What do you think?
Rate this book
Raven: The Broken
She hides a deadly secret. He’s sworn to keep her safe. But in the Highlands, nothing is as it seems.
Highland romance. Forbidden love. A heroine who refuses to be tamed.
Scotland, 1728 — In a land ruled by clan loyalties and political unrest, Raven has learned to survive by her blade and her wits. Scarred by betrayal and hunted by her kin, she trusts no one—least of all the brooding Highland warrior who swears to protect her.
Declan is bound by an oath of honor, yet Raven challenges everything he thought he knew about loyalty, justice, and desire. Drawn together by danger and an undeniable passion, they must navigate treacherous alliances, clan rivalries, and a web of deceit that could destroy them both.
From windswept moors to shadowed taverns and perilous seas, Raven is a sweeping historical romance filled
Fierce, independent heroine
Protective Highland warrior hero
Forced proximity and slow-burn tension
Political intrigue and betrayal
Edge-of-your-seat danger and adventure
If you love Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, Johanna Lindsey’s sweeping historical romances, and stories where love blooms in the heart of danger, Raven will steal your breath—and your heart. This is the first book in the trilogy series, The Broken. It ends on a cliffhanger but there is a happy for now ending.
Scotland, 1728 — In a land ruled by clan loyalties and political unrest, Raven has learned to survive by her blade and her wits. Scarred by betrayal and hunted by her kin, she trusts no one—least of all the brooding Highland warrior who swears to protect her.
Declan is bound by an oath of honor, yet Raven challenges everything he thought he knew about loyalty, justice, and desire. Drawn together by danger and an undeniable passion, they must navigate treacherous alliances, clan rivalries, and a web of deceit that could destroy them both.
From windswept moors to shadowed taverns and perilous seas, Raven is a sweeping historical romance filled
Fierce, independent heroine
Protective Highland warrior hero
Forced proximity and slow-burn tension
Political intrigue and betrayal
Edge-of-your-seat danger and adventure
If you love Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, Johanna Lindsey’s sweeping historical romances, and stories where love blooms in the heart of danger, Raven will steal your breath—and your heart. This is the first book in the trilogy series, The Broken. It ends on a cliffhanger but there is a happy for now ending.
492 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 30, 2025
5 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 7, 2025
I orginally met T.S. Smith on a goodreads forum when I decided to sign up to be an arc reader for this story. I was drawn into this story because it was historical fiction and the fact that the FMC was handy with a sword. I am super glad that I took the opportunity to read this book because it is filled with action and adventure! If you are someone who enjoys Outlander or even the children's movie Brave then you will definitely enjoy this book.
The plot takes place in eighteenth century Scotland where there is much Civil unrest. We are introduced to Raven who has been unlucky since the day she was born seeing as her mother died shortly after she was born. She manages to grow up being trained in combat which comes in handy when her kinsman betray her and try to run her off. She ends up teaming up with a man named Declan who is sworn to protect her. The journey will be filled with adventure and danger but if they. Stick to the path they will manage to overcome.
The plot takes place in eighteenth century Scotland where there is much Civil unrest. We are introduced to Raven who has been unlucky since the day she was born seeing as her mother died shortly after she was born. She manages to grow up being trained in combat which comes in handy when her kinsman betray her and try to run her off. She ends up teaming up with a man named Declan who is sworn to protect her. The journey will be filled with adventure and danger but if they. Stick to the path they will manage to overcome.
September 30, 2025
I received this as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I reeeeally enjoyed this book! It’s a solid 5 ⭐️ from me!
Summary:
“Scotland, 1728 — In a land ruled by clan loyalties and political unrest, Raven has learned to survive by her blade and her wits. Scarred by betrayal and hunted by her kin, she trusts no one—least of all the brooding Highland warrior who swears to protect her.
Declan is bound by an oath of honor, yet Raven challenges everything he thought he knew about loyalty, justice, and desire. Drawn together by danger and an undeniable passion, they must navigate treacherous alliances, clan rivalries, and a web of deceit that could destroy them both.”
Reading Experience:
I wanted a break from romantasy after finishing The Shepherd Series by Rachel Gillig and happened across the opportunity to read this as an ARC. I am so glad I did! Simply put, this historical fiction was a fantastic read. The pacing and world-building kept my attention, and I thought the FMC and MMC were a good balance for each other. Without giving too much away, Raven’s trauma-induced behavior and mannerisms were perfectly met with Declan’s patience, respect, and good-naturedness, and I loved watching how each grew as the story progressed.
”Criticisms”*:
• Minor grammatical errors/typos
• Continuity with the Scottish accent in dialogue (although that may be entirely on me)
• The jump between the end of the first part and beginning of the second part was super sudden — it read like the book could easily have been two separate books but I’m really not complaining! I felt lucky to be able to read what felt like books 1 and 2 all in one!
*Gentle reminder that these are my opinions. In no way do I think these should prevent a prospective reader from reading this book at all. 😊
Overall: 5 of 5
I really felt like I was in a Dungeons and Dragons sort of setting with taverns and castles, battles and traveling, twists and turns. I was thoroughly captivated by this story and certainly can’t wait to read future installments — the cliffhanger has me pining! I’ll be buying the published version and reading this whirlwind of a story again very soon. 09302025
Summary:
“Scotland, 1728 — In a land ruled by clan loyalties and political unrest, Raven has learned to survive by her blade and her wits. Scarred by betrayal and hunted by her kin, she trusts no one—least of all the brooding Highland warrior who swears to protect her.
Declan is bound by an oath of honor, yet Raven challenges everything he thought he knew about loyalty, justice, and desire. Drawn together by danger and an undeniable passion, they must navigate treacherous alliances, clan rivalries, and a web of deceit that could destroy them both.”
Reading Experience:
I wanted a break from romantasy after finishing The Shepherd Series by Rachel Gillig and happened across the opportunity to read this as an ARC. I am so glad I did! Simply put, this historical fiction was a fantastic read. The pacing and world-building kept my attention, and I thought the FMC and MMC were a good balance for each other. Without giving too much away, Raven’s trauma-induced behavior and mannerisms were perfectly met with Declan’s patience, respect, and good-naturedness, and I loved watching how each grew as the story progressed.
”Criticisms”*:
• Minor grammatical errors/typos
• Continuity with the Scottish accent in dialogue (although that may be entirely on me)
• The jump between the end of the first part and beginning of the second part was super sudden — it read like the book could easily have been two separate books but I’m really not complaining! I felt lucky to be able to read what felt like books 1 and 2 all in one!
*Gentle reminder that these are my opinions. In no way do I think these should prevent a prospective reader from reading this book at all. 😊
Overall: 5 of 5
I really felt like I was in a Dungeons and Dragons sort of setting with taverns and castles, battles and traveling, twists and turns. I was thoroughly captivated by this story and certainly can’t wait to read future installments — the cliffhanger has me pining! I’ll be buying the published version and reading this whirlwind of a story again very soon. 09302025
September 5, 2025
Surprisingly a really pleasant read!!
This book felt like a romantasy even though it technically wasn't fantasy, more of a historical fiction!
The story felt very fast paced, easy read standalone with thrilling Scottish vibes to it.
I really liked both main characters and their relationship to each other even though 2/3rds of the book I wanted to slap both of them for not just communicating with one another to avoid some of the unessisary drama.
I felt like the book could have been made up into parts since you are covering a long timeframe and different aspects to each character's life, along with the battles and political intrigue going on around them.
Overall I had a lot of fun with this book and can't wait to see what else the author comes up with for future books!
I am honored to have been selected as an ARC reader and be one of the first to rate and review this wonderful story!
This book felt like a romantasy even though it technically wasn't fantasy, more of a historical fiction!
The story felt very fast paced, easy read standalone with thrilling Scottish vibes to it.
I really liked both main characters and their relationship to each other even though 2/3rds of the book I wanted to slap both of them for not just communicating with one another to avoid some of the unessisary drama.
I felt like the book could have been made up into parts since you are covering a long timeframe and different aspects to each character's life, along with the battles and political intrigue going on around them.
Overall I had a lot of fun with this book and can't wait to see what else the author comes up with for future books!
I am honored to have been selected as an ARC reader and be one of the first to rate and review this wonderful story!
September 28, 2025
From the very first page, I was captivated. The world-building is absolutely fantastic—rich, immersive, and so easy to sink into. I found myself emotionally connected to the FMC right away, and that connection only deepened as the story unfolded.
There’s a perfect balance of intrigue throughout, keeping me turning pages and fully invested. Even after finishing, the story still lives rent-free in my mind. And as someone who adores a Scottish touch in books, I absolutely loved how that element was woven in.
A brilliant read that I’ll be recommending to friends—and one I already can’t wait to revisit
There’s a perfect balance of intrigue throughout, keeping me turning pages and fully invested. Even after finishing, the story still lives rent-free in my mind. And as someone who adores a Scottish touch in books, I absolutely loved how that element was woven in.
A brilliant read that I’ll be recommending to friends—and one I already can’t wait to revisit
September 29, 2025
First, I want to say that I am grateful again to be allowed the opportunity to read an ARC of Raven. It is a very unique thing to read a book before it “hits the shelves”. But let’s get to the story itself!
Raven was a three and a half star ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ✨ read for me. I did like the story but I thought It lacked depth a lot at times throughout the story. There was sort of a disconnection to the characters so they came off a little one dimensional. Raven did not seem to grow much though quite a bit of time does elapse from the time the story starts to the finish. My complaint with Declan (our MMC) is that within a month of them knowing one another he’s a bit too over the top for Raven. He is blinded by this love for her and even though they spend one night together and then six years promptly goes by, he acts as if the relationship he and Raven had is one that had been ongoing for a long time. It felt unrealistic. His descriptions of her were just out of place with the small amount of time we had seeing the two of them together in the story. There are inconsistencies at times too, where it almost seems like the author forgot she wrote something and later on it doesn’t make 100% sense but it’s not so blatant that it wrecks the story. It just makes it seem odd at times. There are also things like Declan’s nickname for Raven “mo chridhe” where we don’t ever actually have an explanation for what that means. We assume it’s an endearment, of course. I just usually like an explanation for things like that in the story somewhere.
**SPOILERS**
When the story transitions to 6 years forward after she falls from the cliff, I found Raven to be sort of ridiculous. I think the reason why is because she has been chased, shunned, captured, beaten, etc. but in my head I kept asking WHY? Why is she this important? Why does everyone seem to be out to get her? She is but one young woman. I mean she acts like everyone in the world is out to get her and it just doesn’t make sense to me. Even with her position within her own clan being the chieftain’s daughter, she would not have had legal right to claim the clan after he died as a female (if you’re going off historical accuracy). I also felt a big disconnection with the first part of the story with Declan and Raven disguising in high English society and the way the story turned after. It made me wonder why Wrotham was such a big deal when in all actuality…he just wasn’t.
I also want to take a moment and say that I did not love the parallel of how the author introduced Agar. It was always very clearly in the context of trying to fool us into thinking she had a lover because it always coincided with her feelings with Declan and I didn’t think it was executed particularly well.
One inconsistency I did think retracted from the story was Bruehelin. She’s a nice character, and she knew Raven fell from the cliff and (if I’m remembering correctly) went and talked with Alistor while Declan was on his rampage looking for Raven. But later on we see Bruehelin and Raven living together. The issue is, Declan never knew she was alive until about a year before (5 years after the cliff fall). So how is it that Bruehelin found Raven but Declan didn’t and why didn’t Bruehelin say something? It just seems weird. How did their paths cross again for this all to come to fruition?
In any case, I definitely was kept confused at every turn. Declan’s constant back and forth of almost telling her the truth became more annoying than cliffhanging after a while and I really just wanted him to spit it out and Raven to stop running away. They both seemed immature in that sense.
Overall, I didn’t dislike the story. It had compelling points and I think with some fine tuning for misspellings, run on sentences tense issues and slight story corrections, it would be a nice read. I will return for the sequel! Y’all be sure to support authors by getting their stories out there and always encouraging them to grow with every word they write! 📖 #arcreview #books #raven #scottishhighlands #fiction #bookreviews
Raven was a three and a half star ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ✨ read for me. I did like the story but I thought It lacked depth a lot at times throughout the story. There was sort of a disconnection to the characters so they came off a little one dimensional. Raven did not seem to grow much though quite a bit of time does elapse from the time the story starts to the finish. My complaint with Declan (our MMC) is that within a month of them knowing one another he’s a bit too over the top for Raven. He is blinded by this love for her and even though they spend one night together and then six years promptly goes by, he acts as if the relationship he and Raven had is one that had been ongoing for a long time. It felt unrealistic. His descriptions of her were just out of place with the small amount of time we had seeing the two of them together in the story. There are inconsistencies at times too, where it almost seems like the author forgot she wrote something and later on it doesn’t make 100% sense but it’s not so blatant that it wrecks the story. It just makes it seem odd at times. There are also things like Declan’s nickname for Raven “mo chridhe” where we don’t ever actually have an explanation for what that means. We assume it’s an endearment, of course. I just usually like an explanation for things like that in the story somewhere.
**SPOILERS**
When the story transitions to 6 years forward after she falls from the cliff, I found Raven to be sort of ridiculous. I think the reason why is because she has been chased, shunned, captured, beaten, etc. but in my head I kept asking WHY? Why is she this important? Why does everyone seem to be out to get her? She is but one young woman. I mean she acts like everyone in the world is out to get her and it just doesn’t make sense to me. Even with her position within her own clan being the chieftain’s daughter, she would not have had legal right to claim the clan after he died as a female (if you’re going off historical accuracy). I also felt a big disconnection with the first part of the story with Declan and Raven disguising in high English society and the way the story turned after. It made me wonder why Wrotham was such a big deal when in all actuality…he just wasn’t.
I also want to take a moment and say that I did not love the parallel of how the author introduced Agar. It was always very clearly in the context of trying to fool us into thinking she had a lover because it always coincided with her feelings with Declan and I didn’t think it was executed particularly well.
One inconsistency I did think retracted from the story was Bruehelin. She’s a nice character, and she knew Raven fell from the cliff and (if I’m remembering correctly) went and talked with Alistor while Declan was on his rampage looking for Raven. But later on we see Bruehelin and Raven living together. The issue is, Declan never knew she was alive until about a year before (5 years after the cliff fall). So how is it that Bruehelin found Raven but Declan didn’t and why didn’t Bruehelin say something? It just seems weird. How did their paths cross again for this all to come to fruition?
In any case, I definitely was kept confused at every turn. Declan’s constant back and forth of almost telling her the truth became more annoying than cliffhanging after a while and I really just wanted him to spit it out and Raven to stop running away. They both seemed immature in that sense.
Overall, I didn’t dislike the story. It had compelling points and I think with some fine tuning for misspellings, run on sentences tense issues and slight story corrections, it would be a nice read. I will return for the sequel! Y’all be sure to support authors by getting their stories out there and always encouraging them to grow with every word they write! 📖 #arcreview #books #raven #scottishhighlands #fiction #bookreviews
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 21, 2025
Breakout masterpiece! Based in the early 1700s in Scotland. In the middle of the clannish wars , a child was born with her mother dying in childbirth, she was raised to become a warrior. Her only source was kidnapped from her and this becomes the beginning of her revenge mission.
She has learned how to move without sound from place to in the shadows to get what she needs.
She is contacted by Allister, someone she thinks she can trust but little does she know he has secrets as deep as hers. He asks her for help on a mission and assigns her a guardian, Declan.
But Declan has secrets of his own and is not willing to share. Should she trust him? She doesn’t at the beginning but she has no choice in traveling with him. The longer they are together the more the sparks fly and one evening, just briefly they let down their quards and become more than just acquaintances . But just briefly.
She ends up in the upper class of London in order to get closer to her target. Playing her part and Declan playing his, they both work together for revenge in several ways that each of them don’t even know they are out for themselves and together.
After a major battle against the enemy, Raven falls off a cliff and disappears. Declan is devastated.
Years pass , he thinks she’s dead.
With a plot twist you don’t see coming when he finds her again , they still don’t trust each other anymore and it takes the enemy to bring them together.
This book is full of love and revenge, trust and vengeance, how you can love someone so deep, but not trust your own feelings Because you have been hurt so many times.
And then she leaves you with a cliff hanger at the end and I can’t wait for the next book!!
She has learned how to move without sound from place to in the shadows to get what she needs.
She is contacted by Allister, someone she thinks she can trust but little does she know he has secrets as deep as hers. He asks her for help on a mission and assigns her a guardian, Declan.
But Declan has secrets of his own and is not willing to share. Should she trust him? She doesn’t at the beginning but she has no choice in traveling with him. The longer they are together the more the sparks fly and one evening, just briefly they let down their quards and become more than just acquaintances . But just briefly.
She ends up in the upper class of London in order to get closer to her target. Playing her part and Declan playing his, they both work together for revenge in several ways that each of them don’t even know they are out for themselves and together.
After a major battle against the enemy, Raven falls off a cliff and disappears. Declan is devastated.
Years pass , he thinks she’s dead.
With a plot twist you don’t see coming when he finds her again , they still don’t trust each other anymore and it takes the enemy to bring them together.
This book is full of love and revenge, trust and vengeance, how you can love someone so deep, but not trust your own feelings Because you have been hurt so many times.
And then she leaves you with a cliff hanger at the end and I can’t wait for the next book!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 1, 2025
Raven by TS Smith
Some books take a bit to get into but not this one. Raven is has a lot of secrets and she doesn’t trust anyone, not completely. Except her mother Roisin.
She looses everything and everyone.
Raven and Declan are on a mission to find answers, they are in treacherous territory and have to try to trust each other.
We read from both Raven and Declan’s POV, I like we know both of their POV and how they’re both feeling.
So many twists and turns happen, I wanted to shake her to ask her “what’s wrong with you” at times but I can relate to her. Raven has been lost, hurt, and burned.
I loved Raven by TS Smith
Five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I was given an ARC for my honest opinion and review.
Release on September 30th 2025
Some books take a bit to get into but not this one. Raven is has a lot of secrets and she doesn’t trust anyone, not completely. Except her mother Roisin.
She looses everything and everyone.
Raven and Declan are on a mission to find answers, they are in treacherous territory and have to try to trust each other.
We read from both Raven and Declan’s POV, I like we know both of their POV and how they’re both feeling.
So many twists and turns happen, I wanted to shake her to ask her “what’s wrong with you” at times but I can relate to her. Raven has been lost, hurt, and burned.
I loved Raven by TS Smith
Five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I was given an ARC for my honest opinion and review.
Release on September 30th 2025
October 20, 2025
I loved this book. It was full of intrigue and secrets and plot twists. I loved the way that it was told with a series of flashbacks that helped you understand the present moment without giving away too much until just the right moment. This book is so worth the read. The characters are so strong despite everything they go through. I can’t wait for the next book.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews