Rowan's Lady: The Clan Graham Series

This is a good Highlander romance, with a likeable couple. I also really liked little Lily, Rowan's daughter.It was probably fairly common for that time period, but WOW did Arline have some bad arranged marriages! I did think, though, that she should have been smart enough to figure out that it wasn't her fault they didn't work out -- it was because the men were not good matches for her, and a couple just not good men at all.I liked Rowan, and his loyalty to his first wife was sweet -- but it did get old when he kept telling himself he couldn't fall for Arline.The ending was a little confusing, with the stuff about the "shadow men" -- Arline had always been told they were her protectors, but maybe not? I won't give any spoilers, but I could have used more information on them and their reason for choosing Arline.Overall, I really enjoyed the book. It is an entertaining Highlander romance. It does have some violence, but that is accurate for the time period. The story does have sex scenes, but they are within marriage, and are not very explicit at all.

A Scottish Highlander Historical with a spunky heroine, a Clan Chief who is honorable to his core, and a little girl who will make you chuckle.I normally read contemporaries and romantic suspense, but when I saw this sale I decided to put my book dollar towards supporting an author who has been vocal in the book world drama as of late . I wondered if her pwrsonalities from her posts and videos would shine through, and boy it did.Arline's father has been in a few arranged marriages and her father has not made good choices. Her character is full of life and spunk, with a little humor too. Sometimes I wondered how she could remain that way in light of her challenges. Rowan takes his duty of chief of the clan to be second to is role of father. I LOVED every scene with his daugnter. He was my favorite character.Lots of action and subplots - this is not a fast read - but it is one you wont want to put down. I purchased this book because it was on sale, and I wanted to try a new to me author - it was the first in a duet, but I sort of wish I start with another book as there a few times that I got the feeling there was some backstory I was missing.I have already downloaded the next book

To date, this book has been my favorite from the author. This novel is very fast-moving, and chock full of action, suspense and surprises. This book is far from the traditional romance novel, although there is a romantic element as the main characters Rowan and Arlene secretly desire the other. The book starts with an account of Rowan's wife's death in the black plague and Arlene freshly married to a cruel man, who says he married her only at his father's insistence and that he plans to annul the marriage in 1 year and 1 month. The story then skips forward a year. We find that Arlene's husband has kidnapped a little girl. Arlene fearing he will kill the little girl, plots an escape for her and the girl. Once the action starts, it doesn't let up. The author does a very good job of character development, and makes quite believable the decisions the characters make. Even stupid decisions, such as when Rowan and Arlene both believe Lady Beatrice. By the end of the book, even Lady Beatrice's character is explained enough, that it's understandable why she concocted the long-shot plot to separate Rowan and Arlene, instead of the standard plot of evil would-be step-mother pretending to be nice to the child until the father is tricked into marriage (and the book is so much better for avoiding that predictable standard plot.) The "shadow-men" are more fully explained in this story, as is the results of their complete obsession with Scotland to the detriment of any individual. Unanswered questions left lingering from the book, why the cook had an all-consuming hatred of Arlene was never explained. Nor was it explained why Lady Beatrice saw Lady Arlene as a threat within moments of meeting her, nor why she was not initially suspected of the castle-wide drugging after her mistreatment of Lady Arlene came to light.It's hard to get too much into the details of the best parts of the story, without giving spoilers, but I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes action & suspense, because this book has it all (kidnappings, conspiracies, impersonations, revenge, adult child trying to break free of a tyrannical parent, star-crossed lovers and the decision between love or duty, sibling surprise, attacks by hired mercenaries, etc.)This book did seem a bit more poorly edited compared to previous books. There were many typos and inconsistencies. A major one was whether or not Arlene had any money. In more than one place it mentioned the money she would inherit when she turned 25, yet in several places it mentioned how she had no money and nothing to bring into the marriage. A more minor inconsistency was at the beginning of the book when she was thinking of her dad and thought "bless his heart" in regards to his arranging a marriage for her. However, in several other places in the book, its made clear that she knows her dad cares nothing about her and arranges marriages for her only to fatten his own wallet. Another was the book mentioning that Rowan had been alone for 7 years, even though his wife had only died 4 years ago. It also wasn't explained why Blackthorn's father wouldn't approve of his marriage to the woman he loved because she wasn't Scottish, yet he arranged a marriage with Arlene who also was not Scottish. While the poor editing was a bit annoying, the story itself is still excellent.

Really enjoyed this book. Great characters and plot. The story line had me gripped from beginning to end. Everything flowed, nothing felt stilted or forced. A roller coaster read and can't wait to read the next book.

loved this series can't wait for more

I loved this book, this is the fifth in the series and I have loved each one so far. The next one is due out soon and I will be re-reading them beforehand so as to enjoy them all over again. Brilliant story telling.

Very good read. Liked the series as much.

Loved this book. Easy to read. Also just finished the next book