Showing posts with label melissa mayhue. Show all posts
Showing posts with label melissa mayhue. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Highland Guardian by Melissa Mayhue

Title: Highland Guardian
Author: Melissa Mayhue
Release Date: October 30th, 2007
Publisher: Pocket
Pages: 368
Format: iBooks
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Others in the Series: Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband
Age Group: Adult


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, 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

I knew I would love this series and if loving book two is not enough to convince me I don't know what is. This book, I don't really know what to say.

From the moment I started to read the book I knew I would like Sarah. She is the type of character that people can easily identify with. If you were ever an outcast, ever popular for something, ever kept a part of yourself hidden, ever been in a bad marriage, or ever experienced severe self-doubt or had hit that wall, then Sarah and you have a lot in common. She came off as this woman that would not leave her shell and once her life was displayed out people can understand why.

And then there's Ian. I don't know if it's maybe because he's Scottish and at this moment I love Scottish men, or maybe it's because he's that hero that every girl dreams up, or maybe because he's Fae, but something about Ian both irritated me and gave me goosebumps. He is a man,who I feel, is driven a lot by his emotions, and sometimes that can lead to decisions that are not necessarily good ones. I think I liked Ian, though, because for the most part he was a dependable guy and, you know, good.

It was obvious from start that Sarah would be a challenge for him and aside from rubbing my hands together with a wicked smile on my face as I thought about all the heartache he would give her, I was cheering these guys on. There were little moments where Ian did things that brought out the hero persona in him.

Now, the story really starts to develop as the world between Fae and Man are in danger of colliding. And something is going on with the Fae that had been banished from their home, something that is not good at all, but it could be good for some of the descendents. Perspective, I guess.

And Mayhue did an excellent job in bringing back some familiar faces from the first book. I liked how she sneaked that in there and, in a way, it was just a reminder that all of the books are connected, and not just with the same Fae that appear sometimes. I hope she's building it to something really good.

This book was sweet and had a lot of bitter moments and a lot of revelations, which I hope open up a little more as the book series continues.

If there is one series I'm glad I picked up for this summer, it must defiantly is this one.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband by Melissa Mayhue

Title: Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband
Author: Melissa Mayhue
Release Date: June 26th, 2012
Publisher: Pocket
Pages: 356
Format: iBook
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Age Group: Adult

SCOTLAND, 1272. Connor MacKiernan, a descendant of the Fae Prince, is a warrior who lives only for honor and duty. Though he's vowed never to marry, that's exactly what he must do to save his sister. Enter a little Faerie magic, and the search for a bride is on.
DENVER, 2007. Caitlyn Coryell is having a really bad day -- she just discovered her fiance with another woman Imagine her surprise when she puts on some sexy lingerie and an antique pendant and Connor appears in her bedroom, begging for her help. He offers a simple yet outrageous adventure: travel to his time, marry him, and return home.
But nothing's simple when Cate is trapped in the thirteenth century. The wedding's delayed, someone's trying to kill her, and in the middle of all this, she realizes she's falling in love with a man who can only be her husband for thirty nights.

I feel like a cheat. I want to give this book five stars because it centers around a theme I love so much, and that theme by the way usually comes in the form of a tall, muscular Highlander in a kilt. Honestly, my obsession is obviously not healthy, but who cares. I blame Jamie Fraser for stealing my heart.

But, why did I not give this book five stars? Well, simply because Mayhue left too many lose ends. I mean, I can understand if they would serve a function later on in the series, but in this book they just left me with questions and no answers, which I found very annoying. Like, for example what type of business is Cate's family a part of? Obviously some heavy material it looked like. And not to mention if the publishers felt so important to mention Connor's family lineage in the synopsis if it doesn't get mentioned in the book - well, not really anyways. Just little things like that.

I did enjoy the story though. Cate was nothing like I had originally pictured her but she fit perfectly. And I was a little surprised when they threw in the Fae story. Seems like all the Highland books I get my hands on has Fae.

For one, I absolutely loved Cate. I felt bad for her in the beginning because she made a mistake, but as the story continued I loved how she developed greatly as a character. Connor did a lot of development as well, so Mayhue really did an excellent job there.

The story is very original and I like the way the Fae and the people are intertwined together and woven tightly throughout the story.

I was a little surprised at the end, but I think that's what made this story even better. It was completely unexpected what happened and it was a change from the usual time-travel-Fae-involved-Highland-novel I have read.

I can already tell that I am going to love this series. Mayhue is a genius!