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laurenjodi's review against another edition
4.0
The Hawk
4 Stars
Renowned for his naval skills, Erik MacSorely, aka The Hawk, is charged by Robert the Bruce to enlist the aid of Irish rebels for an attack against the forces of Kind Edward I. Unfortunately, the plans are jeopardized when Elyne de Burgh, daughter of the Earl of Ulster, accidentally stumbles across the clandestine meeting, and Erik is forced to take her captive. As Erik and Ellie's mutual attraction grows into something deeper, the secrets each is keeping threaten not only their future but their very lives.
This sequel to The Chief has been languishing on my TBR for 10 years - that is not a typo! For some reason, I kept putting off continuing the series even though the first book is incredible. Thanks to Seasonal Reading Challenge, I have finally gotten around to reading this book, and I could kick myself for having waited so long.
Erik and Ellie's romance is delightful. While their relationship builds more slowly than that of Tor and Christina in book one, it is no less powerful nor exciting. Similar to Tor, Erik is a strong and skillful leader, but unlike The Chief, he conceals his stronger emotions behind a charming and flirtatious facade. It takes the sweet yet strong-willed Ellie to see the lonely man behind the playful grin.
Ellie is an endearing heroine who doesn't "put up with any of Erik's shite". It is very entertaining to see Erik so discombobulated, and it is a credit to him that he rapidly sees the beautiful and vivacious woman concealed by Ellie's apparent demureness.
The plot itself continues from where it left off in The Chief with Robert the Bruce attempting to reclaim his kingdom from Edward I. As with the first book, McCarty's historical research is impeccable, and she incorporates the various historical people, places and events seamlessly within the fictional narrative. The author's note at the end is very informative, and I also enjoyed looking up many of the details in Wikipedia while reading.
In sum, an excellent follow-up and I will definitely not be waiting 10 years to read the next one.
4 Stars
Renowned for his naval skills, Erik MacSorely, aka The Hawk, is charged by Robert the Bruce to enlist the aid of Irish rebels for an attack against the forces of Kind Edward I. Unfortunately, the plans are jeopardized when Elyne de Burgh, daughter of the Earl of Ulster, accidentally stumbles across the clandestine meeting, and Erik is forced to take her captive. As Erik and Ellie's mutual attraction grows into something deeper, the secrets each is keeping threaten not only their future but their very lives.
This sequel to The Chief has been languishing on my TBR for 10 years - that is not a typo! For some reason, I kept putting off continuing the series even though the first book is incredible. Thanks to Seasonal Reading Challenge, I have finally gotten around to reading this book, and I could kick myself for having waited so long.
Erik and Ellie's romance is delightful. While their relationship builds more slowly than that of Tor and Christina in book one, it is no less powerful nor exciting. Similar to Tor, Erik is a strong and skillful leader, but unlike The Chief, he conceals his stronger emotions behind a charming and flirtatious facade. It takes the sweet yet strong-willed Ellie to see the lonely man behind the playful grin.
Ellie is an endearing heroine who doesn't "put up with any of Erik's shite". It is very entertaining to see Erik so discombobulated, and it is a credit to him that he rapidly sees the beautiful and vivacious woman concealed by Ellie's apparent demureness.
The plot itself continues from where it left off in The Chief with Robert the Bruce attempting to reclaim his kingdom from Edward I. As with the first book, McCarty's historical research is impeccable, and she incorporates the various historical people, places and events seamlessly within the fictional narrative. The author's note at the end is very informative, and I also enjoyed looking up many of the details in Wikipedia while reading.
In sum, an excellent follow-up and I will definitely not be waiting 10 years to read the next one.
lynseyisreading's review against another edition
3.0
The set-up for the Highland Guards series is based on the genuine, documented existence of an elite Highland guard tasked to protect Robert Bruce during his quest to free Scotland from English rule. Bruce wants the throne back from Edward I (The Hammer of Scotland) and has sought out the best of the best of the best that Scotland has to offer to act as his muscle, protection, spies and anything else he might need them for.
The pacing was...gentle, to put it kindly. Another word I could use would be "slow", but as it seemed like a deliberate choice by the author not to make this the battle-filled, high action read I was hoping for, I will use the former. There was often not a lot happening other than one character thinking about the other. Or trying not to.
The romance, too, was slightly underwhelming. Definitely not my favourite couple of the series.
To sum up, it was an okay read set in an interesting time with a love story that *almost* made it.
The pacing was...gentle, to put it kindly. Another word I could use would be "slow", but as it seemed like a deliberate choice by the author not to make this the battle-filled, high action read I was hoping for, I will use the former. There was often not a lot happening other than one character thinking about the other. Or trying not to.
The romance, too, was slightly underwhelming. Definitely not my favourite couple of the series.
To sum up, it was an okay read set in an interesting time with a love story that *almost* made it.
geo_ix's review against another edition
4.0
I read the first book in 2018 & put off continuing even though I liked it. I struggle to pick up books over 300 pages because there usually ends up being a heap that could be cut out & it drags at some point. This kinda did because SO much happens & in the end it doesn’t change much, but I never really felt bored so I guess that’s fine? I like how much research was put into the real events/people. The characters were GREAT. I loved both of them. He was so confused that she wasn’t falling all over him & she was so strong and knew what she wanted. The sailing stuff was actually cool, and the steamy scenes all had me shocked. In a storm in a boat?? A sauna?? A hidden underwater cave?? Perfection. Couldn’t give it 5 stars because length & I felt there was so much going on at the start the end felt quick and over too quickly or something I don’t know how to explain it. Well written & will be continuing the series.
justaylin's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
bookwife's review against another edition
2.0
Too slow! I didn't like this book very much. I think I will be putting this series on hold for awhile. Ill come bak to it later on.
dragon_lion64's review against another edition
3.0
I thought I wasn’t going to like this book after reading the Prologue because it was in the Point of View of Robert the Bruce, after he was crowned King while Edward I was still alive and just after he was once again defeated and in hiding. It just seemed too war oriented for my taste so I stopped reading it. I am more into paranormal romances than historical romances right now anyway. I downloaded another book which turned out to be so awful that I thought, “Wow, the Highland Guard Series was so good compared to this.” So I gave this another chance. It’s a good thing too. It turns out that I was at the end of the Prologue and ready to start chapter 1 so Robert Bruce’s POV was ended and started with the Hawk’s POV which was so much better.
I’m glad I gave this book another chance.
Hawk was such a charismatic, womanizing Scotsman that I couldn’t help but like him even though I wanted to strangle him at times for his misogynistic way of thinking which was just the way men thought and were taught back in the year1306. He is a part of a secret elite team who go on missions to help Robert Bruce. Each man has a special skill. Hawk or Erik MacSorley….Hawk is his code name for the team…is on the team because he is the best seaman and swimmer in Scotland. He’s also fearless when it comes to captaining his boat through stormy waters or playing chicken with the English ships.
Lady Elyne de Burgh or Ellie is the daughter of one of the most powerful men in Ireland who has aligned himself with Edward I. Her sister tells her that since her mom and one of her brothers died two years ago, that she is boring and has no fun anymore. Ellie is betrothed - for political reasons – to an English nobleman who is a widow with eight children. She has been taking care of her brothers and sisters since her mother died and takes life too seriously. Her sister talks her into going with her to jump of the cliffs for the annual celebration of Maiden’s plunge where all the virgins jump off the cliffs into the cold sea. Ellie agrees and takes the plunge.
She swims back to shore via Mermaid’s cave and stumbles onto a group of men who look like pirates having some kind of meeting. One man wants to kill her right then but Hawk, who she doesn’t know, convinces the other man that he will take her out to sea and kill her and then proceeds to kidnap her and take her out to sea. Ellie thinks she is going to die and never see her family again but Hawk tells her that he is just going to keep her for a while and then return her after she is not a danger to his plans. She believes he is a pirate and might use her against her family so she lies and tells him she is a nursemaid for the Earl of Ulster instead of his daughter.
Hawk is meeting with some Irish mercenaries who will meet him on the 13th and with at least 150 men and who he will then take to another location to fight with Robert Bruce against the English. When Ellie stumbles upon their meeting, the Irish leader wants to kill her but he doesn’t want to kill an innocent woman so he adducts her. He gets to open water and tries to sneak by a few English ships and would have succeeded but Ellie jumped out of his boat and starts screaming. The English spot them but Hawk manages to get Ellie back in the boat and escape.
At first, Ellie’s family think she has drown but hear about the incident where the English sailors had witnessed Ellie with the pirates and now the English are out searching for her.
Now, he is laying low on Spoon Isle while he waits out the time until the mission with the bossy little nursemaid. He is used to getting his way with women but with Ellie, his charm isn’t working. She is seemingly immune to his charisma and good looks. He can see the English ships and wonders why they are patrolling so heavily. He has no idea his captive is someone of importance.
I loved how the romance developed between Ellie and Hawk. I thought it was funny how Ellie just rolled her eyes and ignored Hawk's flirting which annoyed the heck out of him. And I was rolling with laughter when he told the people on the island that the reason she was with them was because she fancies herself in love with him and stowed away on his boat which everyone believed because most lasses fall all over him but Ellie was mortified by it.
This author has a way with making my emotions zigzag all over the place. One minute I’m laughing then I’m angry, wanting to slap Hawk for his misogynistic ways and then I’m sad because one doesn’t feel the way the other does and I think they aren’t going to end up together. It’s crazy how Monica McCarty, the author, can manipulate my moods so well. That’s some excellent writing!
www.paranormalromanceslut.com
lucy_qhuay's review against another edition
3.0
I've read the first book in this series a few years ago and, even though I don't remember much of it, I gave it 4 stars, which means it was a pretty solid book. However, this one wasn't anything special. It was fun enough, but I couldn't quite connect with the characters and I found that the author spent too much time for my taste with war tactics when she could have given us more of the couple.
valeriac's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75