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heylook's review against another edition
1.0
What a load of shit. The characters that appeared in the previous novel have almost no relation to their personalities in that book. Horrible writing, horrible "sex" scenes. Vomitous.
bookloverchelle's review against another edition
4.0
Oh, Monica McCarty, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. How about 5, since that’s the number of books in the current series? We could probably bump that up to 11 because of her earlier works but since this review is for The Saint, we’ll stick with that for now. The Highland Guard series by Ms. McCarty is not a quick and easy read. Each of these books has complex story lines, beautifully written descriptions, and fast pace dialogue. You cannot start this series with The Saint but it really is worth it to go back and start from the beginning.
Magnus and Helen have spent the past three years in love but trying to stay as far apart as possible. When Helen’s wedding to Magnus’s best friend throws them together, Helen realizes that she made a youthful mistake in not trusting her love in Magnus but he will stay loyal to friends and king even though his heart is broken. They both had to grow to learn to trust themselves and their love before they could be together all within the backdrop of the Scottish revolution with them working together to save King and country.
Another great read from Ms. McCarty and another title I will recommend to anyone who loves a Scottish Highlander.
Magnus and Helen have spent the past three years in love but trying to stay as far apart as possible. When Helen’s wedding to Magnus’s best friend throws them together, Helen realizes that she made a youthful mistake in not trusting her love in Magnus but he will stay loyal to friends and king even though his heart is broken. They both had to grow to learn to trust themselves and their love before they could be together all within the backdrop of the Scottish revolution with them working together to save King and country.
Another great read from Ms. McCarty and another title I will recommend to anyone who loves a Scottish Highlander.
sharonwb's review against another edition
3.0
This book did not live up to the other in the series. Too much grudge holding and way too little spice. The secondary love story of Muriel and Will was much more interesting.
red_cat9's review against another edition
2.0
2.5/5
The basic story arc holds a lot of promise. I love that our characters cared for each other since they were younger. Magnus was frustratingly resistant to reason, but there wasn't a lot of explanation or exploration of his guilt. So it just comes off as being stubborn and obtuse rather than tortured. It sometimes made me wonder if Helen ever felt like a stalker. There was also an excessive use of the phrase "damn it!" to underline just how serious someone was.
The basic story arc holds a lot of promise. I love that our characters cared for each other since they were younger. Magnus was frustratingly resistant to reason, but there wasn't a lot of explanation or exploration of his guilt. So it just comes off as being stubborn and obtuse rather than tortured. It sometimes made me wonder if Helen ever felt like a stalker. There was also an excessive use of the phrase "damn it!" to underline just how serious someone was.
mooncricketjp's review against another edition
3.0
Not within my favorites of this series. I think the back and forth made it a little too repetitive.
dragon_lion64's review against another edition
3.0
Although I liked this story, I found myself getting annoyed by the stubbornness of the characters and the back and forth, “I love him/her but I can’t be with him/her.” I think it went on way too long. I mean, I understand being prideful and stubborn but when it goes on too long and when the characters do things to try to get the other person out of their head and heart, they diminish that love and after so long, I start just not caring if they are with each other or not.
I was so disappointed in Magnus when he openly flirted with the serving girl, Joanna, in front of Helen and then actually went to meet the girl to have sex with her and would have if Helen had not intervened. I was ready to give up on his ‘Saintly’ character. I couldn’t believe that Helen went into the dark storage room and when Magnus grabbed ahold of her in the dark thinking she was the serving girl, groping her and saying dirty things to her and when Helen didn’t let him know it was her and let him almost have sex with her even after he called her Joanna. If I were Helen, it would have broken my heart and my pride would have never forgiven him but she knew he was trying to prove to himself and everyone else that he was over her. It wreaked of desperation. My heart broke during this scene. The only saving grace for Helen was how she told Joanna that Magnus had a wee rash down there so she wouldn’t meet him…it cracked me up.
Magnus MacKay is part of the secret group of elite warriors who make up Robert Bruce’s Highland Guard. They are thought of as “phantom warriors” because nobody knows if they are myth or truth. They go on secret missions for King Robert under disguise. Their motto is, “Bas roimh géill” which means “Death before surrender” because they would be tortured until they gave up the identities of the others in the group if they were captured but none of these warriors would ever talk.
Helen Sutherland met Magnus when she was fourteen on the beach at the Highland Games. The Sutherland’s and MacKay’s have a long standing feud. The families hate each other but Helen and Magnus didn’t care and have been meeting secretly for years at the games. When Helen turns eighteen, Magnus asks her to marry him but her brother catches them together and guilts her into choosing her family over him because of her father’s illness. She has to make a split decision and chooses her family but instantly regrets it and never forgets Magnus. She believes he will come after her and they will run away together but he never does. Her family betroths her to her brother’s friend, William Gordon who just happens to be part of the Highland Guard, unbeknownst to Helen or anyone.
In past books, especially the last book, Magnus does not join in with the other’s men dirty talk of women which has earned him his nickname “Saint” and he always walks away when his best friend and partner talks about his betrothal. Only Lachlan MacRuairi has caught onto the truth though. Magnus has never said a thing about Helen to anyone. He doesn’t think he has a chance since Helen’s refusal to marry him. William doesn’t even know Helen. He is just doing what his family wants him to do.
It’s been years but when Helen sees Magnus at the castle where she is to be married, she goes to him before the ceremony and professes her love to him but he tells her he doesn’t feel the same so she goes ahead and marries William Gordon. At the wedding feast, she sees Magnus with a woman on his lap and doesn’t cover her reaction before her new husband sees it. William finally figures it out and refuses to bed Helen on their wedding night, saying he will not sleep with someone who is in love with someone else. He tells her he will give her a few hours to figure out if she wants to have the marriage annulled or not and leaves her alone to decide but he never returns that night because the Highland Guard is called away on a secret mission to rescue the king’s brother, Edward Bruce.
The story has lots of action and loosely follows events in history regarding Robert Bruce. A lot of the events happen at the home of the Sutherland’s, Dunrobin Castle. The author has really done her homework. As an added bonus, she adds her author’s notes at the end of each book and writes about her inspirations and about the real events that happened in history. I have to admire her inventiveness and her knowledge of history.
"Dunrobin Castle -Sutherland -Scotland-26May2008 (2)" by Dunrobin_Castle_-Sutherland_-Scotland-26May2008.jpg: jack_spellingbaconderivative work: Snowmanradio (talk) - originally posted to Flickr as Dunrobin castle and uploaded to commons at Dunrobin_Castle_-Sutherland_-Scotland-26May2008.jpg. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
I am really starting to like Robert Bruce’s character. He sees more than people realize and he has a wicked sense of humor. I loved when Helen, after studying how the servants flirted, was trying to get Magnus to notice her so she wore a low-cut dress and bent way over while serving him and Robert Bruce their wine and Magnus started squirming in his seat because she was getting to him…how Helen thought he was squirming because he had hemorrhoids but Robert Bruce knew why and started choking because he was trying not to laugh. It was hilarious.
There was also a side story about William Sutherland and his love for the physician’s daughter.
The book also had a lot about the other brother, Kenneth Sutherland who may become the new recruit to the Highland Guard.
Of course, I’m going to read the next book in the series, The Recruit. Hmmmm, I wonder what it’s about?
www.paranormalromanceslutcom
I was so disappointed in Magnus when he openly flirted with the serving girl, Joanna, in front of Helen and then actually went to meet the girl to have sex with her and would have if Helen had not intervened. I was ready to give up on his ‘Saintly’ character. I couldn’t believe that Helen went into the dark storage room and when Magnus grabbed ahold of her in the dark thinking she was the serving girl, groping her and saying dirty things to her and when Helen didn’t let him know it was her and let him almost have sex with her even after he called her Joanna. If I were Helen, it would have broken my heart and my pride would have never forgiven him but she knew he was trying to prove to himself and everyone else that he was over her. It wreaked of desperation. My heart broke during this scene. The only saving grace for Helen was how she told Joanna that Magnus had a wee rash down there so she wouldn’t meet him…it cracked me up.
Magnus MacKay is part of the secret group of elite warriors who make up Robert Bruce’s Highland Guard. They are thought of as “phantom warriors” because nobody knows if they are myth or truth. They go on secret missions for King Robert under disguise. Their motto is, “Bas roimh géill” which means “Death before surrender” because they would be tortured until they gave up the identities of the others in the group if they were captured but none of these warriors would ever talk.
Helen Sutherland met Magnus when she was fourteen on the beach at the Highland Games. The Sutherland’s and MacKay’s have a long standing feud. The families hate each other but Helen and Magnus didn’t care and have been meeting secretly for years at the games. When Helen turns eighteen, Magnus asks her to marry him but her brother catches them together and guilts her into choosing her family over him because of her father’s illness. She has to make a split decision and chooses her family but instantly regrets it and never forgets Magnus. She believes he will come after her and they will run away together but he never does. Her family betroths her to her brother’s friend, William Gordon who just happens to be part of the Highland Guard, unbeknownst to Helen or anyone.
In past books, especially the last book, Magnus does not join in with the other’s men dirty talk of women which has earned him his nickname “Saint” and he always walks away when his best friend and partner talks about his betrothal. Only Lachlan MacRuairi has caught onto the truth though. Magnus has never said a thing about Helen to anyone. He doesn’t think he has a chance since Helen’s refusal to marry him. William doesn’t even know Helen. He is just doing what his family wants him to do.
It’s been years but when Helen sees Magnus at the castle where she is to be married, she goes to him before the ceremony and professes her love to him but he tells her he doesn’t feel the same so she goes ahead and marries William Gordon. At the wedding feast, she sees Magnus with a woman on his lap and doesn’t cover her reaction before her new husband sees it. William finally figures it out and refuses to bed Helen on their wedding night, saying he will not sleep with someone who is in love with someone else. He tells her he will give her a few hours to figure out if she wants to have the marriage annulled or not and leaves her alone to decide but he never returns that night because the Highland Guard is called away on a secret mission to rescue the king’s brother, Edward Bruce.
The story has lots of action and loosely follows events in history regarding Robert Bruce. A lot of the events happen at the home of the Sutherland’s, Dunrobin Castle. The author has really done her homework. As an added bonus, she adds her author’s notes at the end of each book and writes about her inspirations and about the real events that happened in history. I have to admire her inventiveness and her knowledge of history.
"Dunrobin Castle -Sutherland -Scotland-26May2008 (2)" by Dunrobin_Castle_-Sutherland_-Scotland-26May2008.jpg: jack_spellingbaconderivative work: Snowmanradio (talk) - originally posted to Flickr as Dunrobin castle and uploaded to commons at Dunrobin_Castle_-Sutherland_-Scotland-26May2008.jpg. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Dunrobin_Castle_-Sutherland_-Scotland-26May2008_(2).jpg){kind=link}
I am really starting to like Robert Bruce’s character. He sees more than people realize and he has a wicked sense of humor. I loved when Helen, after studying how the servants flirted, was trying to get Magnus to notice her so she wore a low-cut dress and bent way over while serving him and Robert Bruce their wine and Magnus started squirming in his seat because she was getting to him…how Helen thought he was squirming because he had hemorrhoids but Robert Bruce knew why and started choking because he was trying not to laugh. It was hilarious.
There was also a side story about William Sutherland and his love for the physician’s daughter.
The book also had a lot about the other brother, Kenneth Sutherland who may become the new recruit to the Highland Guard.
Of course, I’m going to read the next book in the series, The Recruit. Hmmmm, I wonder what it’s about?
www.paranormalromanceslutcom
cupcakegirly's review against another edition
4.0
This one was unique because not only does it tell Magnus and Helen's story, but also Will (Helen's brother) and Muriel's story, both of which intertwine into the main storyline. The women are strong, the warriors fierce, and the romance steamy.
laisarjona's review against another edition
4.0
3.75/5.0
I like this series but its covers are horible.
I like this series but its covers are horible.