what she does to a man with that body and her sensual voice', i.e., suggesting that she's so hot that men can't help but become bloodthirsty raping beasts just from seeing her, and it's her fault for tempting everyone into becoming a rapist. Well, he rescued her, so she's fine now.

Just kidding, in Chapter 6, she gets into trouble AGAIN with a group of violent little boys who are torturing a cat. She then beats up a 14 year old boy, (who honestly deserved it), but the narrative goes out of its way to simultaneously describe her as tiny, delicate, and willowy, but also this 'I have 75 brothers and 170 boy cousins, you don't frighten me, i'm a tough girl' vibe. This is the dichotomy of the Mary Sue. She has to be kidnapped for rape constantly, but we can't have people thinking she's 'weak' or 'maidenly', so we have to also show her physically overpowering men/boys in a fight to remind us that she's so special because she grew up with 1482 brothers.

So yes, Cormac has caved and has had sex with Elspeth, and he takes this to mean, well, I already cheated on Isabel once, and I took Elspeth's virginity. I might as well have sex with her 25 more times. That's how much his 10 year long vow means to him. What a faithful man. Both of them are home-wrecking cheating garbage. Anyway, Elspeth thinks the more times she sleeps with Cormac, she can seduce him into loving her and marrying her. all she has to do is outsex Isabel.

Let's talk about Isabel for a minute. I cannot tell you how much this book sets you up to hate Isabel as much as possible for the first half of the book. Everything we know about Lady Isabel is hearsay. Everyone we come across takes pains to tell you, the reader, that Isabel is a whore, i.e., she's evil. Why is she a whore, exactly? All we know about her so far is that she was married four times. I thought sex within a marriage was the ONLY sex that doesn't make you a slut! So why is she a whore? And why is this bad, exactly, why is Elspeth different from her? She also slept with a man immediately after meeting him, why is she set up to be pure and virtuous, and Isabel is set up as a duplicitous whore? Well, okay, maybe Isabel has had sex with more people than Elspeth has, maybe she's had sex with some other dudes besides her husband, even Elspeth's cousin Payton has had sex with her, but she makes sure to tell Elspeth that Lady Isabel is a whore-- even though he sure was okay with sleeping with her himself. Every man in this book makes use of prostitutes, while simultaneously scorning them. The only thing we can conclude is that Isabel is evil because she... enjoys sex? In these books, sex is something that women do for men, men are the seekers of sex, sex is something they win from women, this is the natural order presented in these books. Any woman who enjoys and seeks sex for herself is therefore seen as something depraved and disgusting, e.g., up until chapter 15, we are told Isabel is evil, and the reason is because she enjoys having sex. This book could not make it more clear how much it hates women. The slut shaming is so over the top, while simultaneously and incongruously having Elspeth, the heroine, try to slut her way into winning her man.

And then, just to make sure you have fully bought into hating Isabel, when we meet her, the book makes sure you know she's evil in other ways too. The narrative HAS to do this, by the way, or the 'love story' between Elspeth and Cormac falls apart. If Lady Isabel really is a good person who Elspeth has wrongly tarred and feathered so that she can internally justify stealing Cormac, then what Elspeth is doing becomes the monstrous thing that is. Cormac's cheating becomes despicable. The narrative has to make Lady Isabel evil in order to justify Elspeth and Cormac's affair. The story needs you to think that it's okay that Cormac is cheating on his girlfriend with Elspeth, and it's okay the Elspeth is knowingly trying to insert herself into a previously established relationship and 'steal' the man, because Isabel is a bitch anyway and Elspeth is sooo much better!

This book is very invested in the idea of setting up a dichotomy between Elspeth and Isabel in very strange ways. It's very obsessed with the idea that women (Isabel) who don't want children are evil, and Elspeth is virtuous and a PROPER woman because she wants to be a mother. Very Tradfem Tradcath. (This author also seems to like writing random babies into her story, but uses tricks of circumstance to get the baby there before the main couple hooks up. She wants a baby in the story and for the heroine to play a motherly role to show off her feminine virtue, but not actually have the heroines ruin their virginity status ((very important for some reason)) to have the baby be theirs by blood. The heroine can only experience pregnancy with the main hero later.) There's this part of the book where Elspeth and Cormac find a baby on a hillside --(the natural result of catholicism creating a society in which birth control was forbidden. Their policy in no way reduced the amount of sex and pregnancies that happened, it just meant a shit-ton of unwanted kids that no one was prepared to care for, not even the church. Elspeth and Cormac should not be surprised by this, is what I'm saying.) Elspeth is scandalized and resolves to take in the baby. "Why didn't she drop the baby at the church?" she asks, "It would've been a hard life, but better than being eaten by beasts!" ... Not necessarily. Do you know anything about all the mass graves found at ancient scottish and irish catholic churches? These kids were treated as tainted bastards who were mothered by 'whores.' These babies left on the church doorstep were unwanted by the mother, by the church, by society. They were only born because birth control wasn't allowed, they never SHOULD have been born. You can't stigmatize single motherhood, simultaneously not penalize the fathers for walking away, and then get angry that women tried to avoid that stigma and the burden of unwanted pregnancy by abandoning the kids/ending the pregnancy. Elspeth goes into the town, pissed that no one wants the baby, and we find out that the mother was a 'witch', so the villagers think the baby is cursed. Elspeth is pissed that they all think the baby is cursed. Cormac is equally disgusted at these provincial hillbillies.

I reject the idea that our protagonists see witches, 'the devil's child', laying babies on hillsides, as 'superstitious nonsense.' They would have believed it too. This is pre-enlightenment. Even educated people in the 1400s believed in this shite. But our author wants to show off how moral and enlightened her protagonists are, forget about their illicit affair, you guys! Forget that they're cheating hos! They are making a moral stand here! They're good people! We get Elspeth saying that people have thought she and her mom were witches because of their folk healing, which is completely inaccurate. The majority of people burned at the stake for witchcraft were not folk healers. Everyone used folk medicine back then, if you got sick, literally all you had to treat it was plants, genius. The people accused of witchcraft were just people in the village who didn't fit in and that other people wanted to scapegoat for crop failures or miscarriages. The myth that witches were mostly young beautiful women accused of being too educated, or they were whores or seductresses, is sensationalized. There is no explanation for why Cormac and Elspeth don't believe in this universal superstition, by the way! They were raised in the same society with the same religious doctrines as these peasants. They would have believed as these villagers do.
This story is so deeply unserious.

After this little interlude with the baby, Elspeth gets kidnapped for rape AGAIN, and while she's strapped down, clothes ripped off, about to be raped, Elspeth's prayer is that 'I hope being raped doesn't turn me cold to men.' THAT is what you're praying? That you'll still be sexually useful for Cormac after this rape? That is so deeply fucking offensive I don't even know what to say.

So yeah, Cormac busts in and kills Sir Colin about halfway through this book, so the other half is about proving to us that Isabel is a bad person and that the main characters weren't being bad people for having an affair.

Anyway, Isabel ultimately gets Cormac back, and Elspeth is so pissed that Cormac didn't choose her and that her vagina powers didn't work, she's so mad that she didn't succeed in stealing him from the woman he was already in a relationship with that she physically strikes him. She is so pathetic and degusting. "I'm better than her, i would have treated you better! You don't know what love is!" You don't say. The guy who was willing to cheat on the woman he's been waiting for for 10 years? Elspeth's weeping and her heartache after she leaves Cormac never made me feel bad for her, she did this to herself.

And we then get the reveal that Isabel actually IS evil, because this book was too cowardly to confront its own narrative. Isabel is a husband killer and is stealing their money and framing Cormac for all the murders so she can enjoy the money with her actual lover, Kenneth. Cormac realizes "OH WHAT A FOOL IVE BEEN FOR THROWING ELSPETH AWAY FOR THIS WHORE! Isabel, you're a whore, you had sex outside of marriage and I heard you sucking dick! You're nothing like Elspeth, who had sex with me outside marriage and sucked my dick!" He then testifies that Isabel

Just to make sure none of us feel bad about Isabel getting executed, it's even suggested at one point that she sexually abused her own 7yo son? Hannah, you did not need to go there.

After this, Cormac has to go grovel to Elspeth to win her back. What's the point of this relationship exactly? Even if they get back together, the foundation of this relationship is sex and lies. What the hell is the point?

0/5, next.

P.S. Yet another book with the weird suggestions that Elspeth has some supernatural empathic ability like Maldie, and the story does nothing with it. Why.

[Megan (BookWifeReviews) · Rating 2 out of 5]

god what a freaking idiot. The Hero was such an idiot, I wanted to punch him right in his pretty face. I also wasn't a huge fan of the heroine.. she was a tad desperate in my opinion. He has loved this guy for 10 years and decides to throw away her chastity thinking that is enough for him to fall in love with her and leave the woman he has loved for 10 years. Thats desperate for OUR time now but back then? I mean a woman's virginity is literally all she has.. So the whole story line bugged the hell out of me. Add to that that the characters were both dumb.. I just didn't like it.

[Paraphrodite · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

So the Murray family series continues with the second generation. The three brothers were quite prolific so I can see why there are so many books.

Elspeth is the oldest daughter of the Murray laird Balfour from Highland Destiny and found and saved a wounded Cormac 10 years ago when she was still a child. She's never forgotten the handsome young lad even though he's vowed himself to another. Ten years later, Elspeth is kidnapped by a spurned suitor and is rescued by Cormac, who's still loyal to that same notorious woman who has since been widowed 4 times.

I actually thought Elspeth's use of passion to loosen Isobel's stranglehold on Cormac a pretty good tactic, especially since it appeared Cormac wasn't faithful when Isobel's not around. I did find Elspeth's kidnapping a bit farfetched as the vehicle for Cormac and Elspeth to reconnect and travel together. As the Murray family is fiercely loyal and willing to fight, I wouldn't have thought kidnapping the laird's daughter would go unpunished for the culprit.

For those readers who love a bit of groveling, there's a very good bit at the end when Cormac tried to get back into Elspeth's good grace. All in all, another solid highlander romance.

[GuisBell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bien aquí tenemos otro claro ejemplo de otro hombre cegado por una mujer horrible y también trata a la muy p... como una dama y a la dama como una p... cuando ella se lo a entregado todo por amor, yo que ellla lo hacia sufrir más al tarado del protagonista

[Chandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

AUTHOR: Hannah Howell is a wonderful Historical Romance author. Many of her series settings are in the Scottish Highlands.

SYNOPSIS -
Nine year old Elspeth, daughter of clan leader Balfour Murrary and mother Mauldie, found 17 year old Cormac Armstrong severely wounded. Ten years later, Cormac rescues Elspeth after being kidnapped by Colin MacRae. Elspeth’s only thought is to rescue Cormac from the influence of Isabel Douglas.

(5 out of 5) Stars. Elements of a Romance Book TEST =
2 central characters, 1 male, 1 female.......................YES;
One or both of the main characters are in peril....... YES;
They work together to resolve the situation.............YES; in their own ways;
Some amount of conflict and resistance in working together.....YES; He is confused about what he wants but she knows what she wants
The perilous situation brings them together………………………......YES

PASSION SCALE: This book gets (4) ASTERISK because each description of passionate moments is very sensual
* NOT very descriptive and requires imagination
** WILL make you wiggle a little)
*** WISH it was me;
**** OH BODY, whew;
***** EROTICA and well over the top

FAVORITE PART: A cat, a baby, a son.

LEAST FAVORITE PART:

YOU WILL LIKE THIS BOOK IF YOU LIKE: Historical romance, Scottish Highlands, 15th century Scotland; Clans

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing new here in this book. Makes good kindling for a fire perhaps.
Standard run of the mill garbage. The 1st half maybe,... possibly a decent script for a porno movie, and when the Sex scenes drop out of the second half of the book, its just plain boring and predictable.

The Male Character, Cormac is just a complete idiot, holding onto his Vow, not knowing the reason, but to impress on some honor on the family Name, that it has never realized before.

There is no color to this book, the descriptions of scenery poor, besides trying to imitate an irish brogue at times in the narrative, I sometimes felt I was reading a soap opera script, and the scene could have been anywhere. Nothing Historical of consequence in this novel whatsoever.

The steamy parts nothing of interest, but makes up half the book, no eroticism here, Just Sex. I was thinking, i've never put a book down during a steamy scene, but this book I did.

One Star for that reckless Feline, Muddy, who Saves the day more than once in this book.

Maybe instead of trying to rip off Penthouse letters, Ms Howell, should plagerise Puss in Boots Instead ;)

[Brittany B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.
A good book. Though the hero is a big idiot and should have had to grovel much longer... I love highlander books and this is another nice one. Nothing spectacular, but a solid intriguing love story.

Definitely worth reading. I will read other books by this author.


Audiobook: This book was well-narrated by Angela Dawe. I give her a rough time. She's definitely hit or miss for me. This time she did a fine job.

[Karen Darling · Rating 1 out of 5]

The so called hero is disgusting! He tried to have sex with every female he met. He grossed me out. I couldn't finish this book.

[TinaNoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is just so much wrong with this book and yet I was still hilariously (probably not in any way the author intended me to be) entertained.

Let me say that this author's books set in the Highlands all pretty much have the same elements just mixed up in different ways and presented in the next book. So many similarities in character and plot and even some set pieces. Hey, if it works once....

For instance, either the hero or the heroine (in this book it is the heroine Elspecth) usually has a villain who is always after them. And that villain always manages to show up in places they really shouldn't know where their quarry is. I don't know what was in the water back in the the old timey days of Scotland, but whatever it was it had unsurpassed GPS properties, because these villains pop up and find their prey like whoa! In more than one book a heroine is kidnapped by the villain while hiding under a bush (this happened in this book). or somewhere in the woods. In this one, Bad Dude manages to pop up in her room in an inn where she hadn't even planned to be herself!

Also, the villain has tons of disposable minions. They stay getting killed. In this one his reason for sending out tons forces of his men to get killed? He wanted to marry the heroine just cuz.. No particular reason.... just cuz... And it is all fine to get people killed tracking her down. I mean, Dude you should've just taken the 'L' and went home. But you didn't. So how did that work out for you?

But these are all on audible escape, and Angela Dawe does a nice job of narrating so I listen to them as a kind of white noise as I am doing other things.

The biggest con (or maybe pro, depends on your mood) is the hero in this book is a complete and total idiot. Boy is dumb. No, let me rephrase, boy is D.U.M.M. he does not even merit the correct spelling he is so stupid.

He spends the entire book (and we are told ten years of his life) pining after a woman (not the heroine) whom he thinks is all pure and victimy even though Every. SIngle. Other. Person in the book ... even the little boy who works at the tavern that he gives a coin to deliver messages.... all knows she is The Worst. His friends, his brothers, his soldiers, and yes even the little boy who probably can't even read, all roll their eyes when he talks about how hard she's had it. She's slept with every man with a speaking part and many more alluded to. She's had four husbands in that 10 year period -- all dead. She let the hero go on the run for years as blame for one of the husband's death and still this idiot thinks "well, I mean... I made a vow to her...."

To be fair he isn't the only stupid one, all of the she devil's husbands have come from the same family who are supposed to be so powerful they can rival the king. But at some point you'd think the men in the family would look around at their brethren and get suspicious. And to be fair that finally does happen. I liked the fact that her most recent fiance was all "Bitch is crazy, I am not about that life" and made a baller move in the end. Frankly I would have loved for him to have been the hero. He was only present in the book for like, a chapter, and he made a better impression than the hero did the entire book.

Anyway, even with all the problems, and the too stupid to live hero, this turned out to be an entertaining listen.

[Kait Wolfe · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really intrigued by the summary of the book, since I'm a sucker for one MC nursing the other back to health. But they meet when she's 10??? I felt like some of the ways he described her were weird and creepy-- not outright pedo vibes, but definitely weird.

Then we meet our MCs ten years later and he's promised to another woman, but she's determined to have him anyway. I thought maybe it was not going to be horrible because the hero wasn't formally engaged to the other woman, but was just "promised", whatever the fuck that means. Maybe it was a family obligation he felt he had to fulfill and there was going to be some tasty Romeo and Juliet, star crossed, families at odds-type tropes.

NOPE. It was horrible. They kept justifying their "trespasses" and it made my stomach turn. Their justifications included a lot of the "OW is eeevvvillll" trope, which I am SO over. It's 2020, women should support women.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unrequited love
Forbidden love
Age gap (10 years)
Love triangle

The h has been madly in love with H since she was a little girl. They meet again, but he is betrothed to an awful woman. She seduces him pretty hard- knowing that he is not going to break his betrothal and he slowly falls in love with her. She was a bit to desperate for my tastes, but it worked out in the end because he missed her love so much. I wish she played a little harder to get and didn’t give him the whole “you’re gonna miss me when I’m gone” speech after that last painful betrayal. Otherwise, I would have rated it 5 stars!

[Hamisoitil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Voilà une histoire qui m'a convaincue. Même si je trouve que le langage utilisé dans ce livre est un peu trop moderne à mon gout cela ne m'a pas empêché de le savourer pleinement.

Bon par où commencer ?
Elspeth agée de 8 ou 9 ans, tombe par hasard sur un jeune homme caché sur ses terres, le soigne et dans son coeur de petite fille sait à jamais qu'il sera l'amour de sa vie, son chevalier.

Des années passent, notre chère Elspeth a bien grandi et se retrouve coincée entre les mains d'un homme qui l'a veut pour femme et se fera sauver in extremis par un homme mystérieux qui n'est autre que Cormac, l'amour de sa vie et s'enfuient ensemble en direction du château du Roi pour ensuite retrouver les siens, sa famille.

Mais le trajet va être très long pour arriver à destination et Elspeth va tout mettre en oeuvre pour conquérir son coeur d'homme. Aujourd'hui, ce n'est plus une gamine de 8 ans, c'est une jeune femme qui l'aime depuis sa plus tendre enfance et pour elle, il ne peut qu'être à lui.

Hélas, Cormac, n'est pas un homme libre. Il s'est lié à une femme avec un passé lourd. Une promesse depuis son enfance.
Et une fois qu'Elspeth retrouvera les siens, il ira de son côté épouser cette femme qu'il aime ou qu'il croit aimer.
Un choc pour elle quand celui-ci lui annoncera cette promesse faite à Isabelle, et qu'il se doit d'honorer quoi qu'il arrive.

Mais c'est mal connaitre Elspeth. Elle jouera de son charme, de cette sensualité que nous femmes connaissons si bien^^, de son innocence et surtout que tout cela ne laissera pas insensible notre beau Highlander.


Citation : Se battre exigeait sérénité et logique. Les sentiments n'étaient pas proscrits, mais seulement parce qu'ils vous donnaient la force de continuer malgré la douleur, et de tuer quand il le fallait. Il était bon de montrer d'un peu de prudence, d’instinct de conservation...mais beaucoup moins de se laisser guider par la colère. Elle vous rendait négligent, vous hurlait de blesser, de massacrer. Elle pouvait priver le plus aguerri des combattants de tout son savoir. (Page 209)

Alors pas beaucoup de temps pour mettre tout en oeuvre pour qu'il succombe.

Beaucoup de plaisir à lire ce livre. Super original.
Les protagonistes ont du tempérament, surtout notre chère Elspeth. J'adore.
Déterminée, combative, jalouse et amoureuse d'un homme qui parfois recevrait bien des claques de ma part.

J'ai parfois rigolé quand celui-ci avait des petits besoins sexuels et partait discrètement à la recherche d'une fille facile dans une auberge pensant qu' Elspeth ne verrait pas et que finalement s'en apercevait. Des barres de rires.

Moi, j'ai passé un très bon moment.
- See more at: http://hamisoitil.blogspot.fr/2013/05...

[Golden Time · Rating 2 out of 5]

Before reading the book : I hope there's a redemption for this hero
After reading: JH@GY@F@@*%#CRTT

I am very very very annoyed hahaha well what could I expect? I read reviews by other members and has learned a lot about the hero from it but did it stopped me from reading it? No. Suddenly a stupid voice came to me and said "HEY LET'S READ THIS BOOK BECAUSE I KNOW YOU'RE SO CURIOUS ABOUT IT" and so I read it and I couldn't stop myself from reading whahaha .. I am annoyed at myself after... ^^

So anyway just to be honest I skipped many chapters, I even skipped the sex scenes. It feels so distasteful reading about such intimacy and knowing that the hero has no plan to give up the other woman despite it all... How can I enjoy reading about the Hero and Heroine making love when I know he still and will continually HONOR his vow to the OW (whore)?! How! I can't! I just can't!

So after skipping some chapters I picked chapter 13 to start reading again. By then my blood already boils so much..... How can she (heroine) think of Cormac as poor? Ha ha ha, are you kidding me? Why pity the jerk it's not like he is completely ignorant about the OW unfaithfulness, he knows but ignores it so you see dear Elspeth he choose to be in the poor state where he is! A fool! Yes that's what he is! Anyways I thought I escaped too many distasteful display of hero's foolishness by skipping chapters, but nope I still witness many. (face palm galore) (sigh) Around chapter 14 I am totally out of my wits (Eh Genieve it's only one chapter after 13 where you started and you are losing your mind?).

But I can't skip more chapters I already skip too much so I just continued to torture myself and go on... While reading I feel like weeping for my own impulse and foolishness ha ha ha... What am I doing with my life! Lol, see I can laugh about it now but when reading this I was not laughing at all... Then there's the bastard waaaaaaaaaaaa help me please... Good thing the child is not a bad one like his ma... it's a bit of relief ... Anyways I am happy that the OW died, I am not a kind person to be sadden by a vermin's death so I enjoyed it immensely!

Later, the hero tried to woo the heroine but she ignored him! He tried winning her for 2 months by sending her gifts, to hell with your gifts man it isn't enough after all the pain you have caused her. I wanted to see him grovel some more and longer for the heroine's forgiveness but when he did a grand gesture of crawling in front of the heroine's father, the heroine couldn't do anything anymore and comes the wedding and forgiveness... Tadan the End.... ^^

[La Passionnée · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suivez-moi sur La Passionnée, sur Facebook : @LaPassionDesLivres

Les Murray – Hannah Howell
Une série entraînante. Addictive. Une passion dévorante! Une romance historique captivante!
Ok, ce n’est pas parce qu’ils ont le même nom que moi que je me suis intéressée à eux… Hihi, je voulais être claire! :D Mais disons que cela à attirer mon regard. Mon envie d’en connaître davantage sur cette série, sur ces personnages et sur cette romance historique.

*Vous n’avez pas besoin de lire les romans en ordre afin de bien comprendre l’histoire. Mais voici l’ordre si vous voulez lire les séries dans le bon ordre : Les Chefs du Clan Murray, Le Clan Murray et Les Femmes du Clan Murray.
Pour vous présenter ces romances, je vous dévoilerai les tomes un après l’autre, PAS nécessairement dans L’ORDRE, avec quelques citations que j’ai particulièrement aimées.
__________

TOME 1 : Le clan Murray - La promesse des Highlands

Elspeth Murray a sauvé la vie d’un chevalier étant enfant, elle a bien appris auprès de sa mère guérisseuse, et elle en est tombée amoureuse, tout simplement. Cependant, ce Cormac est recherché par un autre clan; alors, une fois guéri, il a dû fuir à nouveau. Plusieurs années passèrent et, par chance, c’est Cormac Armstrong qui va l’aider à son tour. Elspeth a été enlevée par un prétendant violent et assoiffé de vengeance et Cormac fera tout pour la protéger.

« -Il le faut : le bougre me résiste de toutes ses forces, et je n’ai qu’une quinzaine de jours pour le conquérir. Il se croit amoureux d’une autre, vers qui nous faisons d’ailleurs route. »

C’est pendant leur fuite que Elspeth saisira sa chance. Car oui, ils sont bel et bien en fuite, car son affreux prétendant tut beaucoup de personnes sur son passage afin de la récupérer. Et, Elspeth a toujours des sentiments très forts pour son chevalier. À plusieurs reprises, elle lui sauvera la vie pendant leur évasion, mais il fera de même pour elle… Ils passeront beaucoup de temps ensemble, ce qui lui permettra de mettre son plan de conquérir le cœur de son chevalier avant la fin de leur voyage… Mais cela, c’était sans compter que la promesse que Cormac a fait à une autre femme dix ans auparavant.

« -Je me demande si tu sais ce qu’est l’amour, poursuivit-elle. Moi, je ne t’aurais jamais quitté. On n’aurait jamais eu à me traîner, enchaînée, devant l’autel pour que j’y épouse un autre homme. J’aurais été à tes côtés pendant que tu fuyais les Douglas, et j’aurais retournée chaque rocher d’Écosse pour retrouver le véritable meurtrier. J’aurais clamé ton innocence d’un bout à l’autre du pays. Voilà ce qu’est l’amour… »

Beaucoup de péripéties les attendent. Beaucoup d’action, d’aventure… De nouveaux compagnons se joindront à eux pendant leur voyage : un petit chat blessé dont Elspeth sera pris d’affection, ainsi qu’un bébé laissé dans la forêt afin de mourir… Rien qui ne surprendra la famille d’Elspeth qui ont l’habitude qu’elle soigne tout le monde (qu’elle sème « beaucoup de boiteux et d’estropiés » sur leurs terres, même les cœurs douteux, épris d’attention pour une autre.

« En lui tendant l’enfant, il prit conscience que leur petit groupe venait d’accueillir un nouveau membre, aussi vulnérable qu’exigeant. »

Des personnages tout simplement extraordinaires, au caractère bien trempé. Une romance INÉDITE. Entraînante. Où l’amour mérite une seconde chance. Une histoire addictive, pleine de péripéties avec une touche d’humour et de passion intense! À lire! 10/10
__________

TOME 1 : Les chefs du clan Murray – Le destin des Highlands

« Il ne lui restait plus qu’à espérer que sa sottise n’ait pas causé de trop lourdes pertes. »

Cette fois-ci, nous faisons la rencontre du chef du clan Murray, le grand Balfour Murray… dont le jeune frère, Eric, vient de se faire enlever par un clan ennemi. En voulant le récupérer, c’est leur frère, Nigel, qui sera blessé au combat, dans un traquenard. Par chance, en route vers leur château, ils feront la rencontre d’une guérisseuse, une inconnue qui semble avoir de meilleurs dons pour soigner. Balfour n’a donc d’autre choix que de l’emmener avec eux pour son frère Nigel, quitte à apprendre à connaître la jeune femme qui était seule sur les routes une fois rendus à leur demeure.

Maldie est animée par un désir de vengeance et elle fera tout pour atteindre ses objectifs, même si elle doit détourner un rien la réalité. Cependant, elle n’est pas la seule à voir un profond désir de vengeance, Balfour aussi. Tous deux ont le même objectif sans le savoir, vaincre Beaton, mais pour deux diverses raisons. Malheureusement, en gardant ses secrets, Maldie commence à semer le doute dans la tête du chef de clan, qui se doit de protéger les siens.

« Son mutisme la dérouta. Adossé à la porte, Balfour se contentait de la dévisager, les bras croisés, les poings serrés, manifestement tendu. Son regard dur, froid, la glaça aussitôt. Elle chercha à sonder ses émotions et deviner la raison de sa gravité, en vain. Malgré son expression éloquente, il était parvenu à se fermer à elle. La peur l’envahit lorsqu’elle eut l’impression de ne plus reconnaître l’homme qui se tenait devant elle… »

Balfour pourra-t-il mettre ces doutes de côté et écouter son cœur? Maldie a été élevée pour se venger, mais face à la réalité, face à la mort, aura-t-elle la force de se battre contre ses sentiments?

Ce tome était différent, plus descriptif. Plus profond, poignant et bouleversant, mais il y avait également beaucoup de secrets, beaucoup de mystères. Chacun des personnages était attendrissant, et nous permettait d’en apprendre davantage sur l’histoire. L’auteure a su me toucher par sa douceur dans ce tome. 9/10
__________

Les Murray sont un clan puissant, mais petit. Ils feront tout pour protéger les leurs, les garder en sécurité, et pourquoi pas trouver l’amour en même temps. Hannah Howell nous entraîne dans son univers avec sa plume descriptive, colorée et passionnante. Ces romans se dévorent en quelques heures, ils sont addictifs et attendrissants. De PARFAITS entre-deux! Mais je vous conseille de faire cette lecture dans l’ordre, afin de faciliter votre compréhension de l’univers et ces nombreux personnages.

Dans chacun des tomes, vous y trouverez une touche d’amour, de suspense, d’action, mais surtout d’aventure et de passion. Chacun des romans peut se lire individuellement, ce sont de parfaits entre-deux! Une lecture passionnante, émouvante. Une romance historique à lire!

P.S. : Les résumés complets peuvent être fournis sur demande avec plaisir.
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[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve been very critical of the way the author of this series creates plot lines that are dependent upon the absolute stupidity of the characters. This book is another perfect example of that.

Cormac has been committed to the same woman for 10 years because he made her a promise when he was a teen. Since that time, she has been married to 4 other men, all whom died suspiciously shortly after the marriage. Cormac has been on the run because he was accused of killing one of the husbands. Despite the “promise” between them, she keeps marrying other men because she is “forced” to. Meanwhile, no matter how many times other people tell him that she is a whore and probably a murderer who doesn’t give a crap about him, Cormac still believes she is an innocent victim who loves him and wants to marry him. Seriously, how much of an idiot are we supposed to believe this man is?

And then there is Elspeth… the woman who tries to get him to break his promise to the other woman and fall in love with her instead. How does she do it? Sex. She literally believes that if she gives him enough sex he will fall in love with her instead. That’s it. Nothing else. Because real love is based on how many times a couple can have sex in a night and nothing else? Sounds brilliant and healthy (rolling my eyes.)

This book’s reliance on characters being dumb is especially bad because there is almost no plot outside of this. I really want to like these books because there are some things I do enjoy (usually the secondary characters and the Scottish clans), but I’m getting so frustrated with the writing.

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one had me up to the wee hours last night because I really wanted to finish it.

Hero: Cormac Armstrong. He owes Elspeth Murray, because many years ago she saved his life.

Heroine: Elspeth. A creepy evil guy has decided she WILL marry him whether she wants to do so or not.

Villain: Said creepy evil guy.

Bonus villain: The creepy evil black widow that Cormac thinks he loves.

As the hero and heroine go on the run from Villain A, an attraction flares between them. It's nothing new to Elspeth, who has nurtured a secret lust for Cormac since they first met. She decides that she's going to win him away from the creepy evil black widow, even if she has to throw herself at him, which she promptly does. As they travel, they manage to pick up a few strays, which add some humor to the story.

There are no great surprises in the story. Elspeth is wearing her heart on her sleeve, and she's bound to get it broken. Some very good emotional moments during the process, though I was actually a little annoyed with the hero, who seems to feel sorry that he lost a good thing, rather than actually feeling horrible because he hurt her.

Good read to the end.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

his story was sort of hard for me to get through. At the age of 9, Elspeth falls madly in love with Cormac and knows that they will be together. I remember myself at age 9 and that was pretty much the last thing on my mind. Then, ten years later they happen to be at the same place where he is able to rescue her. At first it sounds like a nice little love story. Then you have to fight through the hundreds of pages where Cormac is the biggest idiot on the planet. He annoyed me so many times I had to put the book down. This was not one of Howell's best and I would not really recommend you read it unless you really want to know more about Elspeth and Cormac and are a Howell fan.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highland vow continues the Murray Family saga, and now it's Elspeth Murray's turn to take a gamble on love. As with the other books in this series, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the characters. I enjoyed watching the chemistry between Elspeth and Cormac explode and couldn't help but root for their HEA. I was pleasantly suprised, and pleased, w/ the unpredictability of the plot, and my romantic heart absolutely loved the ending! I would def recommend this book and the other's in the sieries to fans of historical romance.

[Daneesha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, so this book was so sweet. But the hero was so stupid. I mean he had this "vow" to another woman who was clearly using him and being unfaithful to him. And the heroine tried to make him see. She gave him her all! The last 50 pages or so, he finally realized what he had...particularly after he caught the woman he had a vow to rutting with some man.

[Carolyn F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the book. I thought the beginning was great. I haven't read the other Murray books (that I remember) but I had no problem understanding the characters, etc. Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Would recommend it.

[Shauni · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.