Mairi Maclean is kidnapped on her wedding day by the enemy of her dead husband. Taken north to the water-surrounded Kisimul Castle, she is held captive in the name of retribution. But The Wolf of Kisimul Castle soon learns Mairi is not a docile pawn in this game of war between neighboring Scots. Nor will she be frightened into walking down the aisle to wed the fierce Highland chief.
Alec MacNeil is set on revenge. When he finds his enemy dead, he takes his wife to replace the one that was murdered. An eye for an eye. A bride for a bride. But Mairi is more tiger than kitten and refuses to bend to his will. Set stubbornly against one another, the passion that flares between them threatens to tear Alec’s strategy to shreds.
The Meta Details:
Source: Netgalley
Format: eBook
Length: 229 pages
Publication Date: August 14th, 2017
Genre: Romance, Historical Romance, Highlander Romance
Content Level: Adult
Pearl Clutching Content: Kidnapping your enemy’s bride-to-be seems pretty pearl clutching…
Trigger Warnings: Mentions of previous rape attempts, claustrophobia, violence against animals, attempted murder, and finally the aforementioned kidnapping
Featuring: Cinnamon…
Scorecard:
Recommended for: Fans of historicals, romance, and/or highlanders
Rating: This was great. Four thumbs up.
…wait…
Ginny Lurcock’s Thoughts: I am truly sorry this is a day late. I’m trying to get back into posting a review every Tuesday and Friday. But sometimes life happens. Or, in this case, bad books. Multiple bad books. In a row. And because I suffer from depression, I was beginning to think I was the problem. That my depression had gotten worse and I wasn’t able to find the joy in life any more.
Then I picked up The Wolf of Kisimul Castle.
There was no reason I should’ve liked this book. The male lead kidnapped the female lead. It’s not in the time period I normally like. The male lead had children who he didn’t spend a ton of time with. The male lead was only called a wolf and not actually a werewolf…
This was a recipe for disaster.
Heather McCollum took all these ingredients that normally make me feel like a cat being pet backwards, though, and mixed them together in a way that made it fun as fuck.
I suspect she added cinnamon.
Whatever she did, though, worked. It worked to perfection. The kids were enchanting. I adored them from the second they were introduced to us. I wanted to grab Alec by the ear at points and drag him over to them and shout “DON’T YOU SEE WHAT YOU’RE DOING TO THESE POOR, BEAUTIFUL SOULS!”
Not that Alec was a monster. He was actually pretty great. He just had this whole thing with abandonment and duty all tangled up until he didn’t know how to be any way other than repressed. You could feel the love for his children bubbling just under the surface. The children, his clan, the land… the love was just there. He just need to let it out. And I spent a lot of time just wanting to hug him and tell him it was okay while glaring at Mairi for making it worse.
Not that Mairi was a monster, either. She was actually one hundred and fifty percent delightful. She enchanted the dog, loved the kids (even while scamming them) and turned straw into gold. (Almost literally. Just wait until you read what she did with the jail cell.)
She was strong and confident while still being vulnerable and endearing.
So there’s got to be someone else to be mad at. Not Alec’s two best friends… they’re both pretty boss. Not the mother figure who helped raise Alec. She was legendary. Not the cook who they pick up down the line. She was a mouse learning to become a lion and it was glorious. Not Mairi’s brother or his best friend (her childhood crush). Not their wives. Not the previous books in the series that feature her brother and his best friend and their wives that I am totally going back to read.
In fact, by the time I figured out who to hate I was also realizing he was the asshole of the whole book. That he was the real monster. And holy shit, it was so fulfilling to read him get his comeuppance.
So while the book had it’s issues (consent for kisses, can prisoners consent, laughing at Millie trying to sneakapeak at what Cullen has under his kilt even though that’s harassment…) none of them were so large I couldn’t overcome them. They were just little blips in an otherwise wonderful and fun read.
A complimentary copy of this book was provided in exchange for a fair and honest review via Netgalley.
