Find Me A Man in a Kilt

"You're not falling for me, are you, Irish?"

--Karen Marie Moning, The Immortal Highlander

 

Genre

Adult Paranormal Romance

Publisher

Delacourte Press

Pages

288 // 394 

Publication Date

August 4, 2004 // August 28, 2007

Source

Library // Bought

Previous Books in Series

Beyond the Highland Mist & To Tame a Highland Warrior & The Highlander's Touch & Kiss of the Highlander & The Dark Highlander

I finally continued on with my Highlanders and I was SO happy to be back in this world. The Immortal Highlander is the story most readers, including myself, have been waiting for for quite awhile. Adam Black, the immortal Fae who loves to stir up trouble, is total. And falling in love. With a human. And she's the only one who can see him. It's freaking fantastic. Gabrielle is a sidhe-seer so she can see the Fae. When Adam realizes this and goes to her for help, she punches him in the face. It's fucking amazing. She's grown up avoiding them and has been taught to stay away from them by any means necessary, so obvi she doesn't trust him. Adam is smitten. Duh. There tete-a-tete is amazing. The quote at the top is one he says to her on the reg. He's charming but soulless and therein lies the problem. For Gabrielle, it has been ingrained into her that they are soulless shells and it takes her awhile to realize he's anything but soulless. After the disappointment that was The Dark Highlander for me, this book brought me right back to life and it was so romantic. I was super emotional at the end and couldn't help but shed a few tears. My heart, you guys, my heart.

A Love To Last The Ages

"I have been told I have a calming effect with my hands.
I would rub your back, caress your hair
until you drifted off peacefully."

--Karen Marie Moning, Kiss of the Highlander

Genre: Adult Historical Romance, Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Dell

Pages: 396

Publication Date: September 1st, 2001

Source: Gifted to me by the lovely Isalys, thanks love!

Find On: Goodreads | Amazon

Previous Books in Series: Beyond the Highland Mist & To Tame a Highland Warrior & The Highlander's Touch

Goodreads Description 

 A laird trapped between centuries...

Enchanted by a powerful spell, Highland laird Drustan MacKeltar slumbered for nearly five centuries hidden deep in a cave, until an unlikely savior awakened him. The enticing lass who dressed and spoke like no woman he’d ever known was from his distant future, where crumbled ruins were all that remained of his vanished world. Drustan knew he had to return to his own century if he was to save his people from a terrible fate. And he needed the bewitching woman by his side....

A woman changed forever in his arms...

Gwen Cassidy had come to Scotland to shake up her humdrum life and, just maybe, meet a man. How could she have known that a tumble down a Highland ravine would send her plunging into an underground cavern — to land atop the most devastatingly seductive man she’d ever seen? Or that once he’d kissed her, he wouldn’t let her go?

Bound to Drustan by a passion stronger than time, Gwen is swept back to sixteenth-century Scotland, where a treacherous enemy plots against them ... and where a warrior with the power to change history will defy time itself for the woman he loves....

I've been waiting to read this book of the series since the beginning. Isalys raved about it Drustan and how swoony the book is and even with those expectations I still loved the book for so many reasons. Gwen was the first and foremost among them. She travels to Scotland partly to *ahem* lose her virginity and really fall in love. She wants so badly to be loved and feel those emotions that I couldn't help be be there with her emotions. I could relate 110% to her and I couldn't wait to see how her love story played out. She discovers Drustan, who has been cursed to the future, after she falls down a hill and quite literally falls on top of him. (Oh, hello sir.)

After they meet it is a series of unfortunate events. Drustan doesn't want to believe he's in the future, Gwen doesn't want to believe he came form the past. It is hilarious watching them try to communication and learn each other as they travel to where his home would be. Drustan is all kinds of sexy and adorable to Gwen. He's attracted to her in a primal way and she can't believe somebody as charming and gorgeous as he is would be interested in her. While a lot of people can't stand the self-deprecating heroine and want her to just "get over her issues," I really enjoy this kind of heroine. Like attracts like, what can I say?

After traveling with him into the past, a few more problems arise but no plot spoilers from me. I will say the most important thing about this book...it is swoony.as.fuck. I read a lot of love stories and romance books and THIS is one of the great ones. It is so acutely romantic and poignant in feelings that I just felt so much while reading. It was just amazing. Blew my heart wide open and I can't even give details or describe why it affected me so much but it did. The dynamic between not only Gwen and Drustan but Drustan's family is on point. I fell in love with all of them and it made the book that much better. While I enjoyed the previous books in the series, this one is the absolute best!

Backstage Pass
If you love swoon, true love, and feels...this book is for you.

Burn, Baby, Burn

"You are what you are. Find a way to live with it."

--Karen Marie Moning, Burned
   

Genre: Adult Paranormal, Romance

Publisher: Delacourte Press

Pages: 512

Publication Date: January 20th, 2015

Source: Bought

Find on Goodreads

Previous Books in Series: Darkfever & Bloodfever & Faefever & Dreamfever & Shadowfever & Iced

Goodreads Description

It’s easy to walk away from lies. Power is another thing.

MacKayla Lane would do anything to save the home she loves. A gifted sidhe-seer, she’s already fought and defeated the deadly Sinsar Dubh—an ancient book of terrible evil—yet its hold on her has never been stronger.

When the wall that protected humans from the seductive, insatiable Fae was destroyed on Halloween, long-imprisoned immortals ravaged the planet. Now Dublin is a war zone with factions battling for control. As the city heats up and the ice left by the Hoar Frost King melts, tempers flare, passions run red-hot, and dangerous lines get crossed.

Seelie and Unseelie vie for power against nine ancient immortals who have governed Dublin for millennia; a rival band of sidhe-seers invades the city, determined to claim it for their own; Mac’s former protégé and best friend, Dani “Mega” O’Malley, is now her fierce enemy; and even more urgent, Highland druid Christian MacKeltar has been captured by the Crimson Hag and is being driven deeper into Unseelie madness with each passing day. The only one Mac can depend on is the powerful, dangerous immortal Jericho Barrons, but even their fiery bond is tested by betrayal.

It’s a world where staying alive is a constant struggle, the line between good and evil gets blurred, and every alliance comes at a price. In an epic battle against dark forces, Mac must decide who she can trust, and what her survival is ultimately worth.

The Setting & The Story
Y'all, I was SO excited to read Burned after finishing Iced. I love being back in this world. It was my absolute favorite thing about reading this book. I fell into an easy lull while reading and enjoying the characters and being back in Mac's head. I love her newly established street cred as ultimate badass, even though she's got some problems to work out with that. I also really loved where we went with the Unseelie King and his concubine. These chapters were few and far betwee but what we did get, I loved to see. It was desperation and love mixed with obsession and desire and regret, LOTS of emotions that I didn't think I had with this storyline! And Dani...that's all I can say about that...but I love...

The Pacing
Due to spoilers and this being the 7th book in the series, I can't say too much about the good without ruining the plot for those who aren't as far or who haven't read it. While I overall really liked the book and the world and the story, I found myself falling out of the story quite a few times. I think these books have overall become too long. Iced and Burned do NOT have to measure up to the length of Shadowfever because, duh, Shadowfever was 'supposed' to be the final book, let it be long. Now I feel as if there is a certain expecation that each book after that needs to be over 400 pages long. Not necessary. Give me the meat of the story without all this erroneous detail. I WANTED to love Burned but it didn't keep my attention as much as I wanted it to even with the major plot point being super engaging.

The Plot
While I overall enjoyed the plot, I found a few components lacking. First, Barrons and Mac...WHERE IS THE HEAT!? I suffered through the worst case of blue balls for FIVE BOOKS...FIVE! I love a slow burn but now you're torturing me slowly. Not to mention the cold blue balls I had from Iced (see what I did there?). KMM, I love you, really I do. But cut the shit. Give me some romance and just a little PDA. I know Mac and Barrons aren't gonna dry hump like teenagers in the hallway in public but give me something. Speaking of them, I also really disliked that while it took FOREVER and a year for them to get together, we didn't see any tender moments. The writing made it sound like they're basically glorified fuck buddies who refuse to actually acknowledge the other in public. It's weird.

The Secrets
One final vent, again, I really liked the book, this is more of a frustration with the series as a whole. I need more info, KMM. I still know nothing about the Nine. I want a history please, thank you. I want more info on Dani...like, now. I'm over this unknown still. We get scraps and we are 7 books in and thousands of pages invested. We deserve something better.

Reserved Seating
If you love this series, alpha males brooding, Fae, disaster zones, and a lot of myster...this book's for you.