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Murray Family #1
Highland Destiny
When destiny brought Sir Balfour Murray and his wounded brother down the same road as Maldie Kirkaldy, she offered her services as a nurse even as she tried to deny the desire this dark-eyed knight had ignited at first sight. Soon they discover that they both share a mission of vengeance, but Maldie cannot tell him her true identity—to do so would brand her a spy...
Sworn to avenge his family as chief of the Doncoill Clan, Balfour vows to destroy his greatest foe, Beaton of Dubblinn, with Maldie at his side. Yet Balfour knows that he can no more afford to trust her than he can ignore his lust for his sultry beauty. Now, he is not only determined to unearth her deepest secrets, but also to pursue his passion for her. And nothing will stand in his way...
Sworn to avenge his family as chief of the Doncoill Clan, Balfour vows to destroy his greatest foe, Beaton of Dubblinn, with Maldie at his side. Yet Balfour knows that he can no more afford to trust her than he can ignore his lust for his sultry beauty. Now, he is not only determined to unearth her deepest secrets, but also to pursue his passion for her. And nothing will stand in his way...
303 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1998
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About the author
Hannah Howell
142 books2,616 followersHannah Dustin Howell is a best-selling American author of over 40 historical romance novels. Many of her novels are set in medieval Scotland. She also writes under the names Sarah Dustin, Sandra Dustin, and Anna Jennet (see below).
She has also used the following pseudonyms:
Anna Jennet, Sarah Dustin and Sandra Dustin
She has also used the following pseudonyms:
Anna Jennet, Sarah Dustin and Sandra Dustin
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 227 reviews
October 27, 2018
3 Balfour needs a clue stars
Highland Destiny was my first read by Hannah Howell. I really enjoyed the flow of the book and Hannah Howell's writing style. I think this read would have been a 4 or 5 star read for me if Balfour wasn't a clueless fool. Some of the choices he made, had me wanting to shake some sense into him. Maldie was a good heroine but she forgave all Balfour's stupidness at the drop of a hat and I needed him to grovel .....a ton. He messed up and didn't fight for her , didn't trust her, and let her go. I just needed a whole lot more from him. Still I want to read Balfour's brothers books. Also on a side note I listened to this on audio, and the narrator sounded like a 70 year old chain smoking Russian, not Scottish. It was off-putting.
Highland Destiny was my first read by Hannah Howell. I really enjoyed the flow of the book and Hannah Howell's writing style. I think this read would have been a 4 or 5 star read for me if Balfour wasn't a clueless fool. Some of the choices he made, had me wanting to shake some sense into him. Maldie was a good heroine but she forgave all Balfour's stupidness at the drop of a hat and I needed him to grovel .....a ton. He messed up and didn't fight for her , didn't trust her, and let her go. I just needed a whole lot more from him. Still I want to read Balfour's brothers books. Also on a side note I listened to this on audio, and the narrator sounded like a 70 year old chain smoking Russian, not Scottish. It was off-putting.
October 2, 2010
Once in awhile you run into a book which drags and drags and DRAGS! I was really disappointed in this book especially with the high rating Highland Destiny received.
Maldie is on a mission to fulfill her mothers dying wish, she must find her father and kill him. Her mother, the local whore had some serious mental issues when raising Maldie. She raised Maldie to see the same hatred she had for Maldie's father, told Maldie the secrets to sex as a young child and was basically an acquaintance to Maldie than a mother. So when Maldie's mother died she sets off to kill her father, however, when she finds out it is not easy to kill the Laird, Maldie turns to her fathers enemy, Balfour.
Balfour has been feuding with the Beatons for the last 13 years. So when Balfours younger brother, Eric is kidnapped by Beaton he sets out for battle. But when he meets Maldie he is captivated by her beauty and her nurturing ways that he questions his plans for battle because he becomes suspicious as to why she mysteriously appears and is instantly ready to help his brother and his clan. A passionate love affair begins between Maldie and Balfour which is based on Maldie's deception and Balfour suspicions.
The first problem I had with this book is that it was VERY repetitive. Yes, we know Maldie feels guilty for not telling Balfour she was sired by Beaton and that Balfour feels guilty for being suspicious of his lover. (I don't believe it needs to be repeated EVERY chapter.) My next issue was the romance built really fast, the attraction was fast which I understand but their was no courtship just fast sex with then pulling their clothes on immediately. The story line was just blah to me and didn't captivate me like many other highlander books I had read recently. Lastly, there were grammatical errors and wrong names put in lieu of another person. (I understand I make errors all the time but you would think the publishing company would catch these mistakes.)
I'm so sad, that I found this book such a disappointment.
Maldie is on a mission to fulfill her mothers dying wish, she must find her father and kill him. Her mother, the local whore had some serious mental issues when raising Maldie. She raised Maldie to see the same hatred she had for Maldie's father, told Maldie the secrets to sex as a young child and was basically an acquaintance to Maldie than a mother. So when Maldie's mother died she sets off to kill her father, however, when she finds out it is not easy to kill the Laird, Maldie turns to her fathers enemy, Balfour.
Balfour has been feuding with the Beatons for the last 13 years. So when Balfours younger brother, Eric is kidnapped by Beaton he sets out for battle. But when he meets Maldie he is captivated by her beauty and her nurturing ways that he questions his plans for battle because he becomes suspicious as to why she mysteriously appears and is instantly ready to help his brother and his clan. A passionate love affair begins between Maldie and Balfour which is based on Maldie's deception and Balfour suspicions.
The first problem I had with this book is that it was VERY repetitive. Yes, we know Maldie feels guilty for not telling Balfour she was sired by Beaton and that Balfour feels guilty for being suspicious of his lover. (I don't believe it needs to be repeated EVERY chapter.) My next issue was the romance built really fast, the attraction was fast which I understand but their was no courtship just fast sex with then pulling their clothes on immediately. The story line was just blah to me and didn't captivate me like many other highlander books I had read recently. Lastly, there were grammatical errors and wrong names put in lieu of another person. (I understand I make errors all the time but you would think the publishing company would catch these mistakes.)
I'm so sad, that I found this book such a disappointment.
April 21, 2025
Curse the miscommunication trope
None of my written books were keeping my attention today, so I went for an audiobook.
࿔*:･ My thoughts
How was this book somehow engaging and yet so boring at the same time?
It's almost like we spend the whole book at that point of the music when the beat is about to drop but it never does.
If I hadn't listened to the audiobook, I would've given up.
The book is basically the hero suspecting the heroine of hiding something and then feeling guilty for suspecting her and then liking her more until something makes him suspect her of hiding something, then he feels guilty and... you get it.
On the other hand... or more like on the same hand,...
The heroine spends the whole book feeling guilty for hiding something and telling us why she's hiding said something and still feeling guilty about hiding it, but then justifying it to herself and then feeling... yeah, you get this one too.
My problem is this isn't badly written. I felt entertained while I was listening even as I felt frustrated by the constant repetition. I'll try this author again, but a different series to see if it was a 'this book problem' or an 'author's style' problem.
╭── ⋅ ⋅ ──────────────── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮
. .┊𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆
. .┊➛ 𝑺𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒆: 84
. .┊➛ 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆: Title starts with H
. .┊➛ 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔: 97/100
╰── ⋅ ⋅ ──────────────── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯
None of my written books were keeping my attention today, so I went for an audiobook.
࿔*:･ My thoughts
How was this book somehow engaging and yet so boring at the same time?
It's almost like we spend the whole book at that point of the music when the beat is about to drop but it never does.
If I hadn't listened to the audiobook, I would've given up.
The book is basically the hero suspecting the heroine of hiding something and then feeling guilty for suspecting her and then liking her more until something makes him suspect her of hiding something, then he feels guilty and... you get it.
On the other hand... or more like on the same hand,...
The heroine spends the whole book feeling guilty for hiding something and telling us why she's hiding said something and still feeling guilty about hiding it, but then justifying it to herself and then feeling... yeah, you get this one too.
My problem is this isn't badly written. I felt entertained while I was listening even as I felt frustrated by the constant repetition. I'll try this author again, but a different series to see if it was a 'this book problem' or an 'author's style' problem.
╭── ⋅ ⋅ ──────────────── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮
. .┊𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆
. .┊➛ 𝑺𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒆: 84
. .┊➛ 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆: Title starts with H
. .┊➛ 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔: 97/100
╰── ⋅ ⋅ ──────────────── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯
September 16, 2010
Main conflict between the couple for half the book was irrational. There was no interesting character development or dialogue.
STORY BRIEF:
Beaton bedded many women and produced many illegitimate girls, never a boy. Maldie was one of those girls. Her mother became a prostitute to support herself and Maldie. When the mother died, she made Maldie vow to kill Beaton for revenge. Maldie then traveled to Beaton’s village.
Several years ago Beaton’s wife got pregnant by a Murray and had a boy. Beaton put the baby boy in the woods to die. A Murray found the baby (Eric) and took him home. The Murray clan raised him. Beaton has been ill for a few years and needs a boy to inherit his place as laird. He kidnaps Eric. The Murrays attack the Beatons hoping to get Eric back, but they are defeated. The remaining Murrays return home to heal and plan another attack. Maldie sees them on the road and asks to go with them. She tells them she is a healer and can help. Balfour is laird of the Murray clan and agrees to let her stay.
While there, she and Balfour are attracted to each other. She does not tell Balfour that she is related to Beaton and wants to kill Beaton. This is her big secret, and she is worried that Balfour will feel betrayed when he finds out. He senses she has a secret, but he doesn’t know what it is.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
The first half of the book felt like nothing but “filler.” The main conflict was that Maldie was keeping a secret from Balfour. I found this ridiculous. First of all they had a common enemy. If Maldie was reasonable, she would have told Balfour she was on his side, and they could work together. He wanted Eric back. She wanted Beaton’s death. Also for the entire first half of the book, both Maldie and Balfour spent too much time pondering. She pondered her lust for him and her worry that he might discover her secret. He pondered his lust for her and why she wouldn’t tell him her secrets.
Finally some plot developments and action occur during the last half of the book. But it was ordinary, it was predictable, it’s been done before. There was no interesting character development, no interesting dialogue. I can’t think of anything positive to say, other than the second half was better than the first half. I wanted it to be over and almost stopped reading it in the middle. The only reason I finished it was for the benefit of this review.
The heroine was “stupid” in some of her thinking and actions which I won’t go into so as to avoid any spoilers. I was annoyed with this.
The author wrote all conversation in Scottish brogue. I don’t mind a little of it or occasional use, but this was too much. It was tedious and hard “for me” to follow. For example: Ye make a mon greedy. Ye make me feel verra greedy as weel. Howbeit, I think… I ken that ye can see naught but a woman hurrying away to betray ye again.
Minor problem, publisher’s fault, the cover picture is wrong. Balfour has hair to his shoulders. Cover guy does not.
This is the first book in the Murray Family series (ten books so far).
DATA:
Story length: 299 pages. Swearing language: none. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 6. Approximate number of sex scene pages: 11. Setting: 1430 Scotland. Copyright: 1998. Genre: historical romance.
STORY BRIEF:
Beaton bedded many women and produced many illegitimate girls, never a boy. Maldie was one of those girls. Her mother became a prostitute to support herself and Maldie. When the mother died, she made Maldie vow to kill Beaton for revenge. Maldie then traveled to Beaton’s village.
Several years ago Beaton’s wife got pregnant by a Murray and had a boy. Beaton put the baby boy in the woods to die. A Murray found the baby (Eric) and took him home. The Murray clan raised him. Beaton has been ill for a few years and needs a boy to inherit his place as laird. He kidnaps Eric. The Murrays attack the Beatons hoping to get Eric back, but they are defeated. The remaining Murrays return home to heal and plan another attack. Maldie sees them on the road and asks to go with them. She tells them she is a healer and can help. Balfour is laird of the Murray clan and agrees to let her stay.
While there, she and Balfour are attracted to each other. She does not tell Balfour that she is related to Beaton and wants to kill Beaton. This is her big secret, and she is worried that Balfour will feel betrayed when he finds out. He senses she has a secret, but he doesn’t know what it is.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
The first half of the book felt like nothing but “filler.” The main conflict was that Maldie was keeping a secret from Balfour. I found this ridiculous. First of all they had a common enemy. If Maldie was reasonable, she would have told Balfour she was on his side, and they could work together. He wanted Eric back. She wanted Beaton’s death. Also for the entire first half of the book, both Maldie and Balfour spent too much time pondering. She pondered her lust for him and her worry that he might discover her secret. He pondered his lust for her and why she wouldn’t tell him her secrets.
Finally some plot developments and action occur during the last half of the book. But it was ordinary, it was predictable, it’s been done before. There was no interesting character development, no interesting dialogue. I can’t think of anything positive to say, other than the second half was better than the first half. I wanted it to be over and almost stopped reading it in the middle. The only reason I finished it was for the benefit of this review.
The heroine was “stupid” in some of her thinking and actions which I won’t go into so as to avoid any spoilers. I was annoyed with this.
The author wrote all conversation in Scottish brogue. I don’t mind a little of it or occasional use, but this was too much. It was tedious and hard “for me” to follow. For example: Ye make a mon greedy. Ye make me feel verra greedy as weel. Howbeit, I think… I ken that ye can see naught but a woman hurrying away to betray ye again.
Minor problem, publisher’s fault, the cover picture is wrong. Balfour has hair to his shoulders. Cover guy does not.
This is the first book in the Murray Family series (ten books so far).
DATA:
Story length: 299 pages. Swearing language: none. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 6. Approximate number of sex scene pages: 11. Setting: 1430 Scotland. Copyright: 1998. Genre: historical romance.
November 9, 2017
I'm so behind on reviews... and it has been a few months. Forgive me if I forget a detail or two.
It was interesting enough for me to finish, which is enough for 3 stars. I am a hardcore quitter lately. I've DNF'd more books than I've read this year, I think.
The evil laird next door steals the illegitimate half-brother of the hero to claim as his rightful heir (long story). The heroine meets the hero on the road back from his failure to reclaim his brother. She herself is planning on killing the evil laird and figures 'the enemy of my enemy...' and attaches herself to the hero's group by offering her healing skills to the wounded.
The big secret is that the heroine is the illegitimate daughter of the evil laird and promised her mother on her deathbed that she would kill him for abandoning them to poverty. She is very secretive about her past, which raises suspicions in the Murray clan.
Suspicions aside, she and the laird shack up right in the keep and go at it like rabbits until circumstances make it appear that the heroine is a spy and they imprison her in her room. I thought it was odd how casually everyone treated this situation and no worries about pregnancy.
Long story short, she escapes and saves the day. This heroine was always saving the day/brother/sickly peasant with her healing skills and words of wisdom. Every man wanted her, of course. The hero's brother fell madly in love with her too. She was a bit too 'Mary Sue' for me, but the hero was pretty good.
It was interesting enough for me to finish, which is enough for 3 stars. I am a hardcore quitter lately. I've DNF'd more books than I've read this year, I think.
The evil laird next door steals the illegitimate half-brother of the hero to claim as his rightful heir (long story). The heroine meets the hero on the road back from his failure to reclaim his brother. She herself is planning on killing the evil laird and figures 'the enemy of my enemy...' and attaches herself to the hero's group by offering her healing skills to the wounded.
The big secret is that the heroine is the illegitimate daughter of the evil laird and promised her mother on her deathbed that she would kill him for abandoning them to poverty. She is very secretive about her past, which raises suspicions in the Murray clan.
Suspicions aside, she and the laird shack up right in the keep and go at it like rabbits until circumstances make it appear that the heroine is a spy and they imprison her in her room. I thought it was odd how casually everyone treated this situation and no worries about pregnancy.
Long story short, she escapes and saves the day. This heroine was always saving the day/brother/sickly peasant with her healing skills and words of wisdom. Every man wanted her, of course. The hero's brother fell madly in love with her too. She was a bit too 'Mary Sue' for me, but the hero was pretty good.
November 13, 2015
I had such high hopes for the writer. All of her books are so highly rated. I think the lead characters did not appeal to me. I was bored the entire time. The heroine seemed so.........drab..........and very unfeminine too. I kept seeing a beggar on the street for the image of the heroine. And we are supposed to think of the sex scene between the hero and this female beggar hot? She just appeared poor, skinny and unfeeling. I don't know why the hero wanted her. And they already knew that they wanted to be together and they did sleep with each other at around 10% into the book. Then pray tell, what is the point?
June 11, 2008
This is the first of the "highland" series that features the Murray family. I also have found it to be the most annoyingly dull installment of the entire series. I really had to fight hard to finish this tale. I think part of my problem was the constant lying of Maldie throughout the entire story. It got old... fast. I would say to skip this story, but it does lay the foundation for the series and for that alone you may need to grin and bear it.
October 28, 2012
Highlanders....need I say more?
November 15, 2013
3.5 stars
This is the first book in the Murray saga. It's a sweet, low-angst story. Maldie Kirkaldy is a healer who promised her mother on her deathbed that she would avenge her by killing her evil father, Beaton of Dubblinn. As Maldie is planning her mission, she runs into Balfour Murray, laird of Doncoill Clan. Balfour is planning to rescue his kidnapped brother from Beaton's lair. They both have a common enemy, but Maldie decides to guard her family's secrets even though Balfour suspects she's a spy. Misunderstandings follow as they fall in love and become lovers.
Much confusion could've been avoided if Maldie had been forthright from the start. Although her reasons for keeping quiet make sense at the end, at times I found myself wishing she would just speak openly and honestly.
The book stays true to the time period. The author uses local brogue and dialect, which some people might not like, but I personally enjoyed reading it.
Maldie is a fun character, she is brave and self-sufficient, although her judgement calls are dubious sometimes. I liked how she was clear about her feelings for Balfour from the start, even though she had other handsome suitors chasing her. Balfour is very sweet, the perfect laird, fair and strong. The secondary characters are great and we can see the set up building for subsequent Murray family stories. I will continue the series :)
This is the first book in the Murray saga. It's a sweet, low-angst story. Maldie Kirkaldy is a healer who promised her mother on her deathbed that she would avenge her by killing her evil father, Beaton of Dubblinn. As Maldie is planning her mission, she runs into Balfour Murray, laird of Doncoill Clan. Balfour is planning to rescue his kidnapped brother from Beaton's lair. They both have a common enemy, but Maldie decides to guard her family's secrets even though Balfour suspects she's a spy. Misunderstandings follow as they fall in love and become lovers.
Much confusion could've been avoided if Maldie had been forthright from the start. Although her reasons for keeping quiet make sense at the end, at times I found myself wishing she would just speak openly and honestly.
The book stays true to the time period. The author uses local brogue and dialect, which some people might not like, but I personally enjoyed reading it.
Maldie is a fun character, she is brave and self-sufficient, although her judgement calls are dubious sometimes. I liked how she was clear about her feelings for Balfour from the start, even though she had other handsome suitors chasing her. Balfour is very sweet, the perfect laird, fair and strong. The secondary characters are great and we can see the set up building for subsequent Murray family stories. I will continue the series :)
February 29, 2020
Re-reading - The beginning of the Murray Series.
Many, many years ago, well before Kindles, Nooks, ebooks, etc., there were few authors writing highlander tales. I never had even heard of historical romances where highlanders, their clans, those battles or anything associated with them until I read my first Hannah Howell book. Luckily, it was a Murray Family Series book. I immediately fell in love with all things highlanders, due to this author. Ms. Howell was pretty much "the highlander" author in those days, so I immediately set out to purchase every single book she had written. I was never disappointed. And, I continued to purchase and read every single Murray Family book, loving them all. Since that first highlander book, I have read many hundreds of that genre. I will always have fond memories of Hannah Howell's first books which introduced me to them all and still love my Murrays, that unique, very close family of highlanders.
Many, many years ago, well before Kindles, Nooks, ebooks, etc., there were few authors writing highlander tales. I never had even heard of historical romances where highlanders, their clans, those battles or anything associated with them until I read my first Hannah Howell book. Luckily, it was a Murray Family Series book. I immediately fell in love with all things highlanders, due to this author. Ms. Howell was pretty much "the highlander" author in those days, so I immediately set out to purchase every single book she had written. I was never disappointed. And, I continued to purchase and read every single Murray Family book, loving them all. Since that first highlander book, I have read many hundreds of that genre. I will always have fond memories of Hannah Howell's first books which introduced me to them all and still love my Murrays, that unique, very close family of highlanders.
May 27, 2014
I have read so many Hannah Howell books. Her books on the Murray's are so delightful!!! This is my first read of book 1, I have read most of the others 2 & 3 times, but I decided I need to see where it all started from. I absolutely loved this book, I couldn't put it down!!! Watching Balfour fall in love with Maldie and she him!!! There is intrigue, lies, spies, death, love, hatred all wrapped up in one beautiful story about family, love, blood etc. A must read!!!
May 29, 2024
This book has some annoying tropes typical of its genre, but the plot was fun if you don't take it too seriously. I actually ended up really enjoying it. The lady who read the audiobook put in the effort to get the scottish accents right, which really helped, as long as you don't think about Shrek while listening to it. Also, I was giggling a lot when I realized the heroine's name is Maldie. Current day internet memes make that a funny name.
So we've got our couple, Balfour, 'laird' of Doncoil, and Maldie, a traveling healer who turns out to secretly be the bastard daughter of Doncoil's enemy castle, Dubhlin, headed by Beaton, the biggest meanie to ever mean. Balfour's clan gets their ass kicked when they try to rescue their little brother Eric from Beaton, who kidnapped him and claimed him as his son. Balfour's other brother Nigel gets his ass shot through with arrows and is fading fast. Maldie crosses paths with them during their retreat from Dubhlin and is like, hey I can heal you guys. Great, come back with us to Doncoil -- romance ensues, presumably. Except..... Ugh.
My biggest criticism is that these types of romance books can't seem to escape the insidious ideology of rape apologia and coercive sex -- which makes sense, seeing as this author likely grew up watching shit like Sixteen Candles where rape is played off as a funny moment. But this is a romance novel. Why ruin your romantic book series with this kind of poison. This is the first book of a twenty book series for fucksake, and this is how you start it off? We have the classic tropes where the male lead is obsessed with the virginity of the heroine, and the romantic plotline is full of veiled and sometimes open threats of rape, coercion, and kidnapping. I know this was written in '98, but those tropes really look ugly looking back. It's not hot for the male love interest to bypass the heroine's consent. Balfour doesn't respect Maldie's wishes, keeps pushing his suit on her despite her refusals, and he doesn't really care what she wants or doesn't want. HE wants to have sex with her, so they're going to. That's his mind-set. He also is really set on the idea of her being a virgin and is obsessed with sexually-possessing or marking her as 'his' as if she's a fire-hydrant and he's a dog. This makes no sense, as for the majority of the book, he has no intention of marrying her, so his motive is to take her virginity and presumably ruin her life. The first scene where he forces a kiss on her was not sexy at all. A small girl closed in a room alone with a huge man who is forcing her to kiss him. Her options were to either give in and go along with it under the threat of rape, or refuse, get overpowered by him, and be raped anyway.
Also, Balfour's disgusting attitude when Maldie confronts him for kissing her without permission, he goes 'Yeah, it was my fault, but you liked it, so was I really wrong?' i.e., he's insinuating that because she enjoyed her consent being violated, it was therefore okay for him to violate her consent. AND THEN, MALDIE GOES, 'yeah, he was kind of right.' WHAT? NO HE WASNT. And then after that forced kiss happens, Maldie goes, 'wow, omg, I'm going to lose control of my loins AND my heart if I'm here much longer....' Like..... Girl, WHAT? All you know about these men that you're helping at this point is that after your first conversation alone with the guy, he revealed his intent to rape you during your stay here, kissed you by force, and then said it was your fault and actually it's okay because you liked it anyway even though you said no. What exactly was loveable about him in that one interaction you've had so far? Is it because he's hot so it actually wasn't that bad? Girl.
Perhaps the only funny part of this dynamic is that Balfour gets jealous and angry when OTHER men (i.e., his brother Nigel who also wants to have sex with Maldie) act the same way toward Maldie as he himself is behaving: with lust and entitlement. But he never puts together that maybe HE is doing something wrong. It's all these other men that should change, not him.
So, Maldie and Balfour of course start a sexual relationship (which begins with Balfour pulling down Maldie's dress and sucking her boob against a stone wall outside, in public), and we keep getting little snippets of Maldie's backstory, a backstory which should explain her motivations, except it only makes Maldie's actions and decisions make even less sense than they did before. It's revealed that her mother was tricked by a yet un-named rich guy (Beaton, the enemy laird), and she got pregnant with his baby and then he left her. She then becomes so bitter that she becomes a prostitute, which the story takes pains to remind us isn't because her family would disown her for having a bastard child but is actually entirely out of spite because she's too proud to go back to her loving family. Also, she's vain, which the story thinks means she's evil for some reason. She then raises Maldie for one purpose, to kill her father Beaton who abandoned them. Balfour, upon hearing this, says, 'nooo, you could never be like your whore mother', which I found really silly, because bro, you want her to have sex with you unmarried. Your goal is for her to be EXACTLY like her mother. AND ALSO, YEAH - MALDIE? Knowing what happened to your mother, who got pregnant and abandoned by a rich man who lied about loving her, then disowned by her clan, why on earth are you so eager to repeat that mistake with Balfour? Maldie keeps insisting that she won't be used by men like her mother was, setting the story up for Balfour to win her over, dominate her, and humble her, getting her to break her life-long held principles and sleep with him anyway, which is kind of a disgusting premise. Balfour even admits in the text of the story that Maldie is the one risking everything by having sex with him and that he loses and risks nothing. Knowing that, he's still trying to make her throw away everything just to have sex with him, knowing that he's going to discard her. What a pig. Sure, she'll lose her reputation, her virginity, and her one bargaining chip to get married with, but I want to fuck her! Screw her dreams and aspirations and comfort! What a grand romance.
If I had to choose the absolute lowest this book decides to go, the worst moment of this book, it's this: so, they have sex eventually, and Balfour starts going on about how all the girls like his brother Nigel more, so Maldie decides to tease him, 'Oh maybe I'd better try him for myself,' as a little joke, and Balfour reacts not with laughter, he straight up threatens to MURDER her if she tries. Maldie goes, wait, what? Are you threatening me? And he goes, no, I'm warning you. So he meant it. The romantic lead threatens to murder the heroin with his bare hands and it was not a joke. That was a massive tone-shift and absolutely killed whatever remaining romantic/erotic energy there was in this book. THAT CONVERSATION IS THEN /NEVER/ ACKNOWLEDGED AGAIN. Neither of them even think back on that moment! So what was the purpose of that other than reinforcing the violent undertone to their relationship?
We then have the tension going on between Balfour and his blondie brother Nigel. Balfour is deeply jealous of Nigel, because women apparently like him better because he's blonde and white. Balfour is repeatedly described as 'brown', because he has a light tan and brown hair, which makes him ugly as sin by comparison, apparently. Nigel also wants to have sex with Maldie, which Balfour is pissed off about. He then catches Nigel trying to seduce Maldie while she's nursing his arrow stab-wounds. This grand seduction consists of Nigel laying there, injured, and showing Maldie his erection under the blanket. Maldie is like, 'OKAY I'm gonna pretend I didn't see that. Also, time for your sponge-bath.' Balfour comes in the room and throws her out of there, and tells Nigel, bro, she's mine. He then tells Nigel his feelings for Maldie are real and he needs to back off. 'What goes on between me and Maldie is deeper than lust--' Which, literally how. You've shared nothing at this point beyond two sexually coercive experiences and barely any conversation. How CAN there be anything except lust between them. Anyway, Nigel agrees, fine, you can have her. Balfour then thinks the words, "Wow, if anyone was listening to this conversation, it would sound like he and Nigel were callously deciding who would bed Maldie." LMAO, but bro, you ARE. That's literally what you're doing. Nigel's lust for Maldie which is literally never developed after that point but is also apparently a deep, burning, passionate love so strong that at the end of the book, he has to leave the country because he's so in love with Maldie and can't stand it anymore. Bro, you got a boner once and that's it.
And then, a tribute to the greatest side character of them all: Grizel. She was the healer at the castle before Maldie got there, and she's apparently incompetent. We get little teasers of Grizel near the start of the book, and lots of detailed descriptions of how stinky, ugly, and bitter she is; like, gratuitous descriptions of this woman who did nothing wrong so far --and because she's so stinky and ugly, she must be evil. Maldie intuits that Grizel is actually a traitor to Doncoil with her yet unmentioned magical emotion-reading powers, because Grizel hates Balfour, Nigel, and their dad. Apparently their dad was a huge whore and slept with everyone, including Grizel -- meaning the laird of the castle coerced and used his servant woman, taking advantage of the huge power differential, then discarded her when she 'lost her beauty.' And Grizel is now so dirty and bitter and ugly and hateful that she betrays Doncoil and is feeding information to their enemy clan, the Beatons of Dubhlin. It's also revealed that hey, Grizel wasn't actually incompetent as a healer, she was bitter about how she'd been used and abused by the laird, so she slowly murdered him with leeches in revenge for him betraying her. Um, Grizel, you dropped your crown. She murdered the guy who crossed her and then betrayed the whole clan to the enemy, allowing the rival clan to kidnap the bastard child, Eric, that the laird fathered while cheating on Grizel. Slay queen. SHe not only killed him, she spat on his grave! Grizel is my hero. She gets executed for being a traitor to her clan, but to be honest, I was on her side the whole time. The brothers had done nothing at that point to win over the audience's heart, so I was kind of on Grizel's side.
At some point Balfour accuses Maldie of being a traitor and a spy as well and locks her in a room. Maldie then escapes by pretending to have her period (no joke, she does this twice as a means of escape, because big burly Scotsmen who fight with blades are afraid of period blood). And to be honest? Once Maldie and Balfour were separated for a few chapters, the story totally won me over. I honestly would've given it four stars if not for the shitty romance. We got a lot of battle scenes, Maldie confronts her dad, Beaton, and stabs him in the arm to try and kill him, she's thrown in the dungeon and rescues Eric, there's a bunch of fighting scenes, I was enjoying it so much! And then when Maldie and Balfour reunite, the story immediately took a huge plunge again because Balfour says, if Maldie won't forgive him for thinking she was a traitor, he'll just kidnap her again and force her to listen to him. How sad is it when the romance is the worst part of your book, which is about the romance.
After the fight against Beaton, it's revealed that both Eric, the little brother they spent the whole book trying to rescue, AND Maldie are both Beaton's bastard children. Eric is accepted with open arms, but Balfour is pissed that Maldie is related by blood to his father's enemy. He spends so long deciding whether or not to take her back that Maldie is like, 'okay you obviously don't love me that much, bye,' and leaves. Balfour is then immediately like 'NOOO WHAT A FOOL IVE BEEN,' and has to follow her. The story ends with Maldie leaving Balfour to go back to her mother's clan, being accepted by them, and Balfour having to after her and prove he's not an asshole. He does this by telling Maldie's uncle, 'I'm not an asshole, give me another chance' -- and then having sex with Maldie on a hillside. They then get married and Nigel fucks off to France because he's in love with his brother's wife for some reason.
Basically, the plot was decent when it didn't have the two main characters in a room together. The secret plot elements were predictable, but still enjoyable to hit all those plot points as you saw them coming, but the romantic storyline was the weakest part of the story.
We also had a few huge pl0t-holes. As in, the book kept hinting repeatedly that Maldie has magical powers of empathy, and I kept expecting some kind of reveal, but the story literally forgot about it? It literally never went anywhere and was never used to any advantage. Really strange decision.
There are themes in this book of self-determination and found family, and blood-line not determining your path or your character, which I liked. The Murray clan accepts Eric as their own even after finding out that he is the blood son of their enemy laird, Beaton, which was sweet.
This book's downfall was that rape apologia is woven throughout the romantic plot, which was kind of a gross way to start this series. These kind of books are about escapism and erotic fantasy, and personally, I don't find coercion erotic in any way whatsoever. I've heard that some women enjoy this kind of thing because it allows a person to explore the feeling of being dominated and 'surrendering to passion' without being in any actual physical danger -- but this love story just wasn't it for me. Which sucks, because it would've been so easy to fix! This romance would've been cute if the author just didn't have Balfour constantly pushing boundaries.
Or threatening to murder Maldie. Literally, that convo should have been removed entirely, christ.
So we've got our couple, Balfour, 'laird' of Doncoil, and Maldie, a traveling healer who turns out to secretly be the bastard daughter of Doncoil's enemy castle, Dubhlin, headed by Beaton, the biggest meanie to ever mean. Balfour's clan gets their ass kicked when they try to rescue their little brother Eric from Beaton, who kidnapped him and claimed him as his son. Balfour's other brother Nigel gets his ass shot through with arrows and is fading fast. Maldie crosses paths with them during their retreat from Dubhlin and is like, hey I can heal you guys. Great, come back with us to Doncoil -- romance ensues, presumably. Except..... Ugh.
My biggest criticism is that these types of romance books can't seem to escape the insidious ideology of rape apologia and coercive sex -- which makes sense, seeing as this author likely grew up watching shit like Sixteen Candles where rape is played off as a funny moment. But this is a romance novel. Why ruin your romantic book series with this kind of poison. This is the first book of a twenty book series for fucksake, and this is how you start it off? We have the classic tropes where the male lead is obsessed with the virginity of the heroine, and the romantic plotline is full of veiled and sometimes open threats of rape, coercion, and kidnapping. I know this was written in '98, but those tropes really look ugly looking back. It's not hot for the male love interest to bypass the heroine's consent. Balfour doesn't respect Maldie's wishes, keeps pushing his suit on her despite her refusals, and he doesn't really care what she wants or doesn't want. HE wants to have sex with her, so they're going to. That's his mind-set. He also is really set on the idea of her being a virgin and is obsessed with sexually-possessing or marking her as 'his' as if she's a fire-hydrant and he's a dog. This makes no sense, as for the majority of the book, he has no intention of marrying her, so his motive is to take her virginity and presumably ruin her life. The first scene where he forces a kiss on her was not sexy at all. A small girl closed in a room alone with a huge man who is forcing her to kiss him. Her options were to either give in and go along with it under the threat of rape, or refuse, get overpowered by him, and be raped anyway.
Also, Balfour's disgusting attitude when Maldie confronts him for kissing her without permission, he goes 'Yeah, it was my fault, but you liked it, so was I really wrong?' i.e., he's insinuating that because she enjoyed her consent being violated, it was therefore okay for him to violate her consent. AND THEN, MALDIE GOES, 'yeah, he was kind of right.' WHAT? NO HE WASNT. And then after that forced kiss happens, Maldie goes, 'wow, omg, I'm going to lose control of my loins AND my heart if I'm here much longer....' Like..... Girl, WHAT? All you know about these men that you're helping at this point is that after your first conversation alone with the guy, he revealed his intent to rape you during your stay here, kissed you by force, and then said it was your fault and actually it's okay because you liked it anyway even though you said no. What exactly was loveable about him in that one interaction you've had so far? Is it because he's hot so it actually wasn't that bad? Girl.
Perhaps the only funny part of this dynamic is that Balfour gets jealous and angry when OTHER men (i.e., his brother Nigel who also wants to have sex with Maldie) act the same way toward Maldie as he himself is behaving: with lust and entitlement. But he never puts together that maybe HE is doing something wrong. It's all these other men that should change, not him.
So, Maldie and Balfour of course start a sexual relationship (which begins with Balfour pulling down Maldie's dress and sucking her boob against a stone wall outside, in public), and we keep getting little snippets of Maldie's backstory, a backstory which should explain her motivations, except it only makes Maldie's actions and decisions make even less sense than they did before. It's revealed that her mother was tricked by a yet un-named rich guy (Beaton, the enemy laird), and she got pregnant with his baby and then he left her. She then becomes so bitter that she becomes a prostitute, which the story takes pains to remind us isn't because her family would disown her for having a bastard child but is actually entirely out of spite because she's too proud to go back to her loving family. Also, she's vain, which the story thinks means she's evil for some reason. She then raises Maldie for one purpose, to kill her father Beaton who abandoned them. Balfour, upon hearing this, says, 'nooo, you could never be like your whore mother', which I found really silly, because bro, you want her to have sex with you unmarried. Your goal is for her to be EXACTLY like her mother. AND ALSO, YEAH - MALDIE? Knowing what happened to your mother, who got pregnant and abandoned by a rich man who lied about loving her, then disowned by her clan, why on earth are you so eager to repeat that mistake with Balfour? Maldie keeps insisting that she won't be used by men like her mother was, setting the story up for Balfour to win her over, dominate her, and humble her, getting her to break her life-long held principles and sleep with him anyway, which is kind of a disgusting premise. Balfour even admits in the text of the story that Maldie is the one risking everything by having sex with him and that he loses and risks nothing. Knowing that, he's still trying to make her throw away everything just to have sex with him, knowing that he's going to discard her. What a pig. Sure, she'll lose her reputation, her virginity, and her one bargaining chip to get married with, but I want to fuck her! Screw her dreams and aspirations and comfort! What a grand romance.
If I had to choose the absolute lowest this book decides to go, the worst moment of this book, it's this: so, they have sex eventually, and Balfour starts going on about how all the girls like his brother Nigel more, so Maldie decides to tease him, 'Oh maybe I'd better try him for myself,' as a little joke, and Balfour reacts not with laughter, he straight up threatens to MURDER her if she tries. Maldie goes, wait, what? Are you threatening me? And he goes, no, I'm warning you. So he meant it. The romantic lead threatens to murder the heroin with his bare hands and it was not a joke. That was a massive tone-shift and absolutely killed whatever remaining romantic/erotic energy there was in this book. THAT CONVERSATION IS THEN /NEVER/ ACKNOWLEDGED AGAIN. Neither of them even think back on that moment! So what was the purpose of that other than reinforcing the violent undertone to their relationship?
We then have the tension going on between Balfour and his blondie brother Nigel. Balfour is deeply jealous of Nigel, because women apparently like him better because he's blonde and white. Balfour is repeatedly described as 'brown', because he has a light tan and brown hair, which makes him ugly as sin by comparison, apparently. Nigel also wants to have sex with Maldie, which Balfour is pissed off about. He then catches Nigel trying to seduce Maldie while she's nursing his arrow stab-wounds. This grand seduction consists of Nigel laying there, injured, and showing Maldie his erection under the blanket. Maldie is like, 'OKAY I'm gonna pretend I didn't see that. Also, time for your sponge-bath.' Balfour comes in the room and throws her out of there, and tells Nigel, bro, she's mine. He then tells Nigel his feelings for Maldie are real and he needs to back off. 'What goes on between me and Maldie is deeper than lust--' Which, literally how. You've shared nothing at this point beyond two sexually coercive experiences and barely any conversation. How CAN there be anything except lust between them. Anyway, Nigel agrees, fine, you can have her. Balfour then thinks the words, "Wow, if anyone was listening to this conversation, it would sound like he and Nigel were callously deciding who would bed Maldie." LMAO, but bro, you ARE. That's literally what you're doing. Nigel's lust for Maldie which is literally never developed after that point but is also apparently a deep, burning, passionate love so strong that at the end of the book, he has to leave the country because he's so in love with Maldie and can't stand it anymore. Bro, you got a boner once and that's it.
And then, a tribute to the greatest side character of them all: Grizel. She was the healer at the castle before Maldie got there, and she's apparently incompetent. We get little teasers of Grizel near the start of the book, and lots of detailed descriptions of how stinky, ugly, and bitter she is; like, gratuitous descriptions of this woman who did nothing wrong so far --and because she's so stinky and ugly, she must be evil. Maldie intuits that Grizel is actually a traitor to Doncoil with her yet unmentioned magical emotion-reading powers, because Grizel hates Balfour, Nigel, and their dad. Apparently their dad was a huge whore and slept with everyone, including Grizel -- meaning the laird of the castle coerced and used his servant woman, taking advantage of the huge power differential, then discarded her when she 'lost her beauty.' And Grizel is now so dirty and bitter and ugly and hateful that she betrays Doncoil and is feeding information to their enemy clan, the Beatons of Dubhlin. It's also revealed that hey, Grizel wasn't actually incompetent as a healer, she was bitter about how she'd been used and abused by the laird, so she slowly murdered him with leeches in revenge for him betraying her. Um, Grizel, you dropped your crown. She murdered the guy who crossed her and then betrayed the whole clan to the enemy, allowing the rival clan to kidnap the bastard child, Eric, that the laird fathered while cheating on Grizel. Slay queen. SHe not only killed him, she spat on his grave! Grizel is my hero. She gets executed for being a traitor to her clan, but to be honest, I was on her side the whole time. The brothers had done nothing at that point to win over the audience's heart, so I was kind of on Grizel's side.
At some point Balfour accuses Maldie of being a traitor and a spy as well and locks her in a room. Maldie then escapes by pretending to have her period (no joke, she does this twice as a means of escape, because big burly Scotsmen who fight with blades are afraid of period blood). And to be honest? Once Maldie and Balfour were separated for a few chapters, the story totally won me over. I honestly would've given it four stars if not for the shitty romance. We got a lot of battle scenes, Maldie confronts her dad, Beaton, and stabs him in the arm to try and kill him, she's thrown in the dungeon and rescues Eric, there's a bunch of fighting scenes, I was enjoying it so much! And then when Maldie and Balfour reunite, the story immediately took a huge plunge again because Balfour says, if Maldie won't forgive him for thinking she was a traitor, he'll just kidnap her again and force her to listen to him. How sad is it when the romance is the worst part of your book, which is about the romance.
After the fight against Beaton, it's revealed that both Eric, the little brother they spent the whole book trying to rescue, AND Maldie are both Beaton's bastard children. Eric is accepted with open arms, but Balfour is pissed that Maldie is related by blood to his father's enemy. He spends so long deciding whether or not to take her back that Maldie is like, 'okay you obviously don't love me that much, bye,' and leaves. Balfour is then immediately like 'NOOO WHAT A FOOL IVE BEEN,' and has to follow her. The story ends with Maldie leaving Balfour to go back to her mother's clan, being accepted by them, and Balfour having to after her and prove he's not an asshole. He does this by telling Maldie's uncle, 'I'm not an asshole, give me another chance' -- and then having sex with Maldie on a hillside. They then get married and Nigel fucks off to France because he's in love with his brother's wife for some reason.
Basically, the plot was decent when it didn't have the two main characters in a room together. The secret plot elements were predictable, but still enjoyable to hit all those plot points as you saw them coming, but the romantic storyline was the weakest part of the story.
We also had a few huge pl0t-holes. As in, the book kept hinting repeatedly that Maldie has magical powers of empathy, and I kept expecting some kind of reveal, but the story literally forgot about it? It literally never went anywhere and was never used to any advantage. Really strange decision.
There are themes in this book of self-determination and found family, and blood-line not determining your path or your character, which I liked. The Murray clan accepts Eric as their own even after finding out that he is the blood son of their enemy laird, Beaton, which was sweet.
This book's downfall was that rape apologia is woven throughout the romantic plot, which was kind of a gross way to start this series. These kind of books are about escapism and erotic fantasy, and personally, I don't find coercion erotic in any way whatsoever. I've heard that some women enjoy this kind of thing because it allows a person to explore the feeling of being dominated and 'surrendering to passion' without being in any actual physical danger -- but this love story just wasn't it for me. Which sucks, because it would've been so easy to fix! This romance would've been cute if the author just didn't have Balfour constantly pushing boundaries.
Or threatening to murder Maldie. Literally, that convo should have been removed entirely, christ.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2015
Spectacular read not surprising since I absolutely love Hannah Howell and have been a huge fan for many years. This is book one is Ms. Howells Murray series and I think there like 19 books and they are all magnificent reads in my opinion. This is the book that started it all and I highly recommend you read this wonderful it definitely one for the reread and keeper shelf . Yes it is that exceptional of a read.
1430, Scotland
This story is about Laird of Duncoill Clan, Balfour Murray as his young half brother Eric has been kidnapped by his clans worst enemy clan Beaton and as the boy was once left to die as a newborn for the wolves since Balfour father had an affair with Beatons long dead wife. This is what started the war between clans. Though both parents are long dead but now the dying Beaton wants Eric as heir. The infant he left got the wolves all those years ago. The trouble is Eric is a Murray and many will just murder a teenage boy as others Beacon's want that wealth and title and feel entitled to so. They don't think Eric will past. Day once Beacon dies. They also fear for Beacon's known cruelty as they know Eric will never accept Beacon as his Father and wonder is he will force this through torture. There Mak
The heroine of this story is Maldie Kirkaldy who promised revenge on her mother's deathbed to murder and kill the Beaton of Dubblinn whom used and discarded which left them in a life of poverty and starvation. Maldie's mother had to whore for them to be able survive yet Maldie disgusted at her mother's way of life. Plus a mother who had even wanted her own daughter to join in her profession which Maldie refused holding onto her virginity for dear life. All Maldie want is to kill Beaton her sire and get her revenge but needs help and then she finds the Murray whom had just been beaten in a skirmish with the Beatons that was supposed to be a peace truce but as usually Beaton betrayed them. Balfour's brother is injured near death and Maldie offers her skills as a healer though they know the lass must have secrets to show up in the middle of a bloody battle but also know the old healer at Murray household is useless so they accepts,her offer not to mention she is the bonniest woman Balfour has ever behold and has know immediately he wants her in his bed as well.
This book was so beautifully written and there is so much action, adventure and emotion, deception, betrayal, murder and love. Even how two brothers being in love with the same lass. I found this unique secondary storyline although how it is resolved is bittersweet. I really felt bad for Nigel knowing he didn't have a chance with Maldie. Plus I felt bad for how Maldie grew up with an emotionally abusive mother and and a father she never met but was beyond evil. I understood her reasons for keeping her secret and think I would of chosen the same path in her place as Balfour would never believe a daughter of Beacon's would want to murder him, but I felt for Maldie's pain when he accused her of spying.
I really hated this book to end it was one of those rare those books that so many character's have that endearing quality not just the main couple, but Balfour's bro there's Nigel, and Eric, even Maldie's Uncle Colin from the Kirkcaldy Clan. I cannot praise this book enough and all the dangerous on slip of a lass can get into. Some moment made me giggle too as Hannah Howell is one of those rare writers that really brings the reader into the story. It's heart wrenching and heart warming at the same time. I highly recommend you start with this book I'd you are just venturing into her Murray Clan series as it is a spectacular series and I highly recommend. I would give this book a bazillion stars if allowed. I totally loved Highland Destiny by Hannah Howell who has always been a favorite author of mine!
I got this book from NetGalley.com for an honest review.
.
1430, Scotland
This story is about Laird of Duncoill Clan, Balfour Murray as his young half brother Eric has been kidnapped by his clans worst enemy clan Beaton and as the boy was once left to die as a newborn for the wolves since Balfour father had an affair with Beatons long dead wife. This is what started the war between clans. Though both parents are long dead but now the dying Beaton wants Eric as heir. The infant he left got the wolves all those years ago. The trouble is Eric is a Murray and many will just murder a teenage boy as others Beacon's want that wealth and title and feel entitled to so. They don't think Eric will past. Day once Beacon dies. They also fear for Beacon's known cruelty as they know Eric will never accept Beacon as his Father and wonder is he will force this through torture. There Mak
The heroine of this story is Maldie Kirkaldy who promised revenge on her mother's deathbed to murder and kill the Beaton of Dubblinn whom used and discarded which left them in a life of poverty and starvation. Maldie's mother had to whore for them to be able survive yet Maldie disgusted at her mother's way of life. Plus a mother who had even wanted her own daughter to join in her profession which Maldie refused holding onto her virginity for dear life. All Maldie want is to kill Beaton her sire and get her revenge but needs help and then she finds the Murray whom had just been beaten in a skirmish with the Beatons that was supposed to be a peace truce but as usually Beaton betrayed them. Balfour's brother is injured near death and Maldie offers her skills as a healer though they know the lass must have secrets to show up in the middle of a bloody battle but also know the old healer at Murray household is useless so they accepts,her offer not to mention she is the bonniest woman Balfour has ever behold and has know immediately he wants her in his bed as well.
This book was so beautifully written and there is so much action, adventure and emotion, deception, betrayal, murder and love. Even how two brothers being in love with the same lass. I found this unique secondary storyline although how it is resolved is bittersweet. I really felt bad for Nigel knowing he didn't have a chance with Maldie. Plus I felt bad for how Maldie grew up with an emotionally abusive mother and and a father she never met but was beyond evil. I understood her reasons for keeping her secret and think I would of chosen the same path in her place as Balfour would never believe a daughter of Beacon's would want to murder him, but I felt for Maldie's pain when he accused her of spying.
I really hated this book to end it was one of those rare those books that so many character's have that endearing quality not just the main couple, but Balfour's bro there's Nigel, and Eric, even Maldie's Uncle Colin from the Kirkcaldy Clan. I cannot praise this book enough and all the dangerous on slip of a lass can get into. Some moment made me giggle too as Hannah Howell is one of those rare writers that really brings the reader into the story. It's heart wrenching and heart warming at the same time. I highly recommend you start with this book I'd you are just venturing into her Murray Clan series as it is a spectacular series and I highly recommend. I would give this book a bazillion stars if allowed. I totally loved Highland Destiny by Hannah Howell who has always been a favorite author of mine!
I got this book from NetGalley.com for an honest review.
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January 15, 2013
"A child needs to be told his worth from time to time if he is to grow up hale and strong, in spirit and in body." loc.4458
Author: Hannah Howell
First published: 1998
Length: 4651 locations, 320 pages
Setting: Scotland, Spring 1430
Sex: frequent but not always explicit - the door is at least half closed.
Series: Book 1 of the Howell's Highland series. The epilogue has Nigel heading to France.
Hannah Howell writes solid, consistent medievals. The characters are well framed, the stories sufficiently interesting and unusual, and the links to other books and heroes/heroines gives a strong sense of family. They work. And "Highland Destiny" is simply another in that good addition to her portfolio (well, an early book and first in the Murray series, but still...).
There are some character aspects readers may not be enamoured of. They leap into bed quickly, with Balfour basically ruining her despite understanding her history and the issues that raises. Maldie is awfully forgiving of the hurts Balfour deals, always finding a reason to defend his actions when just maybe she should make him grovel a tad more. And there's the usual "love conquers all" trope that allows us to run toward the HEA.
Plus the background character of James is so annoying - he's constantly playing devil's advocate - she's a spy, she's bad... she could have a good reason, she's very pretty... Honestly, so irritating!
But it is still an enjoyable book. Easy to read, sufficiently sexy for the genre, and a nice HEA.
Murray Family:
Three brothers – the patriarchs of the Murray Family
Book 1 Highland Promise - Lord Balfour Murray, laird of Donncoill and Maldie Kirkcaldy
Book 2 Highland Honor - Nigel Murray and Gisele Deveau
Book 3 Highland Destiny - Eric Murray and Bethia Drummond
References:
Author's website: http://hannahhowell.com/
(ISBN 9780759287600)
-CR-
Author: Hannah Howell
First published: 1998
Length: 4651 locations, 320 pages
Setting: Scotland, Spring 1430
Sex: frequent but not always explicit - the door is at least half closed.
Series: Book 1 of the Howell's Highland series. The epilogue has Nigel heading to France.
Hannah Howell writes solid, consistent medievals. The characters are well framed, the stories sufficiently interesting and unusual, and the links to other books and heroes/heroines gives a strong sense of family. They work. And "Highland Destiny" is simply another in that good addition to her portfolio (well, an early book and first in the Murray series, but still...).
There are some character aspects readers may not be enamoured of. They leap into bed quickly, with Balfour basically ruining her despite understanding her history and the issues that raises. Maldie is awfully forgiving of the hurts Balfour deals, always finding a reason to defend his actions when just maybe she should make him grovel a tad more. And there's the usual "love conquers all" trope that allows us to run toward the HEA.
Plus the background character of James is so annoying - he's constantly playing devil's advocate - she's a spy, she's bad... she could have a good reason, she's very pretty... Honestly, so irritating!
But it is still an enjoyable book. Easy to read, sufficiently sexy for the genre, and a nice HEA.
Murray Family:
Three brothers – the patriarchs of the Murray Family
Book 1 Highland Promise - Lord Balfour Murray, laird of Donncoill and Maldie Kirkcaldy
Book 2 Highland Honor - Nigel Murray and Gisele Deveau
Book 3 Highland Destiny - Eric Murray and Bethia Drummond
References:
Author's website: http://hannahhowell.com/
(ISBN 9780759287600)
-CR-
December 4, 2013
The heroine, unfortunately named Maldie Kircaldy (and NOBODY in the story even snickers) is on the road near Beaton land on a mission--her mother made her give a blood vow to avenge her against the Beaton clan laird, Maldie's father. Malldie hasn't come up with a way to go about this when she happens on the Murray clan, retreating from a hard-fought battle with the Beatons in defeat. Seems the youngest Murray brother, Eric, was abducted by old Beaton and they want him back, but this time Beaton was too well prepared for the rescue effort. Maldie decides to join forces with Balfour Murray and his clan, but she has to keep her motives secret. If the Murrays knew she was Beaton's bastard daughter they would assume she was a spy.
A time or two I felt that Maldie was too good to be true. She is way too forgiving when wounded pride and hurt feelings would cause most of us to hold out a bit and make the one who hurt us grovel. Also, given her mother's story, I had a little trouble and a few "argh" moments with the ease with which she falls into Balfour's bed and her rationale (seriously, "we waited a whole fortnight before we did the nasty so I'm sure I'm not a whore like mommy and you won't use me and toss me aside like your daddy did to other women" just seems a bit lame.)
But I was drawn in, and empathized with Maldie, and the story puts her through some exciting and difficult things, so I count this as one of the better books I've read in awhile.
A time or two I felt that Maldie was too good to be true. She is way too forgiving when wounded pride and hurt feelings would cause most of us to hold out a bit and make the one who hurt us grovel. Also, given her mother's story, I had a little trouble and a few "argh" moments with the ease with which she falls into Balfour's bed and her rationale (seriously, "we waited a whole fortnight before we did the nasty so I'm sure I'm not a whore like mommy and you won't use me and toss me aside like your daddy did to other women" just seems a bit lame.)
But I was drawn in, and empathized with Maldie, and the story puts her through some exciting and difficult things, so I count this as one of the better books I've read in awhile.
November 13, 2018
The only reason I found and read this book is because I needed to find a character whose first name was Eric and his last name began with the letter M. I won't even tell you how many pages I went through to find this book with the right character!!! (Over 1000 though!)
Maldie Kirkcaldy's mother was Consequently and for some other reasons, Maddie wanted to kill the guy (literally). As is common in a historical romance, Maldie meets a man named Balfour Murray who has his own vendetta against Maldie's father. The dynamics of their relationship is very interesting as things progress.
Balfour faces his own hell when his You learn a lot about the Murrays in this first book. I know that my interest was piqued and I definitely want to learn more about them.
Recommendation: I plan to read the 2nd book and I really, really enjoyed book one a lot more than I expected. So, yes, I recommend this one.
Maldie Kirkcaldy's mother was Consequently and for some other reasons, Maddie wanted to kill the guy (literally). As is common in a historical romance, Maldie meets a man named Balfour Murray who has his own vendetta against Maldie's father. The dynamics of their relationship is very interesting as things progress.
Balfour faces his own hell when his You learn a lot about the Murrays in this first book. I know that my interest was piqued and I definitely want to learn more about them.
Recommendation: I plan to read the 2nd book and I really, really enjoyed book one a lot more than I expected. So, yes, I recommend this one.
January 8, 2014
I was slightly disappointed with this book to be honest, the plot sounded brilliant but the book left me wondering why I had bothered and wondering how far is left to listen to....this may be because I chose to listen to the audiobook version and the narrator left a lot to be desired. Her Scottish accent sounded more like Russian!! and it put me off throughout the entire book, the phrasing was terrible. I will however read the next book in the series but will be doing this on my Kindle.
This is the first book in the Murray Series, and follows the story of Maldie Kirkaldy a young lady know for her healing powers, with nowhere left to turn after the death of her Mother she sets on a path to murder her biological Father. On her way she crosses paths with Nigel Brother to the Chief of the Doncoill Clan and cannot fight the attraction she feels for Balfour the Laird.
A typical historical romance, boy meets girls, fights his feeling and she is sent reveal-ling. I said above a good plot but the narrator of the audio book definitely spoilt it for me.
This is the first book in the Murray Series, and follows the story of Maldie Kirkaldy a young lady know for her healing powers, with nowhere left to turn after the death of her Mother she sets on a path to murder her biological Father. On her way she crosses paths with Nigel Brother to the Chief of the Doncoill Clan and cannot fight the attraction she feels for Balfour the Laird.
A typical historical romance, boy meets girls, fights his feeling and she is sent reveal-ling. I said above a good plot but the narrator of the audio book definitely spoilt it for me.
July 14, 2010
I will definitely be reading more Hannah Howell books. Loved this one. Very fun. This book was in the running for BOTM in one of my other groups, but got beat out by One Dance with a Duke.
***SPOILERS***
Loved Maldie and how strong a character she was. I liked the sibling jealousy between Balfour his brother, but didn't understand why they'd go more for the younger brother when the eldest is the one who is Laird. Felt she should have fallen for the younger who had the inferiority complex. I loved the dynamics of the Murray clan and how they were down to earth and understood that family is family even when blood relations are not involved.
***SPOILERS***
Loved Maldie and how strong a character she was. I liked the sibling jealousy between Balfour his brother, but didn't understand why they'd go more for the younger brother when the eldest is the one who is Laird. Felt she should have fallen for the younger who had the inferiority complex. I loved the dynamics of the Murray clan and how they were down to earth and understood that family is family even when blood relations are not involved.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2008
This is Balfour Murray (Eric and Bethia Murray's son/Highland Promise) and I think this is how the Kirkaldy's mixed with the Murray's (two large clans).
Maldie Kirkaldy is a healer, too. They meet on the road and travel together. Wonderful story. I enjoyed the plain, simple dialogue of the time period. Refreshing, but does get on my nerves after awhile and I have to read different things.
Maldie Kirkaldy is a healer, too. They meet on the road and travel together. Wonderful story. I enjoyed the plain, simple dialogue of the time period. Refreshing, but does get on my nerves after awhile and I have to read different things.
June 1, 2013
3.5 stars
While I truly did enjoy this book, it took me a lot to get into the story. I'm not sure why as I enjoyed every page I read, but for some reason I just couldn't read for a very long time. I just kept getting distracted and ended doing something else... anything else besides reading. I guess it was well written and it was a good story with interesting characters, but not interesting enough as to make me keep reading.
Let's see if I get more into the series with the rest of the books.
While I truly did enjoy this book, it took me a lot to get into the story. I'm not sure why as I enjoyed every page I read, but for some reason I just couldn't read for a very long time. I just kept getting distracted and ended doing something else... anything else besides reading. I guess it was well written and it was a good story with interesting characters, but not interesting enough as to make me keep reading.
Let's see if I get more into the series with the rest of the books.
November 27, 2011
Very good start to a great series just read them in order of the year the books start in and you will be on the right track. Ignore the copyright dates and you won't be confused. Some of the family trees are wrong in the rest of the books. I've found that the one in this book is the most accurate so far. It is the only one that I use to keep track of the reading order. Hannah Howell's website isn't very helpful so I go by this family tree instead.
August 1, 2009
This is my first of Hannah Howell's books. I love the language. The story was very good and deep and the characters became real to me. She made everyone have distinct personality, not just the leads. I found myself thinking about the book long after I was through and that is a sure sign of a well written story to me. I will definitely be reading the next in the series.
March 16, 2011
this is not the first Howell book I read, and i'm glad because if it had been, I never would have read any of her other books. you can tell it's a first book. it drags quite a bit (torturous at times) and the characters are fairly likeable. so if this is your first, give it a chance and move on to the next books. i scan read a lot of this book just to know what happened for the next books.
July 12, 2018
Maldie Kirkcaldy meets Balfour Murray as he's leaving a battle where he was defeated by the Beatons. She helps his wounded brother because she is a healer so Balfour takes her to his keep so she can care for his brother.
Maldie is the bastard daughter of Beaton, the laird and enemy of the Murray's. She has never met Beaton but her mother made her swear on her deathbed to get revenge on Beaton for ruining her mother's life so Maldie traveled for months to find him. Because Beaton is the Murray's enemy, she decides not to tell them who her father is.
I really liked Maldie's character. She was not the usual subdued noblewoman we often find in these stories.
Balfour was okay but seemed to be just seemed to be selfish and wanted Maldie just for sex. He was content to let her just be his lover and nothing more which lowered my opinion of him.
The author kept describing Balfour as being dark, with brown skin. I had a hard time picturing a brown Scot.
One thing that did bother me a lot was that the conversations were often long and drawn out and they kept repeating themselves. I skipped over them.
I loved the secondary characters in this book and look forward to reading more about them. I
Maldie is the bastard daughter of Beaton, the laird and enemy of the Murray's. She has never met Beaton but her mother made her swear on her deathbed to get revenge on Beaton for ruining her mother's life so Maldie traveled for months to find him. Because Beaton is the Murray's enemy, she decides not to tell them who her father is.
I really liked Maldie's character. She was not the usual subdued noblewoman we often find in these stories.
Balfour was okay but seemed to be just seemed to be selfish and wanted Maldie just for sex. He was content to let her just be his lover and nothing more which lowered my opinion of him.
The author kept describing Balfour as being dark, with brown skin. I had a hard time picturing a brown Scot.
One thing that did bother me a lot was that the conversations were often long and drawn out and they kept repeating themselves. I skipped over them.
I loved the secondary characters in this book and look forward to reading more about them. I
May 8, 2021
A escrita da autora é muito boa, mas senti que o desenrolar das coisas foram muito rápidas principalmente no começo sem apresentar melhor os personagens, o romance foi muito rápido, em contrapartida tinha muitos momentos que ela ficava numa parte só durante muito tempo enchendo linguiça, onde ela poderia ter usado pra colocar outra coisa ou sei lá. Apesar disso, eu me apaixonei pela Maldie, ela foi uma personagem principal muito boa e muito corajosa, ela tinha uma personalidade forte, mas achei que ela perdoou o Balfour muito rápido, e eu gostei muito dele mas nossa me irritou demais em MUITOS momentos. E Nigel eu te amo vou te proteger de todo mal.
October 24, 2018
3.5 stars.
This is your typical good old-fashioned Highlander romance with swords, feuds and bonnie lasses. I'm wondering how the series has continued for so many books since there are only three Murray brothers in this first book. Let's see.
Narrator Angela Dawe made the Scottish accent easy to listen to, which is a definite plus.
This is your typical good old-fashioned Highlander romance with swords, feuds and bonnie lasses. I'm wondering how the series has continued for so many books since there are only three Murray brothers in this first book. Let's see.
Narrator Angela Dawe made the Scottish accent easy to listen to, which is a definite plus.
March 14, 2019
Tinha tudo para ser cinco estrelas, só que...
Mais um livro com a mistura perfeita. Highlanders lindos, guerras entre clãs, uma curandeira linda e habilidosa, maus tratos, segredos e revelações e romance.
E na verdade me prendeu muito... fiquei praticamente lendo quase sem parar, mas me irritei muito com a insegurança do Balfour. Gente esse homem só pega no tranco quando tem que decidir algo.
No início até me pareceu um highlander imponente, mas as dúvidas e inseguranças dele foram mostrando um senhor de clã totalmente diferente.
Mas isso não me fez desgostar do livro, em hipótese alguma. Pelo contrário... aguardo ansiosa pelo segundo volume... a estória do lindo e estonteante Nigel, que por sinal tem uma capa lindíssima.
Quatro estrelinhas cheias de boas recomendações. Leiam.
Mais um livro com a mistura perfeita. Highlanders lindos, guerras entre clãs, uma curandeira linda e habilidosa, maus tratos, segredos e revelações e romance.
E na verdade me prendeu muito... fiquei praticamente lendo quase sem parar, mas me irritei muito com a insegurança do Balfour. Gente esse homem só pega no tranco quando tem que decidir algo.
No início até me pareceu um highlander imponente, mas as dúvidas e inseguranças dele foram mostrando um senhor de clã totalmente diferente.
Mas isso não me fez desgostar do livro, em hipótese alguma. Pelo contrário... aguardo ansiosa pelo segundo volume... a estória do lindo e estonteante Nigel, que por sinal tem uma capa lindíssima.
Quatro estrelinhas cheias de boas recomendações. Leiam.
July 21, 2017
Kind of boring... but I'll continue with the series.
January 26, 2020
Relido 01/2020.
May 7, 2015
Originally Reviewed For: Bodice Rippers, Femme Fatales and Fantasy
It's time to go back to the beginning. For those of you who are Murray Family Fans, Highland Destiny is Book One in the Series. Hannah Howell is offering us a wonderful peak into the past.
It's been a while since I read the entire Murray Family Series and at first I wasn't aware that this book was a re release. But the further I got into the book the more familiar it looked. So it was a serious case of using the same material more than once or I had already read it. Fortunately for all of us Hannah Howell fans, I had already read it. BUT, the first time I read the Murrays, I read them out of order and reading Highland Destiny made me want to read the entire series again. I will admit, I am liking it much better this time around (and I really enjoyed it the last time) mostly because reading it in order just makes the books flow.
Maldie Kirkcaldy was raised by an angry bitter woman who wanted nothing more than to destroy the man who seduced her, got her with child, waited to see what gender it was and then left. On her mother's deathbed she promised to kill that man, her father, for her mother. To get her revenge. And after months of traveling on her own on foot, she is almost there But she realizes she might need some help. And help miraculously appeared in the form of Balfour Murray. A man who had his own fight against the man who fathered Maldie. Only the more time she spent with Balfour, the more her goals changed. Now she wants to figure out how she can keep Balfour as well as kill her father.
Balfour Murray is young, good looking and Laird of his small clan. When a neighboring laird kidnaps his young brother, wanting to claim him as his own, Balfour takes immediate action. Only to fail. On his return to his own home, to regroup and maybe make some better plans, pretty Maldie Kirkcaldy shows up out of nowhere. Offering her medical assistance to any of their wounded, especially his very wounded brother. Openly suspicious Balfour still accepts her offer and slowly falls under her spell even when maybe he shouldn't.
This was just a good book. A wonderful introduction into what we now know is a 20 book series. Reading it made me fall in love with the Murrays all over again. One of the things that I enjoyed was the innocence for lack of a better word of the time. Yes there were fueds and battles, betrayal and greed but the fact that it's not unbelievable that Balfour was able to just accept Maldie after meeting her on the road. Of course you have to wonder if a woman of that era would actually have been able to walk for months on her own.. But then you remember that she is portrayed as someone of the lower class, the unnoticed. Whether she was or not is an entirely different story.
Another fun fact about this book is the fact that the villain is an over the top sleezebucket and yet again, perfectly believable.
Feuding and passion.. just what we think of when we want to read an highland historical yet Ms. Howell brings all that passion right there into the room with you (fortunately the feuding is a little farther away). She makes you want to be a part of the majesty (forget the struggles and disease and...). She just makes you yearn.
A really wonderful read
Shauni
This review is based on the ARC of Highland Destiny, provided by netgalley
It's time to go back to the beginning. For those of you who are Murray Family Fans, Highland Destiny is Book One in the Series. Hannah Howell is offering us a wonderful peak into the past.
It's been a while since I read the entire Murray Family Series and at first I wasn't aware that this book was a re release. But the further I got into the book the more familiar it looked. So it was a serious case of using the same material more than once or I had already read it. Fortunately for all of us Hannah Howell fans, I had already read it. BUT, the first time I read the Murrays, I read them out of order and reading Highland Destiny made me want to read the entire series again. I will admit, I am liking it much better this time around (and I really enjoyed it the last time) mostly because reading it in order just makes the books flow.
Maldie Kirkcaldy was raised by an angry bitter woman who wanted nothing more than to destroy the man who seduced her, got her with child, waited to see what gender it was and then left. On her mother's deathbed she promised to kill that man, her father, for her mother. To get her revenge. And after months of traveling on her own on foot, she is almost there But she realizes she might need some help. And help miraculously appeared in the form of Balfour Murray. A man who had his own fight against the man who fathered Maldie. Only the more time she spent with Balfour, the more her goals changed. Now she wants to figure out how she can keep Balfour as well as kill her father.
Balfour Murray is young, good looking and Laird of his small clan. When a neighboring laird kidnaps his young brother, wanting to claim him as his own, Balfour takes immediate action. Only to fail. On his return to his own home, to regroup and maybe make some better plans, pretty Maldie Kirkcaldy shows up out of nowhere. Offering her medical assistance to any of their wounded, especially his very wounded brother. Openly suspicious Balfour still accepts her offer and slowly falls under her spell even when maybe he shouldn't.
This was just a good book. A wonderful introduction into what we now know is a 20 book series. Reading it made me fall in love with the Murrays all over again. One of the things that I enjoyed was the innocence for lack of a better word of the time. Yes there were fueds and battles, betrayal and greed but the fact that it's not unbelievable that Balfour was able to just accept Maldie after meeting her on the road. Of course you have to wonder if a woman of that era would actually have been able to walk for months on her own.. But then you remember that she is portrayed as someone of the lower class, the unnoticed. Whether she was or not is an entirely different story.
Another fun fact about this book is the fact that the villain is an over the top sleezebucket and yet again, perfectly believable.
Feuding and passion.. just what we think of when we want to read an highland historical yet Ms. Howell brings all that passion right there into the room with you (fortunately the feuding is a little farther away). She makes you want to be a part of the majesty (forget the struggles and disease and...). She just makes you yearn.
A really wonderful read
Shauni
This review is based on the ARC of Highland Destiny, provided by netgalley
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