4 1/2 STARS!!!
In this second story of the Return To Kintail series we are brought back to the Western Highlands in the year 1352 to Eilean Creag Castle, Duncan Mackenzie's stronghold, where Katla Mackenzie has lost her heart to The Lord of Winter atop the high peaks of Odin's Flame under the beautiful Northern Lights. Everyone thinks her a touch mad but she knows to her soul that she will never belong to anyone else. Gunner MacLeod lost his heart that night also but led Katla to believe he was this Lord of Winter because their clans were feuding and to do otherwise would have brought nothing but anguish to her. A huge misunderstanding and anger sent Gunner fleeing from his clan but he's returned with the truth now and once Katla runs into him and sees he's just a mortal man, she's madder than a wet hen.
Will Gunner be able to win Katla's forgiveness and can he bring justice to the person who's behind the betrayals?
I love returning to Duncan Mackenzie and his lady wife, Linett, and the clan there. He has been one of my favorite's of Sue-Ellen's characters and I do believe they exist on another plane....just through the mist. Devorgilla IS a true soul, a cailleach, who appears throughout the many stories Sue-Ellen has brought us. For those she loves, she's faithful and woe to those who cross her. Sue-Ellen writes of brave men and women who hold their honor as sacred. The love for their clans, their lands, and their hearths run deep. The detail in her writing was beautifully done so that I could see clearly the Aurora Borealis as it danced around Gunner and Katla...could hear it's hum. I love a good battle and it was if I was standing to the side watching as the men clashed together in that gorge. She writes her characters so clearly you come to love them as your own. Even Katla's little dog, Glaum, I wanted to squeeze. I smiled, and found myself laughing at the banter between these two as they walked the path towards their HEA.