Book Review: The Highlander's Touch (Karen Marie Moning)

A Warrior Of Immortal Powers

He was a mighty Scottish warrior who lived in a world bound by ancient laws and timeless magic. But no immortal powers could prepare the laird of Castle Brodie for the lovely accursed lass who stood before him. A terrible trick of fate had sent her 700 years back in time and into his private chamber to tempt him with her beauty—and seduce him with a desire he could never fulfill. For this woman he burned to possess was also the woman he had foresworn to destroy.

A Woman Caught In The Mists Of Time

When Lisa felt the earth move under her feet, the fiercely independent 21st-century woman never dreamed she was falling...into another century. But the powerful, naked warrior who stood glaring down at her was only too real...and too dangerously arousing. Irresistibly handsome he might be, but Lisa had no intention of remaining in this savage land torn by treachery and war. How could she know that her seductive captor had other plans for her...plans that would save her from a tragic fate? Or that this man who had long ago forsaken love would defy time itself to claim her for his own...

Third in Karen Marie Moning's Highlander series, The Highlander's Touch is the most complex of the three I've read. Each of the book in the series has a very different feel to them, with different strengths and weaknesses, and this one is particularly infused with extra twists. Funny enough, all of them are connected - for instance The Highlander's Touch, which occurs a century prior, is connected to the first two by its characters.

Let me begin with the characteristics that it shared with its predecessors: it's hilariously funny, it has a drop dead gorgeous hero and the chemistry between the protagonists sizzles (swoon!). It has very loveable secondary characters - and as always, there are some seriously drool-worthy male foils.

I adored (or more like drooled over) Sidheach 'Hawk' Douglas from Beyond the Highland Mist, and Circenn Brodie is much like Hawk in this book. Devastatingly sexy and domineering, Circenn is a man of honour, a natural born leader who lived by his rules. (Un)fortunately for him, his curse on a religious relic misfires and transports the twenty-first century lass Lisa Stone into his lap - literally. She turns his world upside down; makes him break his oaths, lie and deceive. I had a good laugh at this, which saved what would have been a boring characterisation. Circenn, despite his allure, is a slightly inadequate character and much overshadowed by a foil, Duncan Douglas.

However, Lisa is a wonderful character. Strong, vivacious and determined, she works not for herself, but for her mother dying of cancer. She is understandably devastated when she finds herself in a war-torn country in the fourteenth century, her life threatened by the very person who can tempt her into staying. Again, while I like her character, she doesn't seem to have adequate focus, and less-developed characters are a boon in novels, really. Not good.

What makes this stand out in the series are these: several sub plots never fulfilled, a twist that is hard to foresee in the end, and an ending too polished for its own good. The first is annoying, because one of it involved Duncan Douglas, which is the superior character I found in this book. The twist is satisfying as I never could have seen it coming! Finally, the ending is such a classic. I thought it took happily ever after to the extreme, but I can't deny that I didn't like it. My inner child is forever screaming for a happy ever after in all of the books I read and was extremely satisfied with The Highlander's Touch.

Not the best in the series (or at least the three I have read so far), but pick this one up if you're looking for a sexy warlord to drool over, a happy-go-lucky protector to admire and to enjoy the company of the Knights of the Templar.

Three stars.


* I received this e-book for review. Thank you Mel!