Review & Giveaway - - Tangled Up With The Highlander

Tangled Up With The Highlander

by Julie Johnstone

Return of the Highlanders - Book 2

Publisher: Darbyshire Publishing

Release Date: August 30, 2024

Reviewed by PJ

 

He thought he would never love again… Then he fell for the lass he must give up to save his clan.

Desperate to keep his children and clan from starving, Laird Alasdair MacLachlan joins the ranks of mercenaries searching for the missing lass of a powerful clan. The mission seems simple—find the lass, return her to her family, and claim the hefty reward. But when fate throws bow and arrow wielding Sorcha MacGregor in his path, he’s about to discover how complicated one mule-headed, beguiling beauty can make things. For a man who has lost and loved and has no interest in doing either ever again, he’s confounded by the desire the opinionated woman awakens in him, and he’s shocked to discover his heart might not be permanently frozen after all. But his duty to his family and clan must come before all else, and that means sticking to the plan. Or is that just an excuse to avoid burying his painful past and taking a risk on a new future? One thing is certain—if he doesn’t figure it out soon, Sorcha will be lost to him forever.


Life has taught Sorcha MacGregor that only a harebrained fool would wish to wed and become a man’s chattel to control. So when she’s kidnapped by a Highlander who intends to deliver her like a trussed pig to a family she’s never known, she instantly decides he’s a selfish barbarian like all other men. Her opinion becomes harder to maintain, though, when the devilishly handsome warrior risks his life for hers. Still, she has no intention of lowering her well-placed guard and making herself vulnerable. But with each act of kindness Alasdair shows her, every moving interaction between him and his children, and the simmering way he looks at her, not to mention the toe-curling kisses, she comes to see the gentle, brokenhearted man behind the hardened exterior, and she does the one thing she swore she’d never do: falls in love. When the time comes for Alasdair to make the ultimate sacrifice for her, for love, will he prove he’s really the man of her dreams or just a fantasy that is too good to be true?

PJ's Thoughts:

Julie Johnstone is my favorite author writing Medieval romance today. Her stories are exciting, adventurous, heart-tugging, and immersive. It's always a bit of a jolt when I look up from my Kindle while reading one of her books and realize that I'm in present time and not the Medieval Scottish Highlands. The web she weaves is that realistic.

Alasdair and Sorcha both claimed my affection in this book while Alasdair's young children outright captured my heart. As they did Sorcha's. It was so endearing to watch their relationship grow but, mostly, I enjoyed watching Sorcha help Alasdair bridge the emotional gap between him and his children that had been erected since the death of his beloved wife as well as find new, unexpected love with Sorcha. But not without some monumental challenges to overcome along the way. I love strong warriors, hardened by loss, who gradually rediscover the joy of both familial and romantic love.

Tangled Up With The Highlander is book two of Johnstone's Return of the Highlanders trilogy but can be read as a standalone, however if you're like me you'll want to read all three. Book one, Secrets of a Highlander's Heart, was released earlier this year. I haven't read it yet though I plan to rectify that soon. Both books are available to purchase in print, digital, or audiobook as well as through Kindle Unlimited. 

Readers, do you enjoy Medieval romance?

Have you read Julie Johnstone yet?

What's your favorite romance time period? Do you read books set in multiple periods? 

One randomly chosen person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, September 1 will receive an e-book copy of Tangled Up With The Highlander.

*U.S. only

*Must be 18