Sinful Scot
by Julie Johnstone and Cecilia Mecca
Highlanders Through Time - Book 1
Publisher: Darbyshire Publishing, LLC
Release Date: February 28, 2020
Reviewed by PJ





In a time he doesn’t belong, in an alliance she shouldn’t have made, they’ll fall dangerously, hopelessly in love.
New Orleans, 2020. Billionaire Rhys McCaim doesn’t believe for one second that his missing mother is a time traveler. Still, his father insists that she didn’t leave them willingly but was pulled through time to her true home in medieval Scotland. But when he and his three brothers test out an ancient time-traveling spell to appease their dying father and Rhys is catapulted to thirteenth-century Scotland, he can’t exactly deny it anymore. Suddenly he’s a Highlander in a land on the verge of war. He needs to get back to his time before all hell breaks loose, but first he must find his mother. Luckily, fate drops the perfect guide in his path. She’s brilliant, beautiful and bold, and he’s drawn to her in a way he’s never been drawn to anyone or anything before. But he can’t afford to be distracted from his mission or lower his carefully constructed guard.
Scotland, 1286. Maggie Irvine is betrothed to a vicious man who cares only of wealth and power. Marrying him will restore her family’s reputation, however, saving her siblings from lives of misery. She has resigned herself to her fate, but when a mysterious, handsome stranger magically appears before her out of thin air, her plan—and the stranger’s life—are in jeopardy. And the only way to save him is to risk everything. As she comes to learn the shocking truth of what he hides, Maggie discovers what happens when duty collides with desire and long-abandoned dreams rise to the surface.
Bound by secrets and lies, Maggie and Rhys are entangled in the brewing battle for the Scottish throne. With his knowledge of the future, Rhys possesses the powerful ability to alter history. Yet, to do so successfully, he must let Maggie past the defenses he’s spent a lifetime building. Now, an alliance that began in desperation becomes a need that will leave them both torn between what they should do and what love demands.
PJ's Thoughts:
I love this book! Julie Johnstone is one of my favorite authors writing in the Medieval period so I was excited when I heard she planned to join forces with fellow author Cecilia Mecca to create a new time travel series. The end result of their efforts is a first book that I simply could not put down. From the very beginning, I was thrust into the lives of McCaim brothers of New Orleans and fascinated by the events surrounding their ailing father, his outlandish assertions, and the mystery of their mother's five-year disappearance. Then, when Rhys finds himself hurtled back in time to 13th century Scotland, things really get interesting.
Sinful Scot is fast-paced and action-packed, with snappy dialog, sizzling chemistry, intrigue, suspense, high stakes, and heart-tugging romance. The sense of time and place is so accurately described that I could visualize it in my mind. The characters, and their emotions, so vividly depicted that while reading their story, it felt as though I was with them each step of their journey, sharing their hopes, their fears, their love.
The second book in the series, Sexy Scot, sends McCaim brother Greyson back in time. Will he and Rhys find one another? Will they both reunite with their mother? Will they ever find their way back to 2020 New Orleans? Will they want to? I don't know the answers but you can bet I'll be eager to find out when Greyson's book, as well as those of the other two brothers, are released. Johnstone and Mecca have snagged me, hook, line, and sinker.
Sexy Scot will be released March 31, 2020.
Do you enjoy time travel romance?
Have you read either Julie Johnstone or Cecilia Mecca?
If you had the ability to time travel, where would you want to go?
One person who comments before 11:00 PM, March 1, 2020 will receive an e-book copy of Sinful Scot.