Glühende Herzen in den Highlands

Highland Heather and Hearts Scottish Romance #1

by Carmen Caine, Annika Dick (Translator)

Ruan MacLeod hat ein für allemal genug von Frauen. Schließlich bedeuteten sie nichts als Ärger. Nach seiner wilden Jugendzeit zurück auf Skye will er endlich Frieden finden. Jedenfalls will er auf keinen Fall seinen Clan spalten oder gar einen Krieg mit dem Laird MacDonald von Duntulum anzetteln. Ebensowenig möchte er heiraten, und ganz gewiss nicht eine Frau, der der schlimmstmögliche Ruf vorauseilt. Doch obwohl sie doppelt so alt wie er ist, groß wie ein Pferd und Mutter von mehreren unehelichen Kindern, willigt er ein, um die Freiheit seiner Schwester zu retten.

Aber auch das geht vollkommen schief.

An seinem Hochzeitstag steht nämlich ein verführerisches, grünäugiges Mädchen namens Bree vor ihm. Eine Katastrophe auf zwei Beinen, stürzt seine Braut seine Welt ins Chaos und bringt seinen Entschluss, nie mehr zu lieben, ins Wanken.

Von ihrer eigenen Mutter verraten, ist Bree nach Skye geflohen, in der Hoffnung, dort ihren verschollenen Vater zu finden. Stattdessen wird sie als Ersatzbraut mit Ruan MacLeod verheiratet. Da sie die Burg nicht verlassen kann, muss sie sich gegen die Brüder und die geisteskranke Frau des Lairds des Clans behaupten.

Schüchtern, aber voll innerer Stärke, begibt sich Bree auf eine Reise in die Unabhängigkeit und lernt dabei, dass nicht alle Männer böse sind. Tatsächlich verdient ein ziemlich düsterer, aber trotzdem sanftmütiger Krieger ihre Liebe – und sie verliert für immer ihr Herz.

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

375 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 10, 2011

About the author

Like many of us on this planet, Carmen Caine/Madison Adler is from another world. She spends every moment she can scribbling stories on sticky notes that her kids find posted all over the car, house, and barn.

When she is not working as a software engineer, she is busy ferrying her kids to various appointments, writing lyrics for her husband's songs, taking care of the dog Tigger and his heart condition, attempting to tame her three insane cats, scratching her three Nigerian Dwarf Goats behind the horns or coddling her flock of thirty bizarre chickens from around the world.

Please follow me on Twitter - twitter.com/CarmenRomances or visit my facebook page: facebook.com/Carmen.Caine

Reviews

[Stacie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3+ "Mayhem, Malevolence, Mishaps, and Misconceptions" Stars!

...Ok, and that just about sums this book up. With that said, it held my interest throughout and I really liked both Bree and Ruan. I wanted them to be happy! So there goes the problem with why it's a 3 star, not 4. I needed a lot more romance and and sweet moments where they were on the same accord; and a lot less of all those M words I have in the title.
(...And what happen to Ewan? Did I miss that part? 🤔)

These two could not catch a break one way or the other all the way until the last chapter.

Now with all that being said, I maaay still read the next book. Cameron, Ruan's friend, was a guy I can root for finding his HEA.

Happy reading!

[Kathy * Bookworm Nation · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed this one. I liked our main characters Ruan and Bree, and I’m a sucker for an arrange marriage story line. Ruan had a rakish past, but saw the error of his ways and had become a pretty moral man over the years. He is manipulated into a marriage with Bree, who was escaping from the only home she knew and ironically another arranged marriage when she is tricked into marrying Ruan. Neither trusts one another and it takes awhile for a friendship to grow. At first, I thought Bree’s reaction was realistic and I was glad she didn’t go falling over the handsome Ruan right away. But, after awhile I was ready for her to start speaking up and get a personality. I guess that sounds harsh, but she hardly speaks the entire book, its mostly inner dialog. I would have loved more conversations between her and Ruan.



The time period and setting are a little harsh, the first chapter involves Ruan rescuing his ten-year-old sister from an unwanted marriage. It doesn’t go into detail, but it made my stomach churn to think of a little girl being married off to a very older man. It definitely was a hard time to live and women weren’t treated very well. The author did a good job portraying what it would have been like during those times.



This was a recommendation from one of the Goodreads groups I belong to. I had posted about wanting to read some clean medieval books, and this one had the added bonus of an arranged marriage plot, it sounded interesting so I gave it a try. While overall it was clean, it did push it a bit. Our leading characters are married off pretty early in the story, but they take things slow, so in that regard it’s clean. Eventually their feelings change and one thing leads to another. Nothing was too detailed and it ends up being more of a “fade to black” moment. Throughout the book though they are obviously attracted to one another and aren’t shy about modesty. It was a bit more racy than I was expecting and have a hard time calling it "clean".

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read: 6/18/20
Soo Bad! How this story got so many great reviews is baffling. It was so slow boring, and the characters were one dimensional. I did like Ruan but hated the h. She got on my last nerves. She is severely abused but doesn't want to escape with her unknown father. When the H and h are tricked into marrying each other the h stupidly tries to flee several times without ever meeting him. Her weak, cowardly behavior got old fast. I couldn't figure out my he loved her.

The ending did improve the slow story. I give 2.2 stars to this clean romance. I read this for free (TG) and would not recommend ever paying for it.

[Shannon Mayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruan MacLeod was through with women. They were nothing but trouble. Leaving the rash life of his youth behind, he returned to Skye, seeking peace. He never meant to split the clan or start a war with the MacDonald of Duntulm. He certainly never foresaw an arranged marriage to the most scandalous woman in Scotland. Even though she was twice his age, the size of a horse and mother to more than one illegitimate child, he agreed to secure his sister’s freedom.

However, even that plan goes drastically awry. On his wedding day, he finds himself faced instead with an enticing, green-eyed lass named Bree. A walking disaster, his bride immediately turns his world into chaos and threatens to melt his resolve never to love again.

Betrayed by her own mother, Bree flees to Skye, thinking only to reunite with her long, lost father. Instead, she finds herself wed to Ruan MacLeod as a replacement bride. When she is forced to remain in the castle, she is soon caught between brothers and the mentally ill wife of the laird.

Shy, yet strong, Bree embarks on a journey of independence and learns along the way that all men are not necessarily evil. In fact, one particularly brooding, yet gentle-hearted warrior is worthy of love, and she soon loses her heart forever.

The story of Ruan and Bree hooked me from the beginning which I will say surprised me initially as this is the authors first book. Set in the Scottish highlands, Bree is saved from an impending marriage to a old pervert when she has to fill in as a bride for Ruan. This doesn't completely please Bree as she didn't really want to be married in the first place and for that matter, neither did Ruan.

I read the first edition and enjoyed it completely, feeling as if I had a historical romance from Harlequin in my hands. (I read a lot of those as a teen!) Ruan and Bree had a rough start, but I loved to watch them as they "stumbled" into love!

For the cost of the book and the enjoyment I derived from reading it, I would reccomend this to anyone wanting a good read with a happy ending.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this free books so much I bought the second book in the series. I love Scottish books

[Zoe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will confess that my 2 stars are a bit harsh and perhaps premature. If I was not in such a reading rut, I would probably have rated higher. But after 3 weeks of boring books my patience is at a record low, which attributed to my 2 star rating. If I was in my right frame of mind this book would have been a weak 3 stars book.

I am uncertain how Bree ended up being the replacement bride for Ruan. It was a lot of angry highlanders and some old and/or mean women and boom Bree was married to Ruan. I have no mental pictures for either characters nor can I imagine them being attracted to each other. Bree pretty much just screams and stratches Ruan whenever she can and tries to run away at every turn. When the evil sister in law of Ruan appears in the book I have completely lost my interest in getting to know the couple. This was early in the book too, about 30%.

Then I pretty much just skim-read. The plot was boring. Ruan is a so so hero. Bree was rather pathetic. I don't know why writers create such heroines. Fighting and running away do not mean courage. Running away once could be a good chapter, if the writer writes well. But come on, we all know that they are going to end up being together. So why would I want to read about how they plot to escape each other? Write about how they come to care for each other. how they fall in love, how they try not to fall in love. Having the heroine running away from the hero when they hardly know each other is extremely boring. There is no feeling in such plots. Just fears, survival instincts, defense and lack of trust (warranted or not). None of which is romantic.

I really don't feel that there is much more to say about this book. I hardly care for any intimate scenes or even kissing for Ruan and Bree. Have hot sex until the bed is broken or do not have sex at all, I couldn't care less. When there are no warm feelings and tender moments, sex is just a lame subsitute for romance.

Now everyone who read this review knows what a hopeless romantic I am and, quite a sap, quite a sap.

[Suzan Tisdale · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the very first "Scottish Romance" novels that I ever read. This is the one that got me hooked! ;o) It remains one of my favorites.

[Terri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ho hum. It was ok. It felt a little like this was a self-published book. The heroine had no real voice. She was 'shy' and hence spoke very little throughout the story (external dialogue, nor internal dialogue). The author rushed through some plot elements at break-neck speed, leaving me wanting more details and more development, but spend oodles and oodles of time in other parts of the story that could have been told with more efficiency. For me, this book just didn't have a good road map, nor a good sense of pacing. I didn't hate it, and if the plot sounds interesting to anyone reading this, I would say: "Yeah, go ahead and pick it up and give it a read." It just won't be on my re-read list.

Also, it was hard to read Tormod McLeod described as such a bad guy, when he's such a yummy hero in Monica McCarty's The Chief. So interesting to read so many authors writing about the same historical figures in such very interesting ways.

[Mary Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that The Kindling Heart is a good book but not a great one. The forced marriage story line is not new and had some good and funny parts. The problem is I found myself thinking get on with the story at times and felt like I was pushing myself to finish. Some will like it and want to read the next in the series but I don't think it is for me.

[Bluejay44 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this as a freebie recently and it leapt straight up to the top of my TBR mountain. I love historical novels and was not disappointed with this one. Am so glad to find that there will be others in the series, I am definitely not ready to say goodbye to Bree, Ruan and the rest of the clan.

[Ashley Lavering · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this historical romance. There are some adult scenes but they are short and modestly done for a romance. The plot was so cool and I loved the tension between the two characters! for 18+ years old.

[Nic · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was awful.

[Angie Cornelison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this little gem of a book. I love a good romance and this did not disappoint! I liked it so much I'm ordering the next one in the series.

[Delta]

Free 05-06-15

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WPW6UG?i...

[Ashlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very mixed feelings for this novel. If you are looking for a life in the highlands, clan rivalry book you would be interested in this one as the romance is often passed over.
The heroine is quite self contradictory: she is initially strong willed and sharp tongued, but as she is launched into a whole new situation she is almost entirely silent and as weak as a newborn kitten.
((Early plot spoilers ahead) She discovers the father she had never met and quickly trusts him and loves him but other than him being the catalyst for the arranged marriage he does little else in this book until the last 30 some pages.)
Ruan is quite appealing, he has every good feature of a highland warrior, but Bree doesn't trust him or show any interest in the guy until 100 pages in. Bree never trusts Ruan around other women even when she hears neither party is aroused by the other. Small rant: so so much of this book is Bree literally falling... She's running away and falling in the mud, there's a chapter where she gets up from the bed and runs from the chamber and falls into Ruan, he puts her back to bed and repeat like three times.
Truly a frustrating read if you want a strong girl main character, the battle for a fair clan leader is interesting and the last 50 pages are a great pace and very intense, wish the rest of the book had a similar pace.

[P Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good read but I have to admit, it did take a lot of patience to get through it.

I liked Bree- she was feisty and high spirited. She doesn’t fall instantly in love with Ruan and that’s what made this story different than many others.

Bree’s escaped one hell hole then gets tricked into marrying Ruan. Her past experience has left her scarred emotionally and physically therefore, her initial reactions in the beginning towards Ruan were understandable and realistic.

Ruan was a player in the past - bedding more women than he could count but he’s sworn off women. However, when he’s manipulated into marrying Bree, his plan to keep away from women backfires. She’s not like his past conquests - she’s different, innocent yet fiery.

I enjoyed the few interactions between Bree and Ruan - I liked the way he made her blush with his seductive whispering. Bree spent too much time in her own head and not enough time talking to Ruan.

The book was written well but the pace was slow at times. I wanted the MCs to have more meaningful conversations rather than assuming or guessing what the other was thinking or feeling.

[Lisa Montgomery · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was not certain I was going to like this book, but it grew on me, and I was glad I did not give up on it.
The author's use of "Mac" before each of the Scottish clan became difficult to keep straight. There were also lots of names of characters and places that were very similar. I keep a note pad to keep track of characters, etc., but I would imagine others would find this a bit confusing.
The author introduced 15 characters in chapter one. That had me doubting whether to continue.
There were more than a few typos where words were left in when they should have been edited out. Also, "Afraig" became "Afraid" and "MacDonald" became "McDonald."
Little things like that pull me out of the story for a few minutes.
The saving grace of the story is the heroine saves herself, not having to depend upon the hero.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to read this book, but I have to say I had to push myself to finish it. The characters were not enduring, The Heroine started strong but then was weakened. The Hero was typical, though likeable. The downhill slide was the constant onslaught of of women who were jealous former or wanna be lovers of the hero. We get it, he desireable and there is conflict in that. This was one way Bree was made to look weak, constantly running away when one of these women was encountered. This meant they didn't actually get together until nearly the end of the book. The Hero's younger sister starts off lovable but then has a drastic personality shift I found frustrating. My favorite character was Isobel the kindly Maid. All in all I was highly disappointed.

[Jennette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been in a reading rut lately, same old same old, so I thought in my attempt to break the cycle I would try an old setting. I found this in a collection and the author notes that her style has changed since this book but it was just the thing I wanted. Maybe there's was a bit too much of the characters trying to resist their attractions but over all it was nice story. A lot of travel that seemed to go by rather quickly for the mode of transportation available but it did keep the story moving and not mired in the tedium of traveling. It was still unclear in the end why Ruan's family was such a mess so I decided to go with 3 stars.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprising. Not quite what I imagined for some reason. I really enjoyed it!

The characters were headstrong and enjoyable in their inability to communicate clearly with each other. But in the end love wins! Through all the trials.

And this book is clean for a highlander romance. There are heated kisses and desire, but no explicit sex scenes. Which was so refreshing! Just enough lust to satisfy without giving all the dirty details.

I'm off to read the next book in the series!

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprise

Having never heard of this author, I was sceptical. . . The book started a little slowly and the storyline was kind of hard to follow, but I am certainly glad I did!! What an incredible book and the story was so realistic (and back ground info so well researched) that I can hardly wait to read the next book. Very highly recommended.

[Kathy Tatum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Afraid to Love

lots of action in a complex storyline. This is a wonderful story of two beautiful people, both afraid of love for different reasons. This is slow burn, getting to know and trust each other story, culminating in a special HEA.
Carmen Can be proved a good well written story doesn't need all the steamy details like novels do today.

[Astrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great!

I enjoyed the period of takes place in and enjoyed that the move scenes were short and didn't take a whole chapter. Well written and wonderful love story that doesn't leave you hanging.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book, it was another one I did not want to put down. The intro tells you
Ruan did not want to wife And Bree was so scared and so was the drawn because of her past it’s really a great story as they come together and find true love

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just didn't care about any of the characters at all.

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring, extremely boring and Bree got on my nerves. Ruan publicly rebukes Tormod but tells the clan Tormod is their leader?

[Patricia A Spring · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historical romance

Action, intrigue, betrayal the story grabs your attention and does not let go. Reading the series in order gives greater depth and insight into the characters

[Becci · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eventually the characters grew on me but it was overly long, too complicated, and there wasn't even a love scene to at least act as a "pay off".

[juliet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating 4.5/5

This was such a well written novel. I was captivated the entire time. Who knew the Scottish highlands were so fascinating? (i did) Nonetheless, a definite recommendation.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating 3.5, rounded up. This was a nice piece of Scottish Highlands chick lit--just what I was in the mood to read. Haha! I liked the characters and look forward to reading book 2 in this series, since the author says this book isn't her best work but her first novel. Plus, I know the second book won some award. So, I am off to read Cameron's story in book 2.