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Murray Family #14

Divoch z Vysočiny

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Sir Lucas Murray byl přepaden zločinným Ranaldem a jeho bandou, před očima milenky Katheriny zbit a shozen z útesu. Přežil, a sotva se uzdravil, vydal se na panství Dunlochan, aby se pomstil Ranaldovi i Katherině, kterou považoval za iniciátorku přepadení.

Katherina, právoplatná dědička dunlochanského panství, je nevinná a Lucase miluje, avšak on je přesvědčen o opaku. Katherinu chce připravit o dědictví její nevlastní sestra Agnes za vydatné Ranaldovy pomoci. Lucas se po návratu do Dunlochanu střetne s Ranaldem a jeho družinou a zachrání ho Katherina a její lidé. Přidává se k ní v boji proti Agnes a Ranaldovi. Žije s nimi v tajném podzemním úkrytu a postupně se dozvídá, že Katherinu obvinil křivě. Zjišťuje také, že ji stále miluje. Odpustí mu Katherina, že ji obvinil? Cítí k němu ještě lásku?

264 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

247 people are currently reading
1200 people want to read

About the author

Hannah Howell

116 books2,643 followers
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

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5 stars
885 (41%)
4 stars
722 (34%)
3 stars
408 (19%)
2 stars
73 (3%)
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24 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
Profile Image for Sarah.
87 reviews46 followers
February 21, 2009
Dialogue is written in Scottish "dialect". Ach, nay! I canna tell ye how it pained me! I willna suggest it to anybody, as I found it verra annoying. I suspicion that it will be found pleasin' to those whose hearts trip a little faster around kilts, though I canna remember a single mon wearin' one.

Ach, aye! Toss it in yon bonnie bankes and yon bonnie braes!
Profile Image for Севдалина.
856 reviews54 followers
July 2, 2021
Лукас Мъри и Катерина Халдейн

Нещооо, не ми се получи. Някак, и аз не знам. Скучна ми беше. Не беше лоша, ама не беше и УАААУУУУ.

Лукас Мъри, брата близнак на Атртан Мъри от Highland Barbarian (Murray Family, #13) by Hannah Howell , е мъж покрит с белези. След като е жестоко пребит, пред очите на жената, която обича, и която дори не е гъкнала, докато го млатят, той е хвърлен от скала в бурна река и оставен да умре. С потрошено тяло, и със сетни сили, той успява да се спаси и буквално влачейки се успява да открие пътят обратно към дома. Година след случилото се, той е отново на крака, макар и нестабилно и със силно куцане, но е готов да се върне и да накара злосторниците да си платят за стореното... както и да накаже жената, която някога е обичал, тъй като докато го бият един от мъчители му, му казва, че именно неговата любима Катерина е наредила да бъде убит, задето е погледнал с мерак към сестра й... което разбира се той не е направил. И сега ще си отмъсти на всички...

Катерина Халдейн се крие от враговете си, оплаквайки смъртта на Лукса, мъжа, който е обичала с цялото си сърце. Предисторията е: След като е била хвърлена в същата пропаст и в същата река в която вярва, че Лукас е намерил смъртта си, Кат успява да се спаси и се скрива от убийците с единствената мисъл... да отмъсти. Да, отново и тя ще отмъщава. До денят в който не вижда отново Лукас, белязан, накуцващ, и очевидно вярващ, че тя е тази, която е наредила да бъде убит... но въпреки неговата омраза и нейната обида, те се съюзяват, за да свалят врага си на колене.

Истината е, че Лукас не беше галантният, секси и забавен герой, като останалите Мъри. Той беше тъмен и в същото време страхлив. Да преживял е много, но моментите в които го обливаше студена пот от страх бяха странни. Защо авторката е решила да направи главния герой страхлив е извън всякакъв разум и все пак факт. Освен, че се боеше от врага, на който бе тръгнал да отмъщава, след като научи, че Катерина не го е предала, отново от страх какво ще каже, нито й се извини, нито й призна, че е сгрешил. Боеше се как ще реагира... АБСУРДНО Е... А Катеринка, и тя беше една героиня... хем знае, че има дарба да долавя опасността, от начина по който й се свива стомаха от предчувствие, хем го пренебрегваше и се оказваше в много кофти ситуации. Имаш дарба, знаеш го, и я пренебрегваш... супер нелогично. Отделно, злодеите бяха много калпави злодеи. И самата любовна история куцаше супер много. Обичали са се преди, но авторката не ни разказа почти нищо за предишната им връзка, само се спомена, че са били любовници. И след това никаква химия, страст или романтика. В книгата нямаше забавни моменти, нямаше тръпка... нямаше нищо. СКУЧНООО. Това е. Дори 3 звезди не заслужава май май, ама все пак, не беше и неприятна. Просто незапомняща се. Дори имената на злодеите не запомних, а свърших книгата преди няколко часа. Изчетох я на инат, и за да мога по-бързо да додрапам до книгата на Джеймс <3
Profile Image for Paraphrodite.
2,670 reviews51 followers
January 20, 2019
3 stars.

Hero Lucas is twin to Artan from the previous book. He was tortured and thrown into the sea by men whom he thought worked for his lover/heroine Katerina, who stood there without protest while they were torturing him. He didn't know that she was thrown in after him and was declared a suicide by her half sister.

After recovering from his injuries, he came back for revenge. But he became unsure about Kat's guilt when she and her merry men saved him from her sister's men.

This is another one that felt too long. And some of the actions taken by both H/h quite stupid. But at least this time it was the hero who finally admitted he was wrong and said "I luv u" first.
Profile Image for ♥ℳelody.
781 reviews844 followers
November 28, 2010
Wasn't so crazy about this book. I was really tempted to skip parts cause it just got soooo redundant and dragged out. It was hard to finish. I felt the same conversations were brought up over and over and it took forever to draw to a conclusion. I felt the back drop of the story was kind of convoluted and the hero and heroines 'misunderstanding' of each other just got to be really tiring and idiotic. The author managed to make both of them come off so oblivious and stupid at parts by dragging out the story which was completely unnecessary. And don't even get me started on the 'evil' stepsister and her ridiculous lover and mother. The dumbest most contrived villains I think I've ever read about. Made me cringe at how campy it was. I think Howell's previous book in this series was way better. Plus I forgot how tiring and tedious it was to follow Scottish dialect. Too much cannea dannea ye ken for me. It made it slower to read cause it's not as easy to follow along and I felt like there were some major grammar issues. I'm surprised considering the high ratings this has received I can't think of one part of the book that even grabbed me cause the whole thing was just blah. Actually yes there is, the ending where it skips ahead a year and we see the brothers reuniting. I thought that was 'best' part of the entire book.
Profile Image for Kristi Hudecek-Ashwill.
Author 2 books48 followers
May 15, 2022
After reading the first chapter of this that was at the end of Beauty and the Beast, I knew I had to read this book. I was intrigued. The story opens with a warrior going into a tavern, dressed as a monk, wanting to keep his identity a secret. He was brutally beaten and thrown over a cliff, leaving his assailants to think he was dead. It took him a year to recover, he walks with a limp and is scarred, and now he's back to exact his revenge. But it wasn't against who one might think.

Lucas Murray and Katerina Haldane were victims of a vicious plot by Katerina's half-sister and her lover, Ranald. The women share a father who has died and left his lands in the care of a council who would decide if the man either of the women chose as a husband was worthy to be laird. Agnes, the half-sister, was already married, but her husband left her and was thought to be dead. If the council approved of the husband, he and the sister he married would stay in the keep and maintain the majority of the lands, leaving the other sister a small parcel of land with a house. Agnes knew Lucas was a shoe in and when her attempts at seduction didn't work, she took another avenue to be rid of him.

Lucas and Katerina were in love when this happened to him. So, when she discovers he is alive, she wants to throw herself into his arms, but the look he gave her told her he was angry and not the same man he was a year ago. She's devastated to know that he blames her for what happened to him. But he doesn't know the whole story.

This was a really good story. It's got some great elements with greed, lust, love, betrayal, and forgiveness. The characters were well-defined and easy to care about or not, whichever was applicable in any situation. The dialogue was written in a Scottish brogue, which made it easy to be drawn into the story. And to add icing to the cake, Lucas was really hot with long, dark hair, warrior braids, silvery blue eyes...frankly, I was overdue with reading a hero like him. To make it even more fun, he's a twin and his brother makes an appearance.

I have to say that the way Katerina wanted an apology from Lucas got old. I've read two books from this author now and both had that common theme. She spent almost 80% of the book seeking that and the last 20% was spent trying to get him to tell her he loved her. There was a lot more going on that shoved these issues to the back burner, but they never failed to resurface. Regardless, this was a solid five-star read. I enjoyed it a lot.

*This is part of a series, but can be read as a standalone novel. This was the first book I've read of the series and wasn't lost at all.
Profile Image for Ash.
504 reviews4 followers
Read
April 14, 2023
DNF 25%

This author is not for me. I don’t like the writing and the relationship development is so lacking that I’m surprised this is categorized as a romance.
Profile Image for Elle.
379 reviews
March 17, 2012
Connection to the series: Lucas is the twin brother of Artan (previous book's hero).

After surviving an attack that left him all but dead, Lucas Murray has returned to Dunlochan for revenge. Revenge against the six men who beat him, shattered his leg, tossed him off a cliff and left him for dead. Revenge against the beautiful bitch who ordered the attack. He once loved her, trusted her, and paid the price. Now she'll pay.

Seeing the man she once loved under attack again by her worst enemies, Katerina Haldane rides, in disguise, to the rescue. She's shocked, but thrilled to see him still alive, until he coldly accuses her of seeking his death.

The two of them become uneasy allies seeking the destruction of Katerina's enemies. Lucas still doesn't trust her, but the attraction is too strong to resist.

This one lost a star because there were spots where I actively disliked the hero.

It lost another because I skipped more than I usually do. I've noticed in previous books in the series that Howell pads her word count with more naval gazing than I like to see. There's way more than usual in this late book in the series. There's a plot development or a step forward in the relationship, followed by long scenes where each of them relive it, chew it and regurgitate it. It feels repetitive and I quickly got tired of it and just started flipping pages until a cursory read suggested things were moving on.

It keeps three stars because it's still a good adventure and has a lot of elements that I like.
Profile Image for Vicki.
58 reviews3 followers
April 4, 2012
Book was a little slow to me. Didn't enjoy it as much as the others in the series.
Profile Image for Sarah G.
682 reviews10 followers
December 21, 2014
I love the Murray stories and this one doesn't disappoint. Can read in any order as all are stand alone stories which I like. I'm slowly working my way through the lot of them :)
Profile Image for Cruth.
1,656 reviews146 followers
September 23, 2013
"Knowing that he was wrong did not mean he would admit it easily." p.110, loc.1434

Author: Hannah Howell
First published: 2007
Length: 352 pages, 4550 locations
Setting: Scotland, 1481.
Sex: explicit, not very frequent. He likes giving oral.
Heroine: Survivor of a severe beating, scarred.
Hero: Survivor of a severe beating, scarred, limps.
Series: Book 14 of Howell's Murray series. Lucas is the twin of Artan in "Highland Barbarian". Matthew the Monk also appeared in Kiera's story, "Highland Champion".
Includes: Excerpts from "Highland Wedding" and "Highland Wolf" by Hannah Howell.

Note:
At the beginning on "Highland Barbarian", Artan mentions Lucas is unavailable as the result of a severe beating and broken leg. Artan had an idea of the culprits and was hunting them. However,the author seems to have dropped this. In "Highland Savage", Lucas gives every indication that his family were not aware of the circumstances and reasons for his near death and wanted to keep it that way.

The Book:
A good Howell but somewhat repetitious, with an irritating heroine who refused to forgive.

"He had wronged her, hurt her more than she cared to think about, but was she punishing him now or herself?" p.241, loc.3158
I get that she was hurt but his lack of trust, but he hadn't really wronged her. Katerina never walks in his shoes and constantly slaps him in the face with her grievances.

Get over it woman!

Can't you see how much he is giving you *despite* his apparent lack of trust.

And when you have that trust, you reject him. And *still* he works with you to gain you what you want.

Gosh she's a B***.

I became so utterly frustrated with Katerina.

But I really liked the story surrounding her.

*sigh*

If only Howell had accepted better editing to delete the repetitions.

For example:
"Wives getting with child, work, the weather, and bairns too small for such a journey caused enough necessary separation between the brothers." p.307, loc.4037
"Work, women bearing bairns, and wee bairns too young to travel yet cause them to be apart often enough as it is." p.308, loc.4043
I can live with very similar lines a chapter apart, but three paragraphs apart? Something needed to be culled.

It's a good book by a good author but it failed to really appeal.

Murray Family:

Grandsons:
Book 13 Highland Barbarian - Artan Murray (brother to heir of Donncoill) and Cecily Donaldson (heir to ) (1480)
Book 14 Highland Savage - Lucas Murray (heir to Donncoill) and Katerina Haldane (heir to Dunlochan) (1481)
Book 15 Highland Wolf - Annora MacKay and James Drummond (Laird of Dunncraig) (1477)
Book 16 Highland Sinner - Tormand Murray (son of Eric) and Morainn Ross (1478)

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

(ISBN 1420102311)

-CR-
Profile Image for Debra.
3,465 reviews13 followers
September 25, 2019
This is the 14th book in the Murray family series. Lucas, one of the Murray twins, was severely beaten year ago and left for dead. His last memory was his beloved Katerina. But when he goes back to her keep he finds out that many of what he remembered was not correct. He helps her in recapturing her home from her devious half sister. This story has both love and suspense that keeps you reading. Their journey has many twists and turns up till the end. I read this years ago and enjoyed rereading it again.
Profile Image for Amy.
2,287 reviews13 followers
April 16, 2022
This book was ok, enough to keep me entertained. The problem is, this far along in this series, there seems to be a lot of repetition in themes and even details presented. The names have changed, but the story's not all that different from previous books. I think that is a reasonable time to give up on a series. If I read the next book, and then the next, I will be experiencing a similar story on repeat.
Profile Image for AND 1515.
1,279 reviews15 followers
December 13, 2020
By and1515
Katerina's world crashed and burned and now she's been reduced to a hit an run method to survive until she can fix her life.
Lucas' story will have you rooting for him oneoment and in the next breathe praying for him.
Because these two will have to set aside there wounded feelings and figure out how to end the madness before it ends them again.
Profile Image for Meranda Semeniuk-Wappel.
253 reviews
November 29, 2019
I just absolutely love Hannah Howell's books! They are really good when you need an adventure. Just love how everything comes to life in her books in which she wrote her books and characters...LOVE THEM! I can't wait to finish the series!
92 reviews1 follower
February 14, 2018
Took me on a journey

Loved the characters and story twists! Believable, sympathetic people finding joy in impossible circumstances- had me routing for each small victory
Profile Image for Sarah Z.
60 reviews6 followers
July 23, 2018
More of the same. I still like it though ;)
328 reviews
August 8, 2018
I like the series of Murray books,personally I don't think that using the Scotish dialect is a barrier to enjoy the story line it adds a bit of flavour to the story,after all it is set in Scotland.
Profile Image for Janelle.
96 reviews
May 25, 2019
Was really looking forward to Lucas's story but found this one so boring.
Profile Image for Sarah Seam.
14 reviews
Read
April 4, 2020
❤ this as it started in a new twist to a story. I really like how the family keeps growing and the stories seem so different and new.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
77 reviews
April 16, 2020
Amazing as always

Love her stories and can't wait for the next one. Her stories become addictive that you can't put them down
Profile Image for Brenda Allen.
1,551 reviews4 followers
August 5, 2020
I loved reading this book. Hannah Howell writes so well that I laughed and cried through this book. Can't wait to read more.
Profile Image for Bridget.
1,242 reviews24 followers
March 28, 2013
Lucas Murray (Artan's twin brother) has fallen in love with Katerina Haldane, until he is brutally attacked and told it is at her direction. He literally crawls from the area an eventually his brother finds him and brings him back home to heal. What Lucas does not know is that Katerina was also attacked and thought dead. He returns when he is strong enough, and finds her in hiding from her half sister, who actually instigated the violence against them both. He accuses her of ordering the beating, she is hurt that he thinks she could do that, blah blah blah. Typical of this series. Enjoyable light read but not memorable.
Profile Image for Diana.
1,746 reviews
February 17, 2008
After a year of recovering from grievous injuries, Lucas Murray returns for revenge on the one he thinks responsible: Katerina, his true love.

This was a darker book, with insidious plots and perceived betrayals. The undercurrent of betrayal lurked throughout, causing many issues with Katerina and Lucas. Like Highland Barbarian, the climax comes fairly early, leaving a good portion of the book to deal with cleaning up the emotional messes. They are a great couple, however, after the first 100 pages when Lucas learns the truth. The epilogue was quite long and satisfying.
102 reviews
June 24, 2015
Wonderful read

I chose this rating because the book was a nice easy read. The problems they faced where believable. Now I did find the heart break she was having was a little annoying, could easily been fixed early on just by talking out their problems. Which they did do, but I felt that part was drugged out a little. Nice ending to the book with family coming together. Would recommend book to any all, especially to those of us who like a hero who rides in a horse and saves the day.
Profile Image for Christina Adams.
284 reviews
February 27, 2020
Lucas & Katerina
What a strong female character. This story is so tragic. It is horrible what Lucas and Katerina have to go through to be together. This is truly a great story, with twists and turns. I know it’s boy meets girl and boy and girl fall in love, but somehow Hannah Howell can make each story so different. Just when you think they can’t be much difference in the stories to a series this long. HH proves you wrong by giving you something new and fresh! Totally worth reading the whole series! Love these books!
Profile Image for Michelle.
271 reviews24 followers
June 10, 2008
One mistaken look caused a lot of pain for both Lucas and Katerina. We spend much of the story waiting for Lucas to figure out the truth and then wait for Katerina to stop being bull-headed. A great match these two make. For the most part, I enjoyed the book. However, it seemed to take them forever to work their problems out. There was a lot of action and it made the story go by fast. All in all, not a bad read.
Profile Image for Danielle G.
139 reviews7 followers
December 11, 2013
Usually love this series but this book I didn't like a lot. I really liked the female lead but there was something missing when I read the book to get engaged and invested in their love interest. It's weird because I really love this series. I have read so many of the other books and had no trouble with them at all. Anyways this series is great so I won't stop reading just because of this one book but if you're only looking for a single book to read from the series don't choose this one!
360 reviews1 follower
August 29, 2015
Lucas is after proving to himself that although the last time he was here he was beaten nearly to death and had his leg broken that he is still a man who can handle his own business, what he never expected was to see Katerina again and to still have the longing for her...Katerina can't believe her eyes when she sees Lucas standing there getting ready to fight....when you have nothing to hold onto but anger can love creep back in....onto the next
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews

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