Highland Barbarian

More Murray Highlander Passion!

Hannah Howell has proven that there can never be enough Murrays in the Scottish Highlands. She is a master of the Highland Scottish Romance and delights fans once more with another set of twins in this first of a two part series about Murray cousins, brothers Sir Artan and Sir Lucas Murray. In this, Sir Artan's story we begin where we last ended in the Murray saga with Angus MacReith needing a strong highland laird as heir for Glascreag. He turns to one of the Murray twins he has fostered asking Artan to go and seek out his niece Cecily Donaldson whose mother married a lowlander and is living with her aunt and uncle who are now her guardians. Angus plans to have Artan marry Cecily and thus become the laird, but Artan is skeptical about marriage and even less enthusiastic about marriage to a lass sight unseen. He shows up at Dunburn with two lowlander guards in each arm as the celebration of Cecily's betrothal to Sir Fergus Ogilvey is being finalized. Like many of the Murrays Artan takes one look at the lovely Cecily with her fiery hair and temper and recognizes his mate. But at the same time he also recognizes that all is not right at this estate and soon overhears that Cecily's relatives had her family killed and is using her to make this advantageous marriage and then have her done away with as well. Artan seduces her away from Dunburn and then struggles with his feelings of not only desire and passion, but growing love, as well as guilt, as he then has to reveal the real reason why he is taking Cecily that another marriage has been arranged for her. Artan begins wooing Cecily and on the run from Sir Fergus and her aunt and uncle, Artan and Cecily become handfasted. Only in the style of Hannah Howell can a sexy, passionate, fiery seduction on the run be so much fun. They eventually make it to Glascreag where Cecily finds out the truth and feels betrayed, not realizing that Artan truly desires her. Sir Fergus eventually comes up to the highlands and joins forces with one of the many highlanders, Laird MacIvor, that has been coveting Glascreag for years, which is the reason why Angus needs an heir like Sir Artan that is strong to defend Glascreag. In this battle Artan is wounded and captured by Sir Fergus, who also takes the opportunity to torture Artan a bit. The highlanders stick together as Laird MacIvor sides with Angus and Artan after seeing how evil Sir Fergus really is. MacIvor mortally wounds Sir Fergus, but not before Artan slips into a deep coma-like sleep to overcome his wounds. Cecily, like many of the Murrays, has healing talents, but even her talents seem hopeless. She prays that she will be a good and perfect wife if Artan awakes, and when he does, Artan begins to realize something is definitely not right as his lass with the temper and screaming passion in his bed has become subdued. Once again Artan finds himself wooing his Cecily and this historical romance has a 'they lived happily ever after' ending with Cecily and Artan declaring their love and realizing they both fell in love from the moment they met. Highland Barbarian is another fun, sexy Scottish Historical Romance in a long line of highland romances that Hannah Howell fans never grow tired of reading and adding to their collections.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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exhilarating fifteenth century Scottish romance

In 1480 Scotland dying Angus MacReith forces distant relative Artan Murray to agree to a death bed promise though the younger man does not believe the ¿three score¿ older male, who fostered him and his injured brother Lucas, is near death. He demands Artan go to the lowlands to fetch his niece Cecily Donaldson, heir to Glascreag, before he dies. Unable to say no to his mentor, Artan begins his journey, but cannot envision a female especially a lowlander as a chieftain in the Highlands. The rest of Angus¿ plan stinks as far as Artan is concerned the old man wants him to marry this biddable female so he can be the laird. However, when he arrives in the Lowlands, he finds Cecily about to marry the King¿s choice for her, Sir Fergus Ogilvy. Artan tells her that Sir Fergus has plans for his shrewish wife to be out of his way when he is the Laird of Glascreag only she does not believe him until her fiancé abducts her. However, able to think on her feet, she informs her once future groom that she is handfasted to Artan, who takes her with him. Sir Fergus refuses to give up on his ambition, so he leads an attack on the couple, targeting his rival. As Cecily and Artan fall in love they debate the characteristics of a perfect wife to a laird until he is mortally wounded. --- This is an exhilarating fifteenth century Scottish romance, which sub-genre fans expect no less from Hannah ¿Highlander¿ Howell. The latest tale contains three fully developed characters as the lead couple battles over the ideal perfect wife and against the deviously clever Sir Fergus. HIGHLAND BARBARIAN is another well written tale from a consistently good writer, who some consider the Queen of the Scottish historical romance. --- Harriet Klausner

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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Almost 4 stars.......................................

Except it had to be explained ad nauseum why Cecily felt she had to please her wicked guardians. From around page 200-220 it was discussed to death. Time better spent on the guardians demise. Not the best of the Highlander series but still good.

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Highly Recommended

Such a great book!!!

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Highly recommended

I love Hannah Howell and I loved this book. Great characters, story and more. Hannah Howell hits another home run with this one!

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ANOTHER WONDERFUL HIGHLANDER NOVEL

I absolutely love all of your Highlander Novels. They are such exciting reading that I have to make sure I have enough time to read the entire book before I sit down to read, because once I start reading a Highlander Novel I can't stop. I am very much looking forward to reading your next book.

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Highly Recommend it

I have always enjoyed Hannah's story. Could not put it down.

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Scottish History

Good storyline and relatively accurate keeps your interest

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March 20, 2012

I love these books

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Good read

I enjoyed this book. I will read more of this aurthor.

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very highly recommended - you've got to read this!

I am never disappointed in reading another book from author Hannah Howell. She really knows how to tell a story.

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Too Long!

Got tired of reading it after a while. It was a good story, but i've read better. Overall, it was a good book, just too long, especially when that leads to too much repetition of the plot. And in this case there was a lot of repetition.

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Okay!

There was a tremendous amount of repetition in this book. It was a nice story and I was able to skip through the very long pages of 'thoughts' and 'what ifs.' A lot of funny dialogue written in the usual plain and simple manner that is often seen in books by this author.

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Another Great Murray Story

I am a huge fan of Ms. Howell's Murray series and couldn't wait to read HIGHLAND BARBARIAN. It didn't disappoint me in the least. I thoroughly enjoyed the adventure of Artan Murray and Cecily Donaldson. If you have enjoyed her previous books you'll want to pick this one up to.

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Once again a good book!!!

I enjoyed reading this book. Ms. Howell always delivers great books and she did it again. It was not one of my favorites but it was still a great book.

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