Review: To Tame a Highland Warrior by Karen Marie Moning

guestreview-2

By: Sasha Muradali, guest blogger

To Tame a Highland Warrior has to be the second best book in the Karen Marie Moning Highlander series, falling short directly behind The Dark Highlander.

Starting out in 1499, the novel tells the tale of Grimm aka Gavrael McIllioch, the son of a powerful Highland laird and best friend to Hawk, from Beyond the Highland Mist.

Upon finding his mother dead, assuming at the hands of his father, he flees to become one of the most sought after, intelligent and highly capable warriors of his time. However, nothing is ever peaches and daises in a Moning novel, as Grimm carries a deep secret; a secret so important in keeping that he doesn’t quite understand its depth himself.

Loving Grimm since she was a little girl is Jillian St. Clair. Cornered into choosing a husband, preferably Grimm, by her scheming parents, she refuses to take ‘no’ for an answer, no matter how many times Grimm shoos her away.

The beauty of this story, unlike the other six Highlander tales, it that this one solely takes place in the past. There is no time-traveling or shifting so to speak.

Moning finally touches the paranormal side of things, by mixing things up with a Norse legend about a mythical man, an unbeatable beast, with inconceivable power to destroy and rage; a Berserker.

Known to shape shift and become larger, with icy blue eyes and immaculate senses, a Berserker is said to be unstoppable.

The entire first half of the book touches on Grimm’s history, Jillian’s history and their history together. It also illustrates why Grimm doesn’t want to love Jillian, as well as, why Jillian feels the need to stay close to Grimm.

It’s not until the second half of the novel, does the actual adventure start, the mysteries are unwrapped and the impossible becomes rather possible.

To Tame a Highland Warrior is definitely full of surprises; what you think you know about the story may not be the outcome. This is one of the few books in the seven-part series that isn’t predictable and that idea is very refreshing.

Weaving through history and the timeless tale of girl loves boy, boy loves girl but won’t admit it – Moning redeemed herself after the freakish, unhealthy love from Beyond the Highland Mist.

This is really a great read, but only perfect for extended and uninterrupted periods of time because of its nature. I don’t recommend doing what I did and reading it in little spurts whenever you can. Make the time to sit down and enjoy it, it will really keep you on your toes.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Buy: To Tame a Highland Warrior

Online Stores

Highlander Contest Entry #2: Laird of the Manor

Excellent, Love Romance Passion has it's second entry for the Highlander Romance Novel Cover Contest. This entry was submitted by Sasha, who also participated in the Pirate Novel Cover Contest. Leave a comment to vote for this entry as the winner is chosen based on the amount of comments they receive. Feel free to vote more than once as new entries come in that strike your fancy.

highlander-florent-manor

Model: Florent (the fantastic Sir Flowee!)
Designer: Sasha

Romance Novel Title: Laird of the Manor

The Tale:

Enchanting and alluring, Highland Laird Iain Buchanan was born to a clan of warriors. Living in the 21st century, he embraces his Caledonian heritage by reenacting the acts of his ancestors pasts each year in the Scottish Highland Games! He still lives in his family's ancient manor housed in Northern Scotland aka the Scottish Highlands.

Artist Comments:

Image took about 20-25 hours over 3 weeks to manipulate.

I looked at the covers of Karen Marie Moning's books for inspiration ([link]) and I spent way too much time listening to Blake ([link]) and Celtic Thunder to get *inspired* ([link])

**NOTE: yes, ALL parts of the graphic are manipulated together: Florent, Florent's Shadow, the sky, the cuffs, the kilt, the manor, the Highland beach, the tattoo, the lights etc. etc. etc. Nothing came together, I composed the entire thing! **

Online Stores

Free Email Updates