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miaev's review against another edition
1.0
Reading the trilogy out of order but this was the first one I found in the series. Maybe it is just me, but I am not getting into this book. I have decided to not finish this book after getting stuck on chapter 2.
lynseyisreading's review against another edition
3.0
Black Duncan's return.
Monica McCarty has to be one of the most inconsistent writers I've ever encountered. Out of the six or so of her Highlander books that I've read so far, I've rated them anywhere from 4.5 stars to 1.5 stars. Some books have seen me so invested in the romance, that happy tears were streaming down my face as I read the final pages. Others have been tedious and left me completely unaffected.
This one falls somewhere in the middle.
I was quite keen to read this instalment to find out the full story behind Duncan Dubh's treason at long last, since it's been mentioned in the other books of the trilogy several times. The story opens with quite a bang in the present—albeit still in the 17th century—day, then it takes us back the 10 years to when the hero and heroine, Duncan and Jeannie, met and fell in love originally, before the alleged betrayal/treason nastiness all happened, causing Duncan to flee to Ireland for a decade or else face the hangman's noose. So it started very well, and I rather liked the couple at the beginning; they were very sweet together and had some great sensual scenes and some nice angst and drama. It was once we returned to present day that I found myself falling out of love with the story.
One of the main reasons I don't like romances featuring ex lovers, is the inherent bitterness they always bring with them. In this case, I never felt like Duncan and Jeannie truly got back that magic they'd had when they first met. There was just too much water under the bridge.
The next problem was that the plot just seemed to stop for about a hundred pages or so while they dithered about deciding whether or not to trust each other again. It was annoying to the nth degree to watch them get close and then retreat into distrust again, a cycle which was then repeated ad nauseam. I really think the book could have been a good hundred pages shorter and lost a lot of this padding and filler section. I realise it's the finale of the trilogy, and the one we've all been waiting for, but making it longer doesn't automatically make it more 'epic'.
It perhaps wouldn't have been quite as tiresome if we, as readers, didn't already know everything that was going on. We knew Jeannie's secret, we knew about Duncan's innocence, and we knew who the real villain was. It was just a matter of waiting for the characters to catch up.
All together, I'm glad I read it and that I've completed the trilogy, but it wasn't one of McCarty's best efforts.
3 Stars ★★★
Monica McCarty has to be one of the most inconsistent writers I've ever encountered. Out of the six or so of her Highlander books that I've read so far, I've rated them anywhere from 4.5 stars to 1.5 stars. Some books have seen me so invested in the romance, that happy tears were streaming down my face as I read the final pages. Others have been tedious and left me completely unaffected.
This one falls somewhere in the middle.
I was quite keen to read this instalment to find out the full story behind Duncan Dubh's treason at long last, since it's been mentioned in the other books of the trilogy several times. The story opens with quite a bang in the present—albeit still in the 17th century—day, then it takes us back the 10 years to when the hero and heroine, Duncan and Jeannie, met and fell in love originally, before the alleged betrayal/treason nastiness all happened, causing Duncan to flee to Ireland for a decade or else face the hangman's noose. So it started very well, and I rather liked the couple at the beginning; they were very sweet together and had some great sensual scenes and some nice angst and drama. It was once we returned to present day that I found myself falling out of love with the story.
One of the main reasons I don't like romances featuring ex lovers, is the inherent bitterness they always bring with them. In this case, I never felt like Duncan and Jeannie truly got back that magic they'd had when they first met. There was just too much water under the bridge.
The next problem was that the plot just seemed to stop for about a hundred pages or so while they dithered about deciding whether or not to trust each other again. It was annoying to the nth degree to watch them get close and then retreat into distrust again, a cycle which was then repeated ad nauseam. I really think the book could have been a good hundred pages shorter and lost a lot of this padding and filler section. I realise it's the finale of the trilogy, and the one we've all been waiting for, but making it longer doesn't automatically make it more 'epic'.
It perhaps wouldn't have been quite as tiresome if we, as readers, didn't already know everything that was going on. We knew Jeannie's secret, we knew about Duncan's innocence, and we knew who the real villain was. It was just a matter of waiting for the characters to catch up.
All together, I'm glad I read it and that I've completed the trilogy, but it wasn't one of McCarty's best efforts.
3 Stars ★★★
dragon_lion64's review against another edition
3.0
Highland Scoundrel – Campbell Trilogy #3
For most of the book, I couldn’t stand the leading lady of this book, Jeannie Grant. I liked her well enough at the beginning but later in the book, I thought she was kind of selfish and mean. I think she was supposed to be conflicted but that’s not how she came off to me.
Jeannie Grant was the eldest daughter of Chief of Grant of Freuchie. Her mother was flighty and ran off with an Englishman when Jeannie was eight or nine years old. She caused a scandal at court and ruined her family’s reputation. Jeannie has tried not to be impulsive and to be the good daughter so as not to cause her father grief but she is willing to risk everything for Duncan Campbell, a bastard born son of a chieftain, who is not an acceptable husband for a lady of her standing, but she doesn’t care because she is in love with him. She realizes her mistake when after she gives him her maidenhood, he betrays her and leaves her pregnant.
Her only choice is to marry the Earl of Huntly’s son who has agreed to raise her child as his.
Duncan Campbell is the eldest son of a powerful chieftain. He was born a bastard and abandoned by his mother just after he was born but his father took him in and treated him as a favored son. He is bound for greatness even if he is bastard born. His father put him in charge of getting the Chief of Grant of Freuchie to side with them against the Earl of Huntly in the impending battle soon to come. When he lays eyes of the Chief of Grant’s daughter, he is instantly enamored. They have a short romance where he takes her innocence during a swim at the loch and when he asks her to marry him she agrees.
But then Duncan is betrayed by the Grant chief. He believes Jeannie was part of it and accuses her of it, not believing her when she denies it. He is forced to flee Scotland because he was convicted of being a traitor.
Ten years later, Duncan is back in Scotland to clear his name. He needs to find proof of his innocence and has asked Jeannie to help him but she is reluctant to help him after he accused her of betrayal and left her. She also doesn’t want him to find out that her son is not her recently deceased husband’s child but Duncan’s child. That could ruin her and her son’s reputation.
As with most of Monica McCarty’s books, the leading male character is bullheaded, quick to believe the worst in their love interests and quick to anger which drives me nuts. I don’t know how I end up liking their characters because if I met a man like this in modern times, I wouldn’t have anything to do with them. I guess I give allowances for this behavior because it is the 1600s and men had absolute authority over women back then and they are eventually tamed by the heroines of Monica’s romances.
This was the last book of the Campbell Trilogy. I usually read paranormal romances but I’m a sucker for historical romances based in Scotland so I am debating whether or not to read Monica McCarty’s other trilogy, MacLeods of Skye. I probably will.
www.paranormalromanceslut.com
For most of the book, I couldn’t stand the leading lady of this book, Jeannie Grant. I liked her well enough at the beginning but later in the book, I thought she was kind of selfish and mean. I think she was supposed to be conflicted but that’s not how she came off to me.
Jeannie Grant was the eldest daughter of Chief of Grant of Freuchie. Her mother was flighty and ran off with an Englishman when Jeannie was eight or nine years old. She caused a scandal at court and ruined her family’s reputation. Jeannie has tried not to be impulsive and to be the good daughter so as not to cause her father grief but she is willing to risk everything for Duncan Campbell, a bastard born son of a chieftain, who is not an acceptable husband for a lady of her standing, but she doesn’t care because she is in love with him. She realizes her mistake when after she gives him her maidenhood, he betrays her and leaves her pregnant.
Her only choice is to marry the Earl of Huntly’s son who has agreed to raise her child as his.
Duncan Campbell is the eldest son of a powerful chieftain. He was born a bastard and abandoned by his mother just after he was born but his father took him in and treated him as a favored son. He is bound for greatness even if he is bastard born. His father put him in charge of getting the Chief of Grant of Freuchie to side with them against the Earl of Huntly in the impending battle soon to come. When he lays eyes of the Chief of Grant’s daughter, he is instantly enamored. They have a short romance where he takes her innocence during a swim at the loch and when he asks her to marry him she agrees.
But then Duncan is betrayed by the Grant chief. He believes Jeannie was part of it and accuses her of it, not believing her when she denies it. He is forced to flee Scotland because he was convicted of being a traitor.
Ten years later, Duncan is back in Scotland to clear his name. He needs to find proof of his innocence and has asked Jeannie to help him but she is reluctant to help him after he accused her of betrayal and left her. She also doesn’t want him to find out that her son is not her recently deceased husband’s child but Duncan’s child. That could ruin her and her son’s reputation.
As with most of Monica McCarty’s books, the leading male character is bullheaded, quick to believe the worst in their love interests and quick to anger which drives me nuts. I don’t know how I end up liking their characters because if I met a man like this in modern times, I wouldn’t have anything to do with them. I guess I give allowances for this behavior because it is the 1600s and men had absolute authority over women back then and they are eventually tamed by the heroines of Monica’s romances.
This was the last book of the Campbell Trilogy. I usually read paranormal romances but I’m a sucker for historical romances based in Scotland so I am debating whether or not to read Monica McCarty’s other trilogy, MacLeods of Skye. I probably will.
www.paranormalromanceslut.com
greylandreviews's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars
This one was better than the first two but, that's it. The first half of the book was really interesting with the backstory and all. But I still felt lackluster to me. The sex scenes were the only thing going for this book.
This one was better than the first two but, that's it. The first half of the book was really interesting with the backstory and all. But I still felt lackluster to me. The sex scenes were the only thing going for this book.
witandsin's review against another edition
5.0
It was love at first sight when Duncan Campbell spotted Jeannie Grant at Stirling Castle. But fate tears the young lovers apart when Duncan is framed and convicted of treason. Escaping to the continent to avoid the hangman’s noose, Duncan leaves everything he’s known behind, including the woman whom he loved and was betrayed by. Now, Duncan has returned to clear his name and to do that he needs Jeannie’s help. What he finds instead is himself at the wrong end of a pistol.
Jeannie can’t believe the man she shot is the same man who abandoned her ten years ago. Duncan has returned to Scotland and is demanding her help, but though she wants to aid him, Jeannie has secrets of her own she has to protect. Yet, Jeannie finds she can’t allow the man she once loved to be put to death.
As Duncan and Jeannie search for the truth, each finds that the lust – and love – they once felt for each other has never died. But with time running out and Duncan’s enemies closing in on the pair, the lovers must decide if they can learn to trust one another again and bare all their secrets for a chance at a love that has stood the test of time.
Deception, warfare, and intrigue provide the perfect backdrop for this stunning romance from Monica McCarty. Highland Scoundrel is everything a historical romance should be with its engaging blend of fact and fiction combined with characters who will grab your heart and a plot that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
What I love about Highland Scoundrel, indeed about all of Ms. McCarty’s books, is that each character feels real. From Jeannie and Duncan down to the tale’s villain, no one is written in black and white terms and, whether or not I agreed with each character’s view on any given point, I got to understand their perspective. I applaud Ms. McCarty’s ability to do this so seamlessly; I didn’t even notice it until the book had ended. Yet that’s exactly what draws me to Ms. McCarty’s work – the three-dimensionality of her characters. Even Duncan and Jeannie are not infallible and it’s the mistakes they make as much as their good points which made me unable to put Highland Scoundrel down. I read the book in one sitting, incapable stopping because the characters were so likeable and I was invested not only in their romance, but the book as a whole (the details of which I’ll forgo going into so as to not give any spoilers).
Highland Scoundrel is the third book in Ms. McCarty’s irresistible Campbell trilogy. While the book does stand on its own, fans of the first two books will delight in seeing familiar characters, including the heroes and heroines of Highland Warrior and Highland Outlaw. A wonderful conclusion to a perfect trilogy, Highland Scoundrel is not to be missed!
Recommended Read. Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed.
Jeannie can’t believe the man she shot is the same man who abandoned her ten years ago. Duncan has returned to Scotland and is demanding her help, but though she wants to aid him, Jeannie has secrets of her own she has to protect. Yet, Jeannie finds she can’t allow the man she once loved to be put to death.
As Duncan and Jeannie search for the truth, each finds that the lust – and love – they once felt for each other has never died. But with time running out and Duncan’s enemies closing in on the pair, the lovers must decide if they can learn to trust one another again and bare all their secrets for a chance at a love that has stood the test of time.
Deception, warfare, and intrigue provide the perfect backdrop for this stunning romance from Monica McCarty. Highland Scoundrel is everything a historical romance should be with its engaging blend of fact and fiction combined with characters who will grab your heart and a plot that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
What I love about Highland Scoundrel, indeed about all of Ms. McCarty’s books, is that each character feels real. From Jeannie and Duncan down to the tale’s villain, no one is written in black and white terms and, whether or not I agreed with each character’s view on any given point, I got to understand their perspective. I applaud Ms. McCarty’s ability to do this so seamlessly; I didn’t even notice it until the book had ended. Yet that’s exactly what draws me to Ms. McCarty’s work – the three-dimensionality of her characters. Even Duncan and Jeannie are not infallible and it’s the mistakes they make as much as their good points which made me unable to put Highland Scoundrel down. I read the book in one sitting, incapable stopping because the characters were so likeable and I was invested not only in their romance, but the book as a whole (the details of which I’ll forgo going into so as to not give any spoilers).
Highland Scoundrel is the third book in Ms. McCarty’s irresistible Campbell trilogy. While the book does stand on its own, fans of the first two books will delight in seeing familiar characters, including the heroes and heroines of Highland Warrior and Highland Outlaw. A wonderful conclusion to a perfect trilogy, Highland Scoundrel is not to be missed!
Recommended Read. Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed.
ezichinny's review against another edition
5.0
It was a good conclusion to this trilogy where several clans were intertwined. One thing that has been an active theme in all 3 books is Loyalty and Clan.
Jeannie and Duncan Campbell made an entertaining couple. As individuals they started off idealistic, young and loyal to a fault. By the end of the book, they seemed a little weary and learned not everyone was loyal to family. The growth, forgiveness and acceptance made this story a fun audiobook.
Jeannie and Duncan Campbell made an entertaining couple. As individuals they started off idealistic, young and loyal to a fault. By the end of the book, they seemed a little weary and learned not everyone was loyal to family. The growth, forgiveness and acceptance made this story a fun audiobook.
bbraden's review against another edition
4.0
This was HOT! I enjoyed this one better than the second one- probably much as I did the first book in this series...
teaandbooklover's review against another edition
4.0
Sometimes seemed redundant...
I'm conflicted on this one. At times it seemed she was repeating the same info over and over again, just in a slightly different wording. I felt they could have easily shaved 50 pages off the story and you wouldn't miss much. Because of that I found myself sighing out loud and very frustrated.
I did really like the story of Jeannie & Duncan though and thought it was worth reading. I've read other books by her and they didn't seem redundant at all. Overall I would have liked to give it about a 3.5 because of the issues I had with it.
I'm conflicted on this one. At times it seemed she was repeating the same info over and over again, just in a slightly different wording. I felt they could have easily shaved 50 pages off the story and you wouldn't miss much. Because of that I found myself sighing out loud and very frustrated.
I did really like the story of Jeannie & Duncan though and thought it was worth reading. I've read other books by her and they didn't seem redundant at all. Overall I would have liked to give it about a 3.5 because of the issues I had with it.
bookdragon85's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
fmoreno's review
3.0
I'm not sure I'll read the other trilogy. The writing was good but not that good honestly, it was a light reading that managed to entertain me but it did not woo me completely as I was expecting from a Highlander novel.
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