“Highland Guardian”, the second book of Melissa Mayhue’s Daughters of the Glen series. Right up front, I noticed that Mayhue’s writing changes a lot in this book. As much as I loved Connor and Cate in Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband, this book was better in many ways. Bringing in Dallyn, the Fae general, was a nice move, and he was funny, especially with incorrect slangs, or even eating chocolate. We also get to meet the powerful Pol, who created the original curse.
Mayhue throughout the book had a number of cute or funny comments. Very nicely done. The added mystery of the Nuadians made for an excellent storyline.
”Highland Guardian” introduces us to Sarah Douglas, who is an author in the midst of being in a writers block. She decides to spend a few months in Scotland to see if it will help her start writing again. There is also something pulling her to go to Scotland, especially to a special cottage.
Ian McCullough, is Fae guardian, who is a 600 years old. Ian, who is half fae and half human, works for Dallyn, the Fae general. Ian’s job is to protect the gateway between the human and fae worlds from the evil Fairies – the Nuadians.
Ian meets Sarah, who is renting his cottage, which is very close to the gateway that Ian guards. The danger is that Sarah’s presence presents a risk to Ian and his job. She’s a descendant of the Fae as well unbeknownst to her, and as a female descendant she can see the gate. Since Sarah knows nothing of her ancestors, she could be in danger from the Nuadians, who would want her to lead them to the gate.
I loved Ian and Sarah’s romance. Loved the fact that Sarah was not a young girl in her 20’s, having an older heroine at 38 was nice and she didn’t have to worry, since he was 600 years older then her. lol I also loved Ramos, and was glad he was saved at the end. I enjoyed the friendship he developed with Sarah. He too becomes one of those (Robert, Jesse) who I would like to see have stories told.
The villain to me was Brad, he was one of the worst kind of villains (more of a creep), though Reynard was by far the most evil. But I so wanted Ian to punch out Brad, and would have been happy if he killed him at the end. His treatment of Sarah, in front of all those people was pathetic. The golf ball in his back was funny.
The children, Will and Rose, were exceptional and fun. Mayhue does well with creating excellent secondary characters. The book was both well-written and exciting. The story pulls you in and keeps you turning the pages until the exciting end. I enjoyed Sarah utilizing her power to kill Reynard. Bringing in Pol to Dallyn and Darnee at the end, opens this up in different directions with the soulmates, healers, etc. Mayhue also does very well with her sex scenes, which are steamy, but not over the top.
Hopefully we get to see some more of these fabulous characters. Next up will be “Soul of the Highlander”, which I am happy to say belongs to Ramos and Mairi.
Barb
