Laird of the Mist: The MacGregors Series, Book 1

I love heroines who can hold their own. Kate has been raised to defend herself with sword and axe. When an attack comes on her poorly defended keep, she's quickly exhausted by the battle - and is surprised when her clan's enemy comes to her rescue. He wants to take her hostage, to lure in and then slay her uncle.The Romeo-Juliet romance that follows is played out as they travel their way back to Callum's mountain home. There are some nice side characters - Callum's animal-loving sister stands out.The writing style has a few issues. A single sentence can use the same action word twice. Dialogue changes tone without warning, and changes in scene or time can be confusing. There's a number of "foreign" words used without enough surrounding description to make their meaning clear. So that can make a scene which might be wonderfully rich in imagery become a confusing muddle.Kate's skill with a sword is quite reasonably portrayed. She practices daily because the dangers are right outside the walls. She knows she needs to be quick, light, and agile to evade a stronger man's attack. And even with her skill, after 15 minutes on the battlefield she is completely exhausted and ready to drop. So I found that quite realistically laid out.On the other hand, some of the other fighting descriptions seemed fairly generic. I would have hoped, with the sword skills of the heroine being a distinctive trait, that the related activity would have been described with more detail.In addition, it always irks me when a heroine gets a strong start and then by the middle and end she's sighing and rolling her eyes as her strong, brave man does everything. We have that here. In the first scenes she's sure with a blade and takes on the challenge. By the end a fairly long sequence of events happens and somehow she's helpless and unable to do anything throughout all of it.Still, while those issues did affect the story, to me they did not detract from an overall enjoyment of how the adventure played out. I liked very much that the hero had a deeply flawed background, that he had a path forged in his mind, and that he had to fight to open his mind to peace. I liked that his sister had those same struggles. Yes, one could say the hero and heroine were a bit crazy in love, but that's not unusual in most romance novels. I was very grateful that even in his rages that the author never resorted to having him abuse the heroine. I like that the hero respected the heroine's strength and that his struggle was with his own torments - not with dominating her.So despite its flaws, I enjoyed this story, and I was just as happy by the resolution of some of the side-stories as I was by the ending between the two main characters.

This was a suspenseful and passionate story that is well worth the read. These two characters should be bitter enemies but once the truth is revealed and the past unleashed can they continue to hate one another. There is a lot of drama and intrigue in this storyline and the character development is fantastic. I truly wanted to see these characters overcome the obstacles in their path and find true love. My heart bled for Callum and all that he had to endure at the hands of the Campbell's. You understand his pain and can justify his hatred. Great book with some surprises nestled inside that make it worthwhile.Summary:PROTECTING HER WAS HIS PASSIONHigh-born though she is, Kate Campbell isn't afraid to draw her sword. When raiders strike, she rushes into the fray...and is lucky when a mysterious Highlander shields her from a deadly blow. Swept onto his stallion, she soon discovers that her rescuer is her clan's most hated enemy: Callum MacGregor, the man they call The Devil. Yet she cannot ignore his achingly tender touch or the way his fiery gaze leaves her breathless.POSSESSING HER WOULD BE HIS PLEASURECallum MacGregor has taken many Campbell lives, but he's never saved one--until now. Mesmerized by this spirited lass, he wants her by his side, even if it means holding her for ransom. As his fingers graze her sumptuous curves and tangle in her unruly tresses, Callum realizes Kate Campbell is his most dangerous foe of all. For he can't make love to her without betraying his kinsmen and his honor...and surrendering his heart forever.

Kate Campbell is taken by the devil himself as enemies... She become his healing light and saviour even though he tired to fight it. Great book

Not sure what the bad reviews are about. This is a fictional romance book and a lot of these types of romance book have things that could not have happened like they are written. People get too serious about these things, and need to let it go. Not sure why they read these types of books to begin with.I thought it was a good book and a quick read. Maybe a little slow at the beginning but it was a good story. The characters were also good. Both the MacGregors, Callum and Maggie, had suffered by what Liam Campbell did to them. Yet Maggie was still sweet but strong, and Callum still showed compassion for others. Kate was also able to see past Callum's reputation and figure out he was a great guy who was forced to do things he didn't like. She was willing to stand with the MacGregors even though they were outlaws. This is the first book of hers I have read, but at this point I would read other books of hers.

love this novel. Ms. Paula Quinn has the gift that can blend a great story, interesting characters along with sizzling hot passion that makes romance readers excited to buy her books.The story is about a high-born heroine, Kate Campbell, who isn't afraid to draw her sword. When raiders strike, she rushes into the fray...and is lucky when a mysterious Highlander shields her from a deadly blow. Swept onto his stallion, she soon discovers that her rescuer is her clan's most hated enemy: Callum MacGregor, the man they call The Devil. Yet she cannot ignore his achingly tender touch or the way his fiery gaze leaves her breathless.You will not be disappointed in buying and reading Laird of the Mist.

Despite the writing in the sample having issues, I still bought this because I liked the scene in the sample chapter where Callum and his men were watching Kate fighting, then getting stuck in themselves. I also liked the humour between the MacGregor men too and I was excited by the premise because I had read about this part of history where some Scottish and Irish clans had been hunted down, slaughtered, and their annihilation had been encouraged by Royal decree. Horrible stuff. So I thought it was a great idea to add real history to a historical romance book. But unfortunately the writing lets this down. And I wanted to slap the heroine, she's an idiot!This constant streaming of written thoughts from the characters is not enjoyable to read. The writting is just so very bland and the vocabulary limited, with the same words used repeatedly. The book even lacks important details, including the physical descriptions of the characters. These needed to be described in better detail, much sooner and more often. I would have put them in during the first scene we were introduced to Callum and his men, while they were watching Kate fight.There are big issues with the plot to. There are so many, I'll just name a few. Firsrly, it's highly unlikely that a man, who has been held in a dark dungeon for years, since childhood, who has been starved, deprived of water, beaten and left chained to a wall etc would have the strength to break free of his irons and then single handedly kill fifty men. Looking like a giant beast while doing it, as described. Surely after being starved and beaten for years he would be more skeleton than flesh and too weak.A petite woman would not be able to fight with a massive, heavy claymore sword, against multiple highlander warrior's. Let alone kill them. Then actually injure a huge Scots man like Callum, twice. It also seems very unlikely that Kate, a woman who hails herself as a fighter, would not take a weapon with her, while she travels alone through dangerous lands.That beings me to the heroine, I really didn't like Kate. I wanted to smack her almost every time she spoke or even thought. She is so inane, her reactions to extremely serious situations are so smack worthy. For example, how she reacts when she is told of the appauling abuse the men in her family have inflicted on the MacGregors, Callum, his sister Maggie and the branded woman etc. She sees the evidence herself, the suffering of the woman branded by Kate's own uncle, done just because the woman was a MacGregor. Yet Kate's thought to that is "whatever injustice Callum "thinks" her family inflicted on him". There's no doubt about that injustice, when she saw it for herself. It's so dismissive, unfeeling and like I said I wanted to slap her.After Callum has the nightmare, she actually asks him not to kill her uncle. It's just so stupid a reaction. After what Callum's been through, and what her uncle has done to him as his people, it's unbelievable that she would ask that. Also her claiming it's because Callum would be killed, is asinine and beyond stupid when she knows he is already to be killed on sight, like all McGregor's because of the decree to wipe out the clan. So I really could not warm to her character. I found her too moronic.There are too few sex scenes and both are towards the end of the book. Neither are detailed, nor hot. I need more heat in a romance novel. While I liked Callum and the McGregor men, honestly they were the only reason I kept reading this book, that and the fact the book was £1.99. But the author destroys them by making their continued antics too much, turning them farcical. And all that belching by Angus and later Jamie and even the heroine... annoying.This next issue might not be annoting for some but it does irke me when authors are bothered to find out authentic names. If you are going to write a book based in Scotland, then at least use the Scottish words for things. Especially the use of the word "Plaid" ammoyed me. It is an American term for tartan, in Scotland the patterned kilts worn by men are called tartan. While 'plaid' can mean the part slung over the shoulder or a blanket, it's not the Scottish tartan kilt that the author uses the American word for.There was definitely potential for this story-line, its historical fact that entire clan was to be wiped out by royal decree and betrayal and I am so disappointed that I can't give this a higher rating. There was also potential for the male character's but unfortunately this author did not do a good job of writing any of it. I probably would have given this 3 stars if it had been on kindle unlimited or even priced around 0.99p or £1.99 but I just couldn't with it's almost £5 price tag. I'm sorry but with all it's problems, this poor writing is no where near worth that price.

The plot was ok, but the exaggerated description was very off putting. For example, "His tongue, more deadly than any sword forged, traced a heathen path over her belly." " a mist rolled....like a gossamer avalanche. " "Thrust his silken lance feel within her" "Passion's talons gripped him..."

I just really enjoyed this book. A nice flow to it and a hero who is not perfect but evolves during the book into a hero worth loving. Kate is very strong, brave and inspirational. I have read the full series from Paula Quinn and enjoyed them all. All the characters a bit different to seem new and you also get a chance to catch up with the lives of the favourite characters through out all the books.I enjoyed this highlander romance the most of all I have read and am actually reading it again now.

nice little read not bad at all but nothing like the garwood highlanders ,he was definitely yummy though!it just lacked description and there was no intrigue more we found each other and fell in love and plot is not engaging too predictable i skimmed some parts and did not miss anything do i regret reading it no but nothing wow

First time reading this author and loved it. I couldn't put it down reading well into the early hours. It has everything I love the highland s warriors suspense sextuasl tension. Brilliant I can't wait to read the next one