Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Review: Joanna's Highlander

Joanna's Highlander (Highland Protectors - Book 2) by Maeve Greyson

Publication Date: 04/10/2018
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Imprint: Loveswept
Genre: Historical Romance
Pages: 208
ASINB073YSNSLQ

(Received for an honest review from Loveswept via Netgalley)

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, itunes

Maeve Greyson on the WEB: Website, Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads

Books in the series:

1. Sadie's Highlander
2. Joanna's Highlander

Coverart: Click the image for a larger, clearer view of the covers in this series.



Excerpt from Joanna's Highlander, courtesy of Amazon's Look Inside Feature

Synopsis:

Present-day North Carolina sings with the passions of the Scottish Highlands as a fiery, time-traveling Celtic warrior takes a stubborn tour guide for a wild ride.

Haunted by lost love, Grant MacDara still dreams of tenth-century Scotland. Nothing can soothe his aching heart—until a sharp-tongued, redheaded beauty leads a tour of senior citizens through his family’s North Carolina theme park, Highland Life and Legends. Though she’s the polar opposite of the lass he left behind, Joanna Martin is the most irresistible woman Grant has ever met. But when he decides that she’s worth the risk of loving again, he tries so hard to hold her close that she nearly slips through his fingers.

Forced out of her job as a pharmaceutical sales rep by a conniving ex, Joanna is trying to make the best of her quiet new life. But one glimpse of Grant—who wields an ancient hammer like it’s just another appendage of his chiseled body—convinces Joanna not to give up on love. The one thing she can’t do is outrun her past as a loser magnet. And although Grant seems to be the last honorable man left on earth, this mouthwatering stud needs a crash course in twenty-first-century women before Joanna can trust him with her heart.


Thoughts:

Maeve Greyson's time-traveling Scots are always a joy to read about. Joanna's Highlander is the second book in the Highland Protector's series and continues the saga of the MacDara family, protectors of the Heartstone. Readers who want a good time travel romance will love this one. When a transplanted tenth century Celtic warrior falls for a fiery red headed tour guide, sparks are sure to fly. Greyson's trademark quirky humor and her attention to detail shine.

What I liked:

Maeve Greyson is a favorite of mine of late. She has a way with a kilted man lol... I love the fact that she chooses to transplant her Scots to the future instead of taking a present day person and transplanting them in the past. It gives the story a whole new dimension. I mean tenth century Scotland is amazing to read about, but sometimes you need a good twist to get the readers attention and I think Greyson does that with this reversal of sorts. There are so many interesting things a hero might get into when it comes to figuring out how to live in today's world and in the south no less...

The overall arc of the book follows the story of the MacDara family, protectors of the heartstone. They have been sent forward in time to present day North Carolina where they operate a Highland themed amusement park. I was a little skeptical at first with this series because it seems so far fetched that a warrior family would be running a theme park lol... but it works. It just seems to make sense once you start reading it. It's quite an interesting idea and take on what professions a time traveler might take up in the future. 

Grant was an exceptional hero. You know it's gonna be a good one when his weapon of choice is a war hammer. *swoon* He was not only a strong man, but he was a wounded man. He lost his wife and child in the battle that sent the MacDara family into the future and the reader will be able to feel his pain. He isn't a brooding hero, just one who has been hurt deeply. I loved seeing him start to open up again and rethink the possibility of giving his heart to another. Greyson did such an amazing job with that aspect of the story. 

Joanna was my kind of girl. Sassy and smart. She's seen some hard times in life and in love and it makes her skeptical of Grant and his intentions. It's not just the Goddesses Grant has to worry about with this one. She's a real firecracker. Their chemistry together was fun and filled with humor and banter. They played so well off each other. Greyson was able to use her skills at those wonderful laugh out loud moments with this character. She was a joy!

What I didn't like:

As I said before a warrior family taking up the profession of theme park owners might be a little too much for some readers. Also the fact that Joanna might just not choose Grant seems unthinkable. But it all plays out in such a fun way. I think readers can suspend their ideas of the believable for some unbelievably hot romance.

Bottom Line:

This was a really fun book. I loved the characters and I want to know so much more about this world that Greyson has created with the MacDara family. The underlying arc of the series, is quite interesting and the love between Joanna and Grant sizzled on the page. I often wonder what it takes to write a good steamy romantic scene. This one has plenty and Greyson is a master at it. 

Joanna's Highlander is available NOW from your favorite E-book sellers. 

I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!



About the Author:

"No one has the power to shatter your dreams unless you give it to them." That's Maeve Greyson's mantra. She and her hubby of nearly thirty-eight years traveled around the world while in the U.S. Air Force before returning to their five-acre wood in rural Kentucky where she writes about her beloved Highlanders and the sassy women who tame them.

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