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Highland Guardian
Highland Guardian
Highland Guardian
Audiobook10 hours

Highland Guardian

Written by Melissa Mayhue

Narrated by Elizabeth Wiley

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

Sarah Douglas is a successful thirty-eight-year-old romance novelist with big problems. She's come to Scotland on a three-month working vacation hoping to recapture her muse-who's deserted her-and resolve the issue of her strange 'feelings'-the ones which allow her to sense the emotions of everyone she touches.

From the moment she arrives, however, her problems only intensify. She's being stalked, but by whom? Is he real or only a figment of her imagination? What about the darkly handsome owner of the cottage she's leasing? How is she ever going to deal with her growing attraction to a man ten years her junior? She knows from bitter experience men-particularly men who look like Ian-aren't interested in women like her.

Ian McCullough is neck-deep in troubles of his own. As a half-mortal descendent of Faeries, he's a Guardian, sworn to protect both the mortals of this world and the Portals leading to the Faerie Realm. After six hundred years, he's confident he knows what to expect in just about every situation and exactly how to handle it. But he never counted on a woman like Sarah showing up in his life; a woman who intrigues and charms him. A woman who turns out to be of Faerie descent herself, although she has no idea of her heritage and no belief in any Otherworld beings.

When he's assigned to protect her, Ian finds the job is tougher than he could possibly have imagined. Oh, he can handle the stalker and the ex-husband and even the renegade Faeries trying to kidnap her for their own purpose. It's falling in love and forsaking his status as Guardian, a position he swore to honor at his father's deathbed, that he's having trouble with.

Both Sarah and Ian struggle to battle the demons of self-doubt and their individual pasts. In the process they learn that healing will take the strongest magic of all, the true love that occurs only between two souls fated to be together.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 19, 2013
ISBN9781452688039
Author

Melissa Mayhue

Melissa Mayhue is the award-winning author of the Daughters of the Glen series, which includes Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband, Highland Guardian, Soul of a Highlander, A Highlander of Her Own, A Highlander's Destiny, A Highlander's Homecoming, Healing the Highlander, and A Highlander's Curse. She is also the author of the Warrior series and the Magic of Time series. She and her family live in Colorado in the shadow of the beautiful Rocky Mountains with three insanely spoiled dogs, one domineering cat, a turtle with an attitude, and way too many fish in their aquarium. Visit her website at MelissaMayhue.com.

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Reviews for Highland Guardian

Rating: 3.8956044373626373 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very cute highland romance with a time travel twist. First Book in the Daughters of the Glen series. I will be making my way through the next 3 I have gathering dust.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Caitlyn is having one of the worse days of her life, her fiancee is having an affair with his secretary and has no idea what she should do and feels like she is losing a part of herself. Then drowning her sorrows with a good glass of wine, after she puts on a pendant, and mysterious and yet sex stranger appears in her bedroom asking her to return home to him to Scotland 800 previous to marry him and save his sister,,,and Caitlyn does it knowing that life couldn't get much worse than being married for thirty days. Only once Caityln arrives things just go from average to worse, her life is in danger, the wedding has been delayed, and she knows she is in love with a man that can never love her in return...Thirty Night with a Highland Husband is the first that I have read by this author and I can hardly wait to read more by this author. I have heard some good things, but I didn't know if I would like her books, and now I know that I really love her style of writing. This story was charming and tender and I will admit I got a tad emotional at times. This book has such a magical touch to each page that I couldn't escape from the pages and I just fell in love with Connor and Caitylyn, I also have a love for time travel romances and this one tops the list in my book!!!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Pure romance, predictable but sweet. A fast light read with likable characters.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The time travel action of this story was pretty good. The rest was a common theme with alpha hero who denied his love and timid heroine. I skimming some so my rating is 3.5* 13th century Scottish warrior Connor appears in Caitlyn's bedroom in the year 2007.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Caitlyn catches her fiance cheating on her, and the scumbag makes her feel like his indiscretion is her fault. While she deals with the betrayal (and comes to her senses), she is transported to 13th century Scotland for the purpose of saving a highlander's sister from marrying an abusive man - as the bride of said highlander.

    Connor (the Highlander) is a man of honor, and as such, he vows to keep Caitlyn safe.

    For those of us that love Scottish historicals, this story has it all. A tough, American heroine and a fierce Scottish warrior, combined with a bit of the wee folk for a touch of magic that only true love can spark.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very good paramormal romance
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is the first book in the The Daughters of the Glen series which takes us from 21st century Colorado to 13th century Scotland. Caitlyn Coryell has discovered her selfish, power-hungry fiance with another woman in his office and realizes that she didn't really love the man in the first place. Conner MacKiernan is desperate to save his sister Mairi from being forced to marry the horrible MacPherson and relies on his Fae ancestry to find a woman for him to marry (something he vowed he would never do) in order for him to have the power to rescue his sister. Little do Caitlyn and Conner know that the Fae power will alter their lives forever.See my complete review at The Eclectic Review
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    ***NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS***Conner MacKiernan is a 13th century highland knight sworn into the king's service. He should have been laird, but since he was only a child when his father and brothers passed away, his awful uncle usurped his title and Conner has no desire to see the lives of his people lost in a war over who should lead them. When his Uncle promises his younger sister into a marriage with an older laird Mairi doesn't love who's already killed three wives before her Conner doesn't know what to do. He can't stand and protect Mairi while still in the king's service. He can't leave the king's service unless he marries himself and seven years before he made a vow before god and man that he'd marry no woman who currently walked the earth. The action had seemed understandable at the time, considering his betrothed has married his Uncle while he was off serving the king, but it left him with little choice but to turn to his aunt, a descent of the Fairy Prince Pol to help him find someone who can help him. Rosalyn, Conner's lovable and meddling aunt sends Connor forward in time where be meets and retrieves Caitlyn Coryell from modern day Colorado to be his new bride. Caitlyn has just caught her fiance cheating on her with his secretary only to have him tell her it was her fault for not being more adventurous or providing for his needs by sleeping with him. Worse than this she almost believes he's right so when Connor shows up and offers her this chance at an adventure she doesn't turn him down. What follows is an adventurous and humorous tale of love and intrigue in 13th century Scotland. Neither Connor nor Caitlyn is ready to trust a member of the opposite sex, but if they don't trust each other or open their hearts, what cost will it be to their lives?Have you ever read one of those stories where you find yourself so lost in the story that when you finish it you have a hard time going back and looking at it critically? For me this tale of magic, mystery and love in the Highlands was once such tale. I debated for a while between just giving it a five star rating and gushing over it or stopping to think if anything really bothered me with this novel, my status update on good reads reminded me that at the beginning I was ready to slap Cate upside the head for her behavior so I decided to rate this at four stars.The book does have a great set up with excellent character growth, but I just can't bring myself to give a five star rating to a book where the female lead pretty much convinces herself it's her fault her fiance cheated on her. In the beginning chapters you actually get to listen to the thought process as she rationalizes Richard's behavior and finds only herself to blame. While she does decide to call of the wedding it's not because of Richard's actions, it's because she realized she was only marrying him because her mother and grandmother had been married at her age. Her wedding was basically a check mark on her to do list and her older brother convinced her that love doesn't work like that. Umm how about the fact you're engaged to a slime ball as a good reason to call off the wedding?! If my fiance ever did that to me then tried to tell me it was my fault I'd be causing him bodily harm to ensure he never did it again and I certainly wouldn't marry him. It wouldn't be my fault it would be his fault. Cate does grow through out the book, getting a backbone, slowly seeing her worth, and becoming a character you can relate to and root for, but the woman you meet when you begin this story needs to be hit upside the head for stupidity. The woman she becomes is one a reader can respect, but the fact that I can't respect the person she started out as is most of the reason I couldn't bring myself to give this book a five star rating.The book like most romances does include sex, however not only are the two scenes included well written, they occur in logical places where they enhance the plot of feelings and attraction between the leading characters rather than being there just for the sake of having a sex scene. The way Mayhue includes them in her novel is a perfect example of how a sex scene should be used in a romance as opposed to recent novels in the genre by writers who have embraced the idea of sex sells so lets have long steamy sex scenes in every other chapter just for the purpose of having them. Not saying all of them do this, but there are so many that as a previous die hard romance fan I don't often pick up a romance novel anymore.The story pulls you in with an exciting plot, well rounded characters and massive character obstacles and growth in the novel. About the only other thing that disappointed me in this novel was the ending, while it did complete a wonderfully exciting story arc I'd like to have seen what happened between the last chapter and the epilogue that neatly ties everything up. It's a good ending don't get me wrong, but there's a lot she could have done between the last chapter and the epilogue that I think would have made it even better.Overall the book is a must read for lovers of historical and time travel romance. I'd highly recommend it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really enjoyed this and have already ordered the next few books. Why this profoundly silly, fairy princess-style, completely implausible book worked for me where others in the genre didn’t, I can’t really pinpoint. Perhaps it’s because it unashamedly grabs onto the fairytale with both hands and without any pretence of being serious, and that made it much easier for me to buy into the story. As seems to be the case with most time travel romances, we have a mediaeval Scottish hero who marries a modern-day woman. And as always, instead of the more likely (‘likely’ being a relative term here) scenario of him travelling to modern-day Scotland to find his woman, he goes to the USA. There – in the land romantic fiction has decreed the sole provider of wenches for male vampires, shapeshifters, secret agents and Highlanders the world over – our hero, Connor MacKiernan, finds his ideal woman: Caitlyn Coryell. A (virginal) woman who fits into his society perfectly; her contemporary speak and American accent written off as minor quirks rather than the major communication issues they should have been. We find ourselves in a time of magic, where everybody is abnormally tall and attractive (so that there’re plenty of sexy Scottish types for later books, I suppose), and apart from the odd little issue here or there, life in the Middle Ages is rosy and equally as comfortable as life in the future. Maybe my enjoyment of this was due to the pretty cover in the vein of Lady Lovely Locks meets the She-Ra castle, I don’t know. Maybe it was reading this on the weekend with the accompaniment of a couple of glasses of wine. Whatever it was, while I cannot stand Karen Marie Moning’s take on time travel in Scotland, Melissa Mayhue’s book was wildly entertaining, and when the improbabilities started piling up I couldn’t care less – it was too much fun. I almost felt as though I was reading a fairytale – and in some ways it was, with fae magic being responsible for the travelling between centuries. Mayhue’s prose was far more engaging than Moning’s, and lacked those long and tedious passages of introspection that Moning is so fond of (and that bored me into putting her book down many, many times before I could finish it). Her humour is far better – she finds more to laugh about than toilet jokes. Her structure was good, keeping its focus instead of head-jumping between every character in the entire series. Her use of the historical setting was great – working the history into each and every scene instead of hitting us with massive information dumps. To top it off, Mayhue’s characters are far more likeable (Connor alone was enough to make me pretend not to notice how preposterous the story was), and her women not so incredibly stupid. Of course you have to be in the right mood for this kind of book. Caitlyn is in her bedroom in Denver when Connor turns up and announces she has to go back in time and marry him so he can save his sister. He swore he’d not marry a woman in his time, and he’s so honourable he won’t break that vow (yeah, makes sense!). Caitlyn gets right into it from the outset, and Mayhue does away with the heroine’s disbelief about the situation entirely; Cate just goes with the flow. Cate’s endless use of complex, colloquialism-ridden modern English was silly, and certainly that’s a major issue I have with KMM’s books too. I wanted to scream at Cate a few times, “Think, woman! Think of how to phrase it so they’ll understand!” However at least we had the occasional comment from Connor that he had no idea what she was talking about! I must admit that while the historical accuracy is questionable, it’s obvious the author actually made an effort to do some research. So, I had a great time reading this, and Connor was one of the best pseudo-Scottish hunks I’ve come across in fiction. Not even an old-style, fertility-filled epilogue was going to ruin my merriment. No doubt if I’d spent any more time in Scotland than I have I’d be tearing my hair out in frustration with the misrepresentation of the country, so thankfully for me and my reading experience I was for the most part able to block it out. I found Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband to be far better than the insanely popular and similarly-plotted Karen Marie Moning series. It may well be a Disney princess version of mediaeval Scotland, but it had more depth than I expected, and it sure was fun.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I've decided I am going to put this note before each of my reviews. I have absolutely no background in literature, writing or reviewing. I am just a Librarian with a love for a good story. The opinions in the following review are ONLY my OPINIONS. I am not commenting on the writers ability since well -- I am not a writer and never will be. If you are the author of this book, my opinion is just that and not a judgment against you! This is the 1st in a series titled "Daughters of the Glen" about time traveling descendants of the Fae. It is a cute and light fantasy time travel romance set in Scotland (1272) from new author Melissa MayhueThe main characters Connor and Caitlyn are likable if not very realistic or well-developed enough for my tastes. My problem with the heroine was that she adapted far too well in 1272 Scotland for a modern women. I know it is a silly point, but seriously there was a lack of good hygiene back then and can you say a serious lack of womens rights. I also found many of the back characters could be a little more developed and they are almost forgettable. The plot was very smoothly written but a little underdeveloped. I was a little irritated at times with some of the situations and plot twists. However, the author has a talent when it comes to descriptions and brought the characters and the setting to life. I really enjoyed the opening chapter that read like an old fashioned fairy tale with a lovely tale of a doomed love between a mortal and a Fae prince. I also enjoyed some of the authentic Scottish brogue -- although it irritated my hubby because I am now saying dinna know(in a bad Scottish accent)instead of don't know. There is also a wonderfully written scene in which Connor walks in on Caitlyn while she is shaving her legs. Hilarious!I think the series and the author have a lot of potential and will take a look at the rest of the series and see if it improves. Please also take into consideration when reading this review that I have some issues when reading time travel fiction. The very idea of time travel puts my brain into overdrive with questions of what could potentially go wrong if someone went back in time.