Heaven Forbids

by Karen Ranney

Originally published by Kensington Publishing in 1998. RITA finalist.


For young widow Kathryn Siddons, the end of a loveless marriage meant that she was at the mercy of her clan, which sent her off to the Highlands as a companion to her newly-married niece. And straight into the arms of a man who awakened long-denied dreams and long-forgotten desires – the one man she could not have.

Genres: Historical Romance, Historical, Romance, Forbidden Love, Medieval, Adult, Scotland

303 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

About the author

I’m a writer who’s been privileged to have attained the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Lists.

Although I've primarily written historical romance, I've also written contemporary romantic suspense, a murder mystery, and I'm having a wonderful time writing about a vampire who is being challenged by her new state of being. (The Montgomery Chronicles: The Fertile Vampire and The Reluctant Goddess coming March 12, 2015.)

I believe in the power of the individual, the magnificence of the human spirit, and always looking for the positive in any situation. I write about people who have been challenged by life itself but who win in the end.

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Website: http://karenranney.com
Email: karen@karenranney.com
Twitter: @Karen_Ranney

Reviews

[Tammy Walton Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adultery.

A sticky wicket in a romance novel, to be sure. There are readers who won't touch this subject with a barge pole, while to others it doesn't matter in the slightest. Somewhere in the middle are those who will read it, but insist that it be treated with some sensitivity. The author then treads a fine line - how sympathetic to portray the H/h? How UNsympathetic to cast the (wronged) spouse? Any HEA is never truly that - no one escapes unscathed when this happens.

Heaven Forbids is an love story of epic proportion, the type that makes you hear swelling soundtracks and picture that beach scene in "From Here to Eternity". It is full of desperation and longing, heartbreak and healing. As a matter of fact, it is fairly old-skool in terms of the writing and the scope of the story.

Kathryn and Hugh virtually fall in love at first sight, when neither of them knows the other's identity. Of course, the compelling stranger Kathryn cannot forget is none other than her niece's betrothed. Kathryn is sent as a companion for Sarah as she travels to live with her new husband. She knows from the outset that she cannot have Hugh. He is equally as aware of Kathryn; and even more cognizant of his duty to his wife and his clan.

The expression "they fought their feelings" is trite, but that is exactly what they do. They try desperately to keep their relationship as that between the Laird and his wife's companion, but they cannot. They are drawn to each other as moth to flame. It is dark, it is painful, and it is desperate.

There is no villain in this triangle, no shrewish wife or scheming mistress. Sarah is basically a non-entity (much as happens in real life, I'm afraid). She simply doesn't factor into the equation, other than for the fact that she holds the position of Hugh's Lady. The H/h are not bad people. They do not commence their affair in a trivial way, nor do they seek excuse for their actions. They are anguished by their choice but in the end the pain they suffer by not being together is greater than the pain they would cause by acting on their feelings.

For those looking for a traditional villain in their romance there is one here (other than the folks in the love triangle). Set in Scotland around the time of the Jacobite rebellion, there is also war, madness and tragedy, just to round things out. Nothing gratuitous, everything has its place in the narrative and it all falls together just as it should.

As I said at the outset, when you write a story where the lovers are also adulterous, the HEA can't be full of sunshine and flowers. It needs to be realistic and not insult the reader. The best ones are bittersweet, as happiness gained at another's expense should never be treated lightly.

A super-angsty, old-skoolish read with a noble Hero and a strong heroine. If you can handle the adultery, Heaven Forbids is more than worth the time to read. Ms. Ranney has done a superb job.

4.5 stars

[Izzah ꒰Duchess of Cabria ಇ ⭑✧ ᴏɴ ᴘᴀᴛʀᴇᴏɴ ✧ ⋆꒱ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the most radioactive trope in romance... and wasn't as outraged as I thought I would be

You know those stories where either the hero or the heroine have a parent that was in love outside the marriage? And they see the parent not committing adultery hurting and it shapes them into either not believing in love or not trusting people? Not those unfaithful, sleep with anyone around parents, but the ones that are passionately in love and forsake duty and honor for love? You know, the ones that eventually decide to run away only to die in a shipwreck crossing the channel? Or of a fever in India?

Well, call me morbid, but I've always wondered what went through the head of the cheating parent.

Browsing around one day, I found this book and knew I would want to read it eventually, just to assuage that curiosity.

I waited for the right mood and finally read it.

I have some thoughts.



➻❥ Let's start simple: The Writing
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🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
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[Monique Takens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ik heb de Nederlands talige uitgave gelezen : Vergeten verlangen - Candlelight Historische roman 297 .
Prachtig geschreven en aangrijpend verhaal over de liefdes geschiedenis van een jonge weduwe en de man die met haar nichtje is getrouwd . Al de emoties die bij zo'n overspelige liefde horen passeren de revue en het wordt zeker niet allemaal mooier gemaakt dan het is .
En dan breekt er ook nog eens de oorlog ad. 1745/46 tussen de Schotten ( Bonny Prince Charlie ) en de Engelsen uit .
Ondanks dat het verhaal in 1998 geschreven is zou ik het niet als ouderwets geschreven willen bestempelen alhoewel er beduidend minder in detail wordt getreden tijdens de liefdes scenes . Maar ja .. liefde bestaat ook niet alleen maar uit seks toch !

[TinaNoir · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never before read a Karen Ranney book although I had read a lot of praise for her book Tapestry. I shied away from that book because I am not a big lover of the Beauty-and-the-beast stories. But I was gratified to see that she has a backlist that she has made available at a very deep discount as e-books. Since I always wanted to try her work, I picked this one up and it only cost one dollar!

This was a a real bang for the buck! My first impression as I was reading it was that it felt very old skool. Like a Kathleen Woodiwiss, Shirlee Busbee, Laurie McBain or Rebecca Brandewyne. In fact, it had the vibe (if not the sheer scope and epic-ness),of one of my very favorite Brandewyne books ever, Forever My Love.

For one thing, this romance novel is not very romance novel PC. The H&H commit eyes wide open, unapologetic adultery with each other. Heroine is a widow Kathryn Siddons who had a pretty unhappy life to this point. She grew up the acknowledged bastard of a lowlander Earl. However the only privilege that granted her was a formal education and an advantageous marriage. Except her so-called advantageous marriage was to a man who physically abused her. After his death she just wanted to get away from the place where all she ever felt was shame.

With no money (she had no dowry when she was married), no prospects and a son to take care of she consents to being to companion of her niece, Sarah and travel with her to her new home in the Scottish Highlands as she marries the powerful and rich Hugh MacDonald.

Hugh contracts an arranged marriage in order to hedge his bets against what he sees as future sweeping changes in Scotland. He believes his alliance with Sarah's powerful (but poor) family will provide the necessary bulwark.

Hugh and Kathryn fall in love at first sight. The only problem is, it is on the eve of his wedding to Sarah. AS the whole party travels to the MacDonald land, Hugh and Kathryn fight an attraction that only increases the longer they are in each others presence.

The book is very well written and the first half is full of longing glances and fraught conversations between the forbidden lovers. Ranney really knows how to string out the sexual and romantic tension between these two people who really shouldn't mooning over each other, but totally are.

Added to that there is the threat of war and lots of portentous signs and ominous feelings. This is set during the time of the Jacobite rebellion in 1745 that is famous for the scorching defeat of the Scots at the battle of Culloden. This was another reason this book felt closer in spirit to romances of the 80s than of those that came later. It had that darker, grittier tone that seemed to lay over those older romances like a blanket. Even so, this book does most of it's war stuff off stage so-to-speak so I never felt the characters were really as involved or as in danger as they could be.

For those that really, really, really dislike even the merest hint of adultery stay far, far away from this book. Hugh and Kathryn are totally in love and he's married. At first they just talk about it and think about it a lot. But then they decide to consummate their love. So they are in full physical adultery for quite a bit of the book. To add insult, Sarah is not made out to be a mean or evil person. She's simply clueless and a bit of a drip. I'm glad Ranney didn't try to justify Hugh adnd Kathryn's relationship by making Sarah someone to despise. I think by making Sarah so...simple, she actually knocks the h/h off the pedestal they often occupy in romance.

I don't dislike adultery in romance novels. I am often curious how authors can use it in romance because I don't see it as a black and white issue. Depending on how it is written and handled, it can royally piss me off or it can make me think. This author had the latter effect on me. I think she sold her story even with the adultery element. I felt very sorry for Sarah but not because she was being cheated on by her husband. She had issues were way beyond mere adultery.

All in all a very good book and definitely a dollar well spent.

[T from Istria 💛💚 · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 did not like at all, cheating and death and madness and suicide and abuse and obsessive stalker maids, but no angsty feelings only boredom. I don’t mind a bit of adultery usually in some circumstances but here it was so horrible, two people (h/H) who really did not give a thought to anybody or anything except their desire and lust. The poor wife, he was her husband and never even went to see her after she miscarried and the so called heroine, supposed to be the wife’s companion and family, but didn’t care a wit. Awful characters.

[LJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heaven Forbids - Ex
Karen Ramney
Kathryn Siddons, was finally free of an abusive husband but her freedom was short-lived as her half brother ordered her 5 yr old son William, from their home to accompany his daughter Sarah, as her companion, to Sarah's new home in the Highlands along with her new husband the Laird of Nenverness, Hugh MacDonald.

As for Hugh MacDonald, his new wife was everything a man could hope for - beauty beyond compare, a virtual goddess, a virgin who was not afraid and warmed immediately to the marriage bed. Hugh married for political reasons, to bond the lowland Campbell clan to the Highlands - he would grow to love her he thought. What he did not factor in the equation was the powerful pull that the Widow Siddons and her son William would have on him.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Phyl of Phyl's quilting and book blog just recommended this & I actually have it on my shelf. It sounds dark but good.


Finished the book in one sitting. Dark, adulterous, war swirling around them all through the book -- the heroine haunted by memories of growing up a bastard, married to a ghastly man -- so "enjoyed" isn't the word I'm looking for but it held my interest.

[Jena · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated the heroine and the hero with a passion. The heroine has an affair with her sweet nieces husband and feels no regret. How romantic.

[nanoreadsxo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75⭐️ This was hard to review because I picked this one for the adultery itself and I have no regrets, i’m on their side eventho I feel bad for Sarah’s end. Nevertheless, I wish the delivery was more reachable?? perhaps have more impact on me because the writings of yearning & longing was really beautiful. I have no regrets like the mcs, I read it to be on their side of the story.

[Debbie Dodd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dnf

[Liqiu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kathryn was a bastard (daughter of the deceased earl), lives in poverty, and recently widowed (from an abusive husband who beats and rapes her). The one good thing in h's life was her inquisitive and darling 5 yr old son. This makes a solid background story for h, setting her up to carry the title of HEROINE.

But it was anything but. I didn't find anything humble or dignify about h. Sure, she's friendly with all those lowly servants, network around, and a bit sassy about how life have treated her thus far and won't back down meekly, but DAMN, she COVETS all that was her niece (from her legitimate half-brother): niece's name, home then husband.

It totally kill any sympathy for the heroine when h harbors no guilt while boinking the husband (who happens to have a lot of guilt but not too much because it didn't take long for him to try out some soft-core bbdsm thing with h - with a glass test tube. :O). Anyway, come on, through all those hardship (as stated above) you can't be a better person? Have more self-respect? More compassion? Even continues when her niece miscarried and becomes mad. When mad niece held h's 6 yr old son at the edge of a cliff, ready to throw both of them over, I was sadistically and diabolically ready for this chic(h) to experience some REAL hard life lesson. Anything to turn her around. You do not mess around with other people's husband. PERIOD. PERIOD. Think of the karma!

I love adultery books, I do. I love the angst, the heartaches, the unfairness of everything. But most of all, I love how H/h rises above situation that totally decapitates one's spirit. In this case, the h didn't rise above all that were thrown at her. It's sad to think that maybe that was why fate dealt her that hand because fate knew that h was just another grasping bitch who should've been the evil other woman.

Maybe Karen got it wrong. Maybe Kathryn wasn't the h. Maybe Hugh (the philosophical and unselfish laird) wasn't the H. Maybe Sarah (the soft-spoken and dyslexia niece) was meant to be the heroine. But most of all, I wished that Robbie was the hero. I loved Robbie (H's cripple brother with the sad, sad eyes who sees everything yet never condemn) who has the heart of a poet and the backbone of a warrior. That's a story I would like to read.

[Copper78 · Rating 4 out of 5]

First read in June 2016 and re-read in August 2023.

I remembered very little about this book so I decided to fe-read it and it genuinely felt like the first time. This book is about the very controversial topic of adultery. Too many readers will avoid it altogether or give it a low rating based on the subject matter but I don’t think it’s fair to do that.

This book is about an epic, all consuming, doomed love that both MCs fought against. As with any romance containing adulterous characters, there will be pain and the author really ensures we feel what the MCs feel. There is angst, pain, obsession, guilt, regret and above all LOVE. Hugh and Kathryn are meant to be and it’s unfortunate that Hugh was wed to someone else before they realized it. There are countless swoony, romantic, heart wrenching scenes and although I didn’t love the writing style at times, the book definitely touched me and I’m glad I didn’t let a topic such as this one stop me from reading it.

Giving it 4 stars because of then writing style and the overall melancholy feel that left me feeling a little sad even with the mostly HEA.

[George the Girl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've loved the other books I've read by Karen Ranney, Tapestry being an all time favorite. That said, I loved the romance in this book, and the fact that there isn't any sugar coating on the affair. They know what they're doing, they don't try to excuse it, and they live with the guilt. It was very real in that aspect, and the author really has a way with forbidden love and lust. But I thought it wrapped up really tidily, nobody around them really seemed to have a problem with the affair, although they had a problem with adultery in others. The main reason it only got three stars was just that the war aspects got glossed over entirely, it only took up a couple chapters, and the effects it would have had on a clan like that were ignored mostly. After reading a lot of other historical fictions set in that time period, I thought this one could have taken it a little further, even without sacrificing the romance aspect.

[Fern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathryn and Hugh..one look and they are lost to each other forever. Too bad that Hugh is to marry Kathryn's niece Sarah and Kathryn is to be her companion in Scotland afterward.

This story deals with not only Scotland during the Battle of Culloden but it also shows how mental illness impacted the lives of everyone involved. It also allows guilt and healing.

There were a lot of emotions in this book from the very first page with the death of Kathryn's husband. The characters learned to live with and to deal with some huge issues within the story,

I liked the depth of these characters and the various secondary ones also. Hugh's dealing with Kathryn's young son was wonderful. He helped a young boy learn responsibility for his actions and what it means to be a part of a large family. Both Kathryn and Hugh felt remorse and saddness in their dealings with Sarah (Hugh's wife and Kathryn's neice) and with Robbie (Hugh's brother).

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This reads much like Ranney's early work - has an epic feel of love found, lost, and found once again. It felt a little more disjointed than others I've read from her, however, and also was a little more morally ambiguous. The hero and heroine fall in love at first sight, but he is married to her niece. It would have been easier to accept had Sarah been a horrible person, but she wasn't.

As Sarah descends into madness (brought on by an OD of laudanum?), Hugh and Kathryn love more and feel guilty as well. But they are unable to turn away from one another. Once they do, they are both miserably unhappy.

In the end, they come back together following a multitude of tragedies.

If you can overlook adultery in the face of true love, and can deal with the imperfections of
an early book, then you will surely enjoy this book. If you can't, then I recommend you don't even try.

[Mimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Heaven Forbids" is an intense and steamy romance, albeit an adulterous one. An epic love story that includes a lot of historical facts from a very tense, rebellious, and bloody time in Scotland's history - the time of the second Jacobite rebellion. Karen Ranney provides a backdrop to this love story that shows how several of the many clans responded to the challenges of the times. Primarily, however, it tells us how Laird Hugh MacDonald weighs his responsibilities to his clan versus those to his country, and his obligations towards his wife versus the intense, unremitting love and lust he feels towards Kathryn. The tension builds and builds as Kathryn and various members of the MacDonald clan are pulled into the ongoing rebellion, leaving the reader in suspense as to how this tale will be resolved. I enjoy Karen Ranney's style of writing and this novel left me well-satisfied.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is different than any I've read before. It was a pretty emotional read for me. There was pain, guilt, madness, forbidden desire, and love. All of us make mistakes and sometimes life puts us in circumstances that pull at our being with such intensity that we may make choices that will give us consequences that aren't pleasant. This is a story of two true soul mates meeting, knowing each other beyond face to face meetings. Knowing that to act on this would be adulterous but they choose to go there anyway. This ends up pulling them apart before it brings them back together. You'll have to read the story to find out how life gives them what they both need. I found it an emotional ride and a very honest one getting to that Happily Ever After. :)

[Tam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved everything about this book, except the pall of infidelity that (for ME) slightly tarnished the all-encompassing love of two obvious soulmates. I understand it was a "necessary evil" for the development and trajectory of the plot line. I just personally find adultery distasteful, and it sullied the purity of their love. The characters are very well-written and easily evoke emotion. Little William is an especially heart-warming character.

[Sherrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book. The only thing a problem with was there was about 200 to 300 hundred pages that I just skip over. Way to much useless information.

[Utopianqueen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was heartbreakingly good. You should definitely read it a big theme is redemption for ones sins and how far you would go for your soul mate. Warning: I cried ALOT