The Highland Outlaw by Heather McCollum – a Review

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Description:
Shaw Sinclair, chief of the outcast clan of Sinclairs of Caithness in northern Scotland, has made a deal with the devil. Despite his strength and lethal skills, he needs help—specifically from a woman—to accomplish his mission to bring a bairn to safety to the coast. When he meets the brave and beautiful Alana Campbell at a Samhain Festival, he decides she’s the one. Alana Campbell is ready to show the world she’s just as skillful with a sgian dubh as any man. Attracting the attention of the brawny chief who coerces her to join him on his journey to the coast of Scotland gives her that very opportunity. Sparks flash between them as they’re forced to act as husband and wife to accomplish the deadly mission. However, when secrets threaten to tear them apart, they have to decide if their differences outweigh the reality of their feelings…

“To Laird Shaw Sinclair, 7th Earl of Caithness The infant who journeys under the protection of this letter is of strong health yet might succumb to an assassin’s poison. Therefore, she must be taken to safety shielded by the fierce Sinclair clan. Take the child to the ruins of St. Andrews castle, where a ship will ferry her over to France to be raised in secret until such time as she can be claimed. In return for your service, Castle Girnigoe and the lands historically kept by the Sinclair Clan will be retaken from Edgar Campbell of Glenorchy to be returned to Clan Sinclair. The child must arrive, alive, to the ship before the winter snows blanket the Highlands. May God in his ultimate wisdom and power guide you and see that you protect this very important child.”

Each book in The Campbells series is STANDALONE:
* The Scottish Rogue
* The Savage Highlander
* The Wicked Viscount
* The Highland Outlaw

Review:

The Highland Outlaw by Heather McCollum is the 4th book in her Campbells series.  It starts out with the premise of a small child being taken to safety. The missive charges Shaw Sinclair the job of delivering the baby girl.  Shaw is Laird of the Sinclair Clan and whilst promising to deliver a baby to safety, the wet nurse (a woman employed to breastfeed another woman’s child) he employs dies on the journey, spotting his chance he uses every trick in the book to persuade Alana to join him…… 

Alana is sick of being under appreciated, No one takes her seriously!! And finding out her mother is alive (in previous books it was thought she had died) spurs Alana on to find and rescue her. Her help comes in the form of charming if not slightly rude Shaw Sinclair. 

Their journey is fraught with danger, people are after the child, and will stop at nothing to achieve it. 

But lies have a habit of surfacing, Campbell’s and Sinclair’s are sworn enemies, but as the journey progresses, it’s getting harder and harder to remain enemies, and pretending to be husband and wife is blurring the lines. 

Double dealings, treachery, betrayal and lots of action keep this book going at a great pace. 

So why does Shaw have to deliver this baby? And to whom? Is she special in anyway? What happens if the baby doesn’t get delivered? And will Alana find her mother? And these secrets that Shaw and Alana have, will it really spell the end of this Laird and his feisty lass? 

Another good book by Heather McColllum in The Campbell series. We’ve met a few of the characters in this book in previous stories, so it was nice to add a little more background to it all. 

Reviewed by Julie B

Copy provided by Publisher