Seize Your Copy Hard-Hearted Highlander (Highland Grooms, #3) Articulated By Julia London Issued In Copy

adore Scottish romances, so Ive been attempting to make my way through this list of them, Im currently reading through Julia Londons Highland Grooms series, and Ive just begun the third installment, So far Im loving watching Bernadette and Rabbie fight the attraction they both feel for each other, Stephanie sitelink bookish. com/articles/staf For all highlander lovers this is a terrific story, We have a naïve teenager, a worldly governess and a handsome highlander, The makings of a really satisfying read, Rabbie is still mourning his first love and is fighting a severe depression when he agrees to help his family and clan by marrying an English debutante who lives on the adjoining land.
Avaline wants no part of the brooding, unlikable Rabbie but is being forced to marry, Bernadette at first dislikes Rabbie but eventually understands his despondency and falls madly in love with him, This is a triangle that seems totally without a happy outcome, That the author, Julia “fantastic” London, pulls off a HEA is because of her superb storytelling skill,
I guarantee you will like this one and come back for more from this author, All books in the series are connected by cameos of previous characters but can definitely standalone, Read them all, youll thank me,
The Highland Grooms Series:
, Wild wicked Scot
. Sinful Scottish Laird
. HardHearted Highlander

I received this book free for review from the publisher,
sitelink wordpress. com Another wonderful HR by London,
I enjoyed the character building
The storyline was amazing, except for the last bit, It ended up being a tad melodramatic
Nonetheless, I enjoyed reading Hardhearted Highlander very much, Set in the years following the terrible Scots defeat at Culloden and the subsequent ravaging of the Highlands by the English, there is a dark and moody undertone to this book, embodied in the hero, Rabbie MacKenzie.
Rabbie's fiancee was lost in the ravaging and he is hurt and embittered, frankly suicidal at points during the book.
Convinced by his family to accept a betrothal to a young Englishwoman in order to reverse the family's failing fortunes, he runs headlong into the serious problem that he can't stand her.


This was where the book absolutely fell apart, for me, Yes, Aveline was a whining little ninny, but she was also seventeen and being forced into a marriage she wanted no more than Rabbie did.
A genteel Englishwoman of that age is probably equivalent to an elevenyearold girl today in how little she understood the world, how sheltered she was.
Aveline was treated with nothing short of cruelty by the entire narrative, most particularly by Rabbie, She was a child doing her best in an untenable situation, and the book went out of its way to basically slap her in the face for it.
I did hope that she'd get her happy ending with the man of her dreams but instead there was a horrible reversal that quite unnecessarily devastated her.


Bernadette, the supposed heroine of the book and Aveline's 'friend' behaved absolutely reprehensibly, and so did Rabbie.
Rabbie was engaged to another woman and the pair of them cheated, Rabbie made little real effort to end the engagement, dumping all the burden on Bernadette's shoulders when she had no power to do anything about it, and was an utter heel throughout the book.


Having a tragic backstory doesn't absolve you of the responsibility to at least attempt to treat other people decently.
Or do I have to channel my inner Jake Peralta here

"Cool motive, Still murder. " Or in this case: “Tragic backstory, Still cheating. ”

Not one person in this entire book treated Aveline with any real decency except for Rabbie's sister Cat, the only person in the book I actually liked.
Frankly, for the rest of them I had little emotion left but contempt by the end, and the eventual news of Aveline's marriage was clearly supposed to leave us saying 'yay, at least she didn't end up an old maid'.
I did not say yay, Trading one fiancé you don't like for another fiancé you don't like Not a step upwards,

The book is well written and the language beautifully descriptive, If you like broody asshole Scottish heroes and heroines who are willing to sleep with a man engaged to another woman, you might enjoy it.
I'm afraid I really did not, Two.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review through NetGalley, This review was originally posted onsitelink Addicted To Romance sitelink Summary
Bernadette Kent, is a woman having little and no choice but to work as a governess, due to past scandals and the pain she has experienced.
Bernadette has learned some rough truths of life, and one of them is that woman have no choice in life especially in what they wish in life or who they wish to marry.
Now its Bernadette's job to make sure that her young charge and friend learn to accept her upcoming marriage that she has no choice in.
Bernadette understands why Avaline who may be kind but is shy and practically shakes in fear of her new fiancee.
Rabbie Mackenzie accepted the upcoming marriage at a painful time in his life, Now he has no choice but to bind himself to a girl that is barely out of the schoolroom and has no strength or courage.
But his life comes alive again when he banters with independent Bernadette who fights him on every turn.
But soon the opposition they both feels turns into something passionate and eventually into a softer emotion, love. But their relationship is forbidden and not just to society, but both Bernadette and Rabbie understand each others pains of the past and could help heal each other.
. .
The Hero
Rabbie Mackenzie has suffered some of the worst pains, He lost the woman he loved and most of her family in a very painful way and ever since has continued to grieve his loss of her and has merely existed.
Rabbie reluctantly agreed to a marriage for financial gain on both parties, Once Rabbie meets his future bride, he regrets his agreement but refuses to go back on his word.
Rabbie is a proud highlander who has suffered some great losses in his life, But he looks out for his family and other Scots who need his help to survive with the recent joining of Scotland and England which has practically starved and decimated the Scottish people.
What I truly loved about Rabbie was his protective nature toward his people, Now he can be a jerk quite a bit especially in the beginning, He has a very rough exterior, but I truly loved seeing the change in his character as he learns to let go of the past and learning to love again.

The Heroine
Bernadette hasn't had a easy life, Bernadette once fell in love and managed to elope, but she learned a painful lesson when her father annulled the marriage, and forced her fiancee to a ship to work and died a few months later and Berndatte lost even more than that.
and she knows that she will never be able to have the family she always dreamed of, But it hasn't hardened or made her bitter, She still has a sweet nature, and I truly adored how passionate she was especially in defense of Avaline.
Her character isn't easy to read, because of the way we are introduced to her and sets a certain tone of the story.
I did enjoy her character and seeing the way she overcomes the ghosts of her past and find the happy after she deserves.

Plot and Story Line
Hard Hearted Highlander is a wonderful romance that has a strong angsty beginning.
What I truly loved about this book was seeing the growth and changes in our characters, At the beginning of the book, there are shields around both Bernadette and Rabbie, These shields are because of some painful experiences these two have had to struggle through, And I understood where they were coming from but they tended to bicker and banter like children and there were times it could be amusing, but other times I felt a bit frustated but then I don't think I was in the mood for a angsty romance.
But it didn't take very long to get into the frame this book has set, Now we have another character Avaline, I will admit there are times I learned to like her, but honestly she drove me nuts, She was fearful of everything and was so weak in so many ways, I understood why she was the way she is, her parents left much to be desired, However she does get some backbone, I really enjoyed the way this story progressed and didn't quite turn out the way I expected and I liked that.
There are some predictable moments, but other moments that happily surprise you, What made this book so wonderful though was the ending, Because man this author had me crying and laughing in the same moment which is rare, And yeah I fell in head over heels with this couple pretty quickly especially in the way you see how they help each other emotionally.
It really brings these two together in such a poignant way,
The Cover
What a beautiful cover and so perfect for april, I love the spring tone of the purple and their embrace is so passionate
Overall

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Hard Hearted Highlander is a simply fantastic romance that is full of fun yet angsty bantering, an emotional whirlwind of desire, grief and brings a perfectly satisfying story!!
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sitelink sitelink The second book in the Highland Grooms Series is a powerful heart wrenching story of lost love, tragedy and how two people make the journey back to life and love.


First let me say that there are parts of this book that took fortitude on my part to read, but it was worth reading through some really sad parts to a HAE.
This book is about Rabbie MacKenzie the brother of the hero from "Sinful Scottish Laird", Rabbie has lost his will to live, He has watched his precious Highlands be decimated by the English after the battle at Culloden , the love of his life died a terrible death and his clan is barely scraping by.
He is just going through the motions for one reason, because no matter how much he doesn't want to go on he knows that if he died his family would be devastated.
Now Rabbie has agreed to marry a young English woman who will bring much needed money, He doesn't want anything to do with her when she arrives at his home, He is not even trying to endear himself and is being rude and dismissive an all around ass.


Accompanying the bride to be from England is Bernadette Holly, A ladies maid with a terribly tragic past, She and her love ran away from home to marry, defying her wealthy Father, who wanted her to marry a nobleman to help him gain access to into the Ton.
Her father's men catch up with them days after they were married and drag her husband away, She is taken home and her marriage is annulled, She later finds out that her husband was conscripted into the Royal Navy and died at sea, She then finds out she is pregnant but loses the baby when her father strikes her and she falls down a flight of stairs.
She has hidden deep in her mind and heart the crippling pain that has shaped who she is and what she has become.


How can Rabbie and Bernadette help each other when it is clear that the only thing they have in common is pain and heartbreak I have read everything that Julia has written in Historical Romance, this story is darker in that Julia delves deeper into what makes these characters so special.
They are both strong, intelligent characters who come out even stronger in the end, There is conflict, redemption, and best of all a happy ending for them, I am a fan of Julia's writing and think this book is a must read, .