By: Sasha Muradali, guest reviewer
Highlander, Book 1: Beyond the Highland Mist
Flung back in time, Adrienne de Simon got thrust into medieval Scotland from modern day Seattle.
A captive twice over in a century foreign to her, Adrienne became faced with the challenge of dealing with the Scottish laird they called ‘Hawk.’
Described as irresistible, seductive and passionate – Adrienne swore to keep him as far from her as possible.
But how possible, is the impossible, when she’s been forced to marry him via a thick plot to destroy him.
Brought to the sixteenth century by the mighty Black Fae himself, of the mythical Tuatha Dé Danaan race, Adam Black, Adrienne is determined not only to go back to her own time, but to swear off men…that’s how she got into the mess to begin with; she swore off men.
Sounds easy enough? Well no.
While, Beyond the Highland Mist is filled with alluring mysticism, betrayal, mystery and action, it bleeds hyper-masculine eroticisms that are anything but enchanting from the very beginning.
From Adam, to the Fae Queen, Aoibheal, and even Adrienne’s keen sense of humor, nothing quite makes up for Hawk’s soft-abuse of Adrienne that is supposed to be sexy.
Like his name, Hawk, decides to train Adrienne to make her love him, in his eyes, he’s bringing out her love of him. Hawk blind folds her, strips her naked and leaves her in a dark bedroom for unaccounted periods of time. He talks to her as if she is one of his falcons that he’s training to be obedient.
While, Adrienne never suffers physical abuse from Hawk, the mental tauntings are not only freakishly haunting, but disturbing:
She stopped screaming only when her voice gave out.
Stupid, she told herself. What did that accomplish? Not a thing. You’re trussed up like a chicken about to be plucked and now you can’t even peep a protest.
“Just take the hood off, Hawk,” she begged in a gravelly whisper. “Please?”
“Rule number nine. My name from this moment forward is Sidneach. Sidneach, not Hawk. When you use it, you will be rewarded. When you don’t, I’ll permit no quarter.”
No woman in her right mind would choose willingly to stay with a man who treats her that way. Especially, if said woman, has been previously abused by men, has sworn them off and is supposed to be a feisty chick from the 21st century.
It makes no sense.
While, I thoroughly enjoyed the premise of this introduction into the world of Karen Marie Moning’s Highlander series, its opening title falls short of hooking.
The novel’s only true saving grace is the literary universe created and expanded upon by Moning; it is what will have you coming back for more…time and time again.
Rating: 3 of 5 stars.
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Categories:
3 Stars, Fey / Fae, Gentry, Great Britain, Guest Reviews, Highlander, M-O, Rape/Abuse, Time Travel, United States of America
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3 comments ↓
Hmm. I own the first three in this series. I’ll remember that it’s worth persevering after this one!
Yeah, I have Sasha’s all time fav and I think one more that a friend gave me. Should go dig them out… lol
This one is the worst of the seven. Believe me the other 6 are far better. Especially, The Dark Highlander
Also, I think Adam Black is my favourite character of all of them. He’s just amazing. The personality the author created for him off of previous ones…let’s just say she hit the nail on the head I think.
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