Although I hadn't read the first part of the Sons of Gregor MacLeod, the Highland Conquest is very easy to read without having met Lachlan, Darach, Callum, Gavin and Kerr beforehand. You'll meet them in this book as well.

The story starts with Amber, who is helped by her clan members to escape Laird Murray, the leader of her clan, since he has taken over their clan. Laird Murray is a cruel man and he threatens to take Amber as his wife in every sense of the word. As the clan's healer, Amber felt obligated to stay. By claiming she is a witch, she was able to keep Laird Murray away from her for two years. But growing into a wonderful young woman, Murray's lust seems to overcome his fears for Amber.

So, she sees no other option then to flee, dressed as a boy. But her escape is noticed by Lachlan and his army, who were on their way to avenge his brothers death. Lachlan takes her into custody, because he thinks she is part of the treacherous clan, who is responsible for the death of his brother. But Amber convinces him that her people have nothing to do with Laird Murray and she asks him to save her people by defeating Murray.

Lachlan is able to scare Murray away, so Amber declares him their new leader. But Lachlan doesn't want to be the new head of the clan and he certainly doesn't need a healer who is strong willed and has a mind of her own.

However, together they try to rebuild the life for the clan. But while Amber stays weary of man altogether and while Lachlan doesn't want to be married, they still dance around each other in a continuous attraction. When the other MacLeod's brothers arrive to help find the escaped Murray, we learn the reason behind Lachlan's fear of marriage.

But then, a series of incidents happen. Murray seems to be the culprit, but he turns out to be a sadistic character. A dangerous cat-and-mouse game begins between Murray and Amber. And soon Amber realizes she needs Lachlan to survive. Will they succeed in capturing Murray? Found out for yourselves in this wonderful historical story of Alyson McLayne.

Four out of five stars from me with a special thank you to Netgalley for providing the arc.

Really liked this book. The struggles within the clan - the loyalties and the romance!

A good read with some good plot twists. The only reason I have this a 4 instead of a 5 is while I think our hero was likable enough, I don't feel like he was as developed as a character as he could have been. Amber was for sure, but it made things a little stilted not having him as deep as her. Overall I still really enjoyed it and would love more by Alyson McLayne.

This book was so good ! Highland Conquest is the second book in this rich historical romance series by Alyson McLayne. The author did a fabulous job of grabbing my attention and keeping me captivated until the end.


This series has a fascinating plot thread that follows the lives of five brothers of the heart. This book belongs to Lachlan MacKay and Amber MacPherson. I loved Lachlan and Amber and their passionate and tumultuous love affair. These two characters had to overcome many attacks from a devious but brilliant enemy. They had such a hard time of it from their common foe but there was also some personal trials to get past as well. Lachlan continued to deny his feelings for most of the story, and he made me so mad I wanted to leap into the scene to give him a good smack to shake some sense into him. I loved the humor between the brothers and the sly machinations from Amber's clan.


I loved everything about this book. Alyson McLayne's rich storytelling had me hanging on every word. I also can't wait to read the next book because I'm absolutely enthralled by this wonderful series.

The cover is eye catching and will grab a browser quickly. Strong female character is appreciated and the story was constantly moving, making the book read so easy that you didn't know how much time had past.

Really enjoyed, as good as book #1 and can not wait till the other brothers stories.