Highlander’s Sword
Amanda Forester’s books have a tendency to grow on me slowly. I know I’m going to like them but I have to give them time to hook me somewhere. I’m not always sure where the story is going or how I feel about her protagonists, but at a certain point something happens and someone charms the socks off me. Sometimes it’s the hero, or sometimes the heroine. Sometimes it is a side character. But once the hook is in, it is well and truly in. This happened with A Midsummer Bride and it happened here with Highlander’s Sword.
Highlander’s Sword was published in 2010 and it is the first of Forester’s Highlander series (followed by The Highlander’s Heart and then True Highland Spirit). Padyn McLaren is laird of a clan that desperately needs to rebuild, and for that, money is needed. Aila Graham is desperate to get herself to a nunnery (OK, they called them convents back then but I like saying nunnery). She has been raised since a young age with the expectation she would join the neighboring convent and serve God and the community faithfully. Since it’s all she’s ever known, she’s eager for this, but when her brother dies on the battlefield, she is left to be her father’s only heir. Laird Graham is not keen to have his lands and wealth go to the Church; his estranged wife, Aila’s mother is set on this course. At his first opportunity, he promises Aila to Padyn, and in a single afternoon, her life changes forever. Or does it? There are a whole host of characters set on getting their hands on Aila herself or the lands and money that make up her dowry. There’s the neighboring laird who kidnaps her, her bitter mother set on seeing her wedded to the church, and then there is someone secretly working within the Graham keep who is intent on taking everything for himself.
This is a great story! The novel’s various relationships were my favorite part. Forester is never satisfied with just developing her hero and heroine. There are other familial connections, friendships and side romances that keep this story going. Highly recommend!
For the Love of Books 