Seduced by Her Highland Warrior by Michelle Willingham

I recently finished off Ms. Willingham’s MacEgan Brothers series, so I was very excited to find that she has a new series, and instead of Irish warriors, she’s writing about Highlanders!

Seduced by Her Highland Warrior is the second book the MacKinloch Clan series and picks up right where book one, Claimed by the Highland Warrior left off. The MacKinloch clan has come under attack by the English, with their keep and most of their homes having been burned to the ground. Now, once again, the clan must stand united and rebuild not only their buildings, but their lives. The Goodreads blurb -

Alex MacKinloch is chief of his clan and, in these dark times of unrest, he has united his people.

The void between him and his wife is proving a much harder challenge. When Alex discovers Laren has been keeping secrets from him, his thinly veiled frustration can no longer be contained.

The pleasures of the marital bed seem long forgotten to Laren. Yet her warrior husband is looking at her with increasingly hungry eyes… This powerful highlander has seduction on his mind and his wife in his sights!

Now, that might sound like this is just another “seduce her ‘til she succumbs” caveman read, but that’s not at all the case. Seduced by her Highland Warrior is a touching story about two people who, though they’ve been through one of the most difficult times a couple can face – the loss of a child – realize that if they want their marriage to survive, they will have to fight for it. Through well written flashbacks we see Alex and Laren’s early years together, and get both points of views into the hows and whys their relationship fell apart.

This could have been an angsty story, but it wasn’t. I mean, yes, the clan was going through difficult times, and Laren had so much growing to do, but the relationship itself, that of husband and wife trying to regain what they'd lost… I thought it was very well written. This is definitely a romantic, inspirational story and Alex and Laren are a couple I could cheer for with a happily ever after I could believe in!

I can’t wait for the next installment of the MacKinloch Clan series, that quiet, tortured soul Callum’s story!

4.5/5 stars

This ARC was provided to me for review by netgalley.com.

Claimed by the Highland Warrior by Michelle Willingham

I’m a big fan of Michelle Willingham’s historicals, and so when I saw this book, I knew that I just had to have it!

Claimed by the Highland Warrior is the first book in the MacKinloch Clan series and we're introduced to an amazing family and a wonderful supporting cast of friends and clan members. Taking place during the time of William Wallace, Braveheart, it's a historical adventure that could have been bogged down with the necessary world building and character introduction that takes place in most first books in a series, but I didn’t feel any of that. In fact, the story was so well told that I read it in a single day and found the secondary characters to be every bit as important and compelling as our main couple.

Goodreads blurb –

Bram MacKinloch has spent seven long, torturous years in captivity with only three things to keep him alive—pure brute strength, a thirst for revenge and the memory of his pretty wife's face.

Shock is only one of the emotions coursing through Nairna's body when she sees Bram again. His scars tell of suffering, the hunger in his eyes speak of a burning desire so raw it could consume them both. But a lot has changed since they so innocently wed…

On his wedding night, Bram left his young bride, Nairna, and went with his father and brothers into battle, having never even consummated the marriage. Then came the news that Bram and his brother, Callum, and their father, were killed, leaving Nairna to mourn a man she cared deeply for. Seven years later as this story opens, Bram has escaped his hellish prison and makes his way back to his wife’s family’s holdings so he can finally claim the woman he loves. Of course Nairna is overjoyed to see him alive, but neither of them are the same people they were when they first married, so she isn’t sure what to expect. Then as if that isn’t enough to contend with, when they make their way to Bram’s family at Glen Arrin, they find the keep in near ruin, the clan divided, and the Laird and his wife barely speaking, but it’s all of these things that make the story so interesting – and keeps Nairna busy!

Watching Bram and Nairna deal with what we now know as PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - was at times heartbreaking, but Nairna is such a strong, grounded woman that even though she was dealing with her own tumultuous emotions, she was able to help Bram deal with the memories and nightmares of his years of torture and captivity, while devoting herself to her new clan and her role as a wife. There are so many things to love about this story, but first and foremost were Nairna and Bram, watching as they had to first learn to trust one another and then love.

While there were some slower moments in the story, Claimed by the Highland Warrior is a romantic, passionate, and exciting beginning to the MacKinloch Clan series, one which I’ll continue to follow.