Title: The Highland Henchman
Series: Book 2 in the Highland Force Series
Author: Amy Jarecki
Genre: Historical Romance
Blurb: Intent on winning a Lowlander’s tournament, Bran MacLeod travels south with his laird. All goes as planned, except spirited Miss Enya Ross continually distracts him, and in the oddest situations. With no business lusting after a baron’s daughter, Bran decides to return to Raasay—until his laird pledges Bran’s services in the fight to reinstate Mary, Queen of Scots to the throne.
Enya has no deference for the lines of nobility, or for the Great Divide that separates Lowlanders from Highlanders. The way Sir Bran’s eyes hunger for her ignites an internal fire Enya cannot quell. All her life she’s wanted adventure and excitement, but now her every thought is consumed with the rugged Highlander.
With all odds stacked against them, can their forbidden love withstand the tumult of war and the menace of betrayal.
After reading “The Angel and the Warrior” I really needed a book to pick me up and I am so glad that this book did just the trick. The only thing that irked me was that the heroine in this book upset me greatly.
Needing royal assistance, Baron Ross issued a tournament to enchant the Highlanders to leave their land and come to the Lowlands to take part. What he really wanted was for the Highlanders to fight a dangerous battle that would get most of them killed.
After the tournament the Highland Lairds choose instead to entrust their best warriors to stay and fight. This was not exactly what Baron Ross wanted but he knew that he could not change their mind so he accepted.
Bran MacLeod was one of the warriors that was left behind, and even though he did not like it, he knew that he can never go against his Laird. It did not help matters that their was a dangerous instant attraction between him and the baron’s last daughter. Bran knows that getting involved with her will only land him in trouble, but he just can’t seem to keep away and of course, she is not making it easy on him either.
Enya Ross is fed up with the noble life and would like to be free to have adventures to foreign lands. Being the daughter of a noble means that she has very few options for her future, or in her case, only one option and that is to marry into a good family to increase her father’s wealth and lands.
Not liking her father’s plan for her life, Enya has rebelled at everything he stood for which made her a constant torn in his side for many years, including learning archery and being better at it than most of her father’s men.
Enya was outside (without the knowledge of her family) practicing her archery when she first sited the Highlanders when they arrived, and saw how mighty and strong they looked. There was especially one who caught her eye as he was the biggest of them all.
Throughout the tournament, Enya could not keep her eyes of of Bran and he her, which did not go unnoticed by the people around them.
Now disaster after disaster has fallen on these two lovers, thanks to Enya not being able to stay away, which ended up getting both of them in deep, deep, DEEP trouble.
Would these two have a happily ever after or would Bran realize that Enya is more trouble than she’s worth and wash his hands of her?
Amy Jarecki was refreshing for me. The heroine was cut from a different cloth than the others heroines I have read about and the adventures that came about between the two were sad and inspiring. Even though at the end, a great loss ensured, I cried real tears. That place needed to be bombed down and written out of existence.
Want to know what I’m talking about, as usual my advice is, READ THE BOOK!
Thoughts: The Heroine really needed to think things through more
Grade: B
