Member Reviews

Conan and Mhairi's story in The Most Eligible Highlander in Scotland by Michele Sinclair was delectable and had a spark" that I loved! I highly recommend this highland romance story to any and all readers of the romance genre!

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The Most Eligible Highlander in Scotland is written by Michele Sinclair and is the seventh novel in The McTiernays series. This is a historical romance about two people unexpectedly falling for each other unexpectedly when they value their freedom.

Conan McTiernay is not the most likeable person. An arrogant, rude, and intelligent individual whose priority is to make accurate maps of the various places in the world. Mhairi Mayboill is also intelligent and independent thus getting married is furthest from her mind. Both Conan and Mhairi have some much in common and have met their match. I really liked the banter between the two of them and they seem to complement each other.

Unforgettable characters in the book includes both Bonnie and Brenna, Conan’s nieces. Without these two scheming to get the two together, it would have been less fun and uneventful. Despite being so young, Bonnie and Brenna understood the underlying chemistry between Conan and Mhairi.

If you haven’t read the other books in the series, don’t worry! It’s been a while since I read the series but I was not lost and confused. While the love story is great, it focused more on the romance rather than an interesting plot with lots of action.

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Conan McTiernay will leave the joys of wedlock to his happily married brothers. He’s too busy mapping out Scotland to protect her borders from English invasion. . . . Until he’s dispatched to escort a cloistered Highland lass safely back to his family’s castle. Mhàiri Mayboill has embarked on her journey facing an impossible choice: Marry or take the vows of a nun. But she cherishes her freedom too much to be tied to any man. Yet this arrogant Highlander with his spirited ways and piercing eyes awakens more than desire. For two people who want nothing of love but have everything in common, emotions soon forge an unforeseen bond. But happiness is never simple for a McTiernay, and more surprises lie ahead.
This was an ok read. There were a lot of extras put in here, making it hard to get through the entire book. I skimmed different parts because of that. I’m not sure if I’ll read more from this author.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

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I really tried to like this book but the pace was painfully slow. I usually like this author so I will keep reading her books. Just this one didnt have a nice flow.

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The Most Eligible Highlander in Scotland by Michele Sinclair is book Seven in "The McTiernays" series. This is the story of Conan McTiernay and Mhairi Mayboill. I have read the previous books but feel this is easily a standalone book.
Conan is a scholar, a mapmaker but one thing he doesn't have a desire to be is a husband. Mhairi too doesn't want to be a wife. Mhairi just wants freedom but she is left with little choice either marry or become a nun There is a immediate attraction between Conan and Mhairi but they are both strong willed and end up butting heads.
There is a back story of Maegan and Seamus along with some nieces. This is a slow read but overall this was a good read that I enjoyed.

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This is a voluntary review of an advanced copy.

Just like all of Scotland was waiting to see who would marry Conan, I was waiting for his book! You just have to wonder what kind of woman would interest Conan and be able to deal with him.

So much was going on in this book, we get to meet Mhairi who is like a female version of Conan, see that Seamus is interested Maegan and she has feelings for him, find out more little McTiernays are on the way, and actually see a glimpse of Clyde.

Watching Brenna and Bonnie take over their mother, Laurel, matchmaking job and see the different schemes that they come up with are so funny. Yet along with the fun is pain as you can see that neither Conan or Mhairi is ready to compromise in their future plans. Even when Mhairi shows Conan that she can handle life on the road, he says no, and you wonder if they will ever get together!

The only part that I did not like was the epilogue! I am sure it is the set up for the next book which seems like an interesting story but to leave us with no clue on Conor was cruel! I will be impatiently waiting for the next book to come out.

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Rating 2.5

This was very difficult to finish. Very uninspiring and boring sadly.

Conan McTiernay is the last single of seven brothers. He's very intelligent, out spoken to the point of being thought as rude. Conan loves to travel and his passion is drawing maps. He's also determined to never marry.

Mhairi Mayboill our heroine has been given a choice, either marry or become a nun. Mhairi is a very smart and gifted young woman. She can speak several languages, loves scrolls and books and has a talent for drawing.

Conan has be asked to assist a woman (Mhairi) move to his brothers home. When Conan and Mhairi meet sparks fly. Two head strong, intelligent and gifted characters who challenge each other almost all areas.

And this is were I struggled. The two didn't come across as likable or had much chemistry IMHO. They both came across as stubborn and not willing to listen as children. I found the conversation between the two redundant and lost interest in there HEA.

The pacing was slow and too much description. Also a lot was going on that made it hard to keep track of the story line, who's who.

I normally enjoy this author but this romance just didn't work for me.

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I was really disappointed with this book. I love this series but this one let me down. The similar names put me off. At one point i wasnt sure who was talking and who was doing what. Conan’s character lacks depth. His inner log became annoying. Even in his mind his character is bland and exhausting. The descriptive detail becomes over the top.

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This was not a bad book, but personally, I found it a little boring.

The book opens with Conan McTiernay, the second to youngest McTiernay son and indisputably the most brilliant and the rudest of the bunch, being held at sword point while bathing in a loch near his brother Cole's castle. He is on his way to Cole's at Laurel's bidding to help Father Laneghly and assist in moving items from the burned out priory to the McTiernay holding, when two men accost him and seek to take him captive. Conan has no time for this, even naked and wet, he knows these two men are no match for him. He quickly dispatches the first man and the other man runs off.

Mhairi Mayboill is the younger daughter of a traveling merchant, she has been residing with her sister (who is a nun) for the last several years, but since the priory burned and the church has moved them, Mhairi is no longer welcome with them unless she is willing to take vows. Mhairi has no desire to commit to the church or to marry - she wants her freedom and will not be tied down.

When she and Conan meet, sparks fly, I think they both realize that they have met their match - but neither wants marriage or commitment of any kind.

After this start, I expected this book to be action packed and filled with intrigue and adventure. But, nope - it is two incredibly stubborn people falling in love but refusing to change their plans to accommodate that love.

The story would have been a total bust for me if not for the secondary romance of Seamus and Maegen and the antics of Conor and Laurel's daughters Brenna and Bonny.

The story ends with a HEA, but it is a long and torturous road (for the reader), there are some steamy love scenes, some laugh out loud moments (thanks to Brenna & Bonny), cameos from ALL the McTiernays, a little heartbreak and I am sorry to say a lot of modern verbiage and cliffhanger epilogue.

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Book: The Most Eligible Highlander in Scotland
By Michele Sinclair
Series: The McTiernays Book #7
Reviewed by: Barb Massabrook (of)
Tartan Book Reviews
Purple Tulip Book Reviews
Celtic Barb’s Tartan Book Review Blog

Heat Rating:🔥

Overall Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


October 1317
Loch Coire Fionnaraich
This book centers on the 7th brother Conan McTiernay. He has no time for the lassies as he is scholar and map maker. He would rather spend his time mapping out protecting their borders from another Sassenach invasion!

Máiri Mayboill has no choice she jas to either marry or become a bride of Christ. She has no desire to become anyone's bride, whether its a mere mortal man or our savior. As she cherished most of all and not be some mans possession. As she wants to travel and see the world.
Sometimes your soulmate is right in front of you yet your blinders are on!
Scene stealers are the fierce wee lassies with a warriors tender heart are nieces of Conan McTiernay. The
Six and twelve year old daughters of his brother Conor, chief of the McTiernay clan. These wee cupid archers are hilarious, precocious and adorable with much love in their young hearts.
It's an emotional read too so have the tissues ready. I enjoyed it except the ending I am hoping this will not be permanent and a miracle will happen!
I received this book from the publishers for a fair and honest review. I voluntarily agreed to read, review, blog and promote through netgalley. All words, ideas and thoughts are my own.
https://www.amazon.com/Most-Eligible-Highlander-Scotland-McTiernays-ebook/dp/B071RX93X1/ref=nodl_

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The Most Eligible Highlander in Scotland, by Michele Sinclair is an entertaining historical highlander romance.

As one of the two last remaining single McTiernay brothers, Conan is considered the most desired bachelor in Scotland. However, he has no plans to marry ever. Conan is remarkably intelligent and prefers to read and learn, as well as focus on his map-making skills and travels. While being assigned to assist with transporting documents, Conan meets Mhairi Mayboill, who also desires to remain single and keep her freedom. Mhairi is forced to choose between marrying or taking the vows of a nun, yet she instead travels to the stay with the McTiernay clan, until her merchant father can collect her.

While at the castle, Conan's two little nieces are frequently eavesdropping and have decided to continue their mother's matchmaking pursuits between Conan and Mhairi, who have reading and language skills in common. Their relationship is full of miscommunication and strife, as well as a little passionate romance.

There's an underlying bonus romance between Maegan and Seamus, yet Maegan's heart belongs to the traveling (and possibly lost) Clyde McTiernay. She believes that Clyde is her true love and will marry her when he returns, yet Seamus is in love with Maegan and starts to pursue her. At the end of the story, there's (unfortunately) a dramatic cliffhanger in the McTiernay family.

Since it's the seventh book in The McTiernays series, it's recommended to start with the first book, yet it's not necessary to read the books in order. Previously, I reviewed the sixth book in the series, titled as Never Kiss a Highlander. With the unresolved dramatic ending, I'm looking forward to the next book in the series, which is hopefully published soon. :)

The Most Eligible Highlander in Scotland is geared towards those who enjoy reading highlander historical romances.


Note: I received this book from NetGalley, which is a program designed for bloggers to write book reviews in exchange for books, yet the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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Can two people who want only freedom, find themselves thrown together? Conan McTiernay, the only McTiernay brother left unwed, is happy. More of a scholar with his love mapping the countryside, he is in no hurry to be tied down. He is asked to retrieve a Mhairi Mayboill to his family's castle for safety. Mhairi on the other hand really only wants her freedom but she is being forced to make a choice. She must marry or become a nun and with her spirit it would be worse than death to be locked up away from life itself. As Conan retrieves her and they begin their journey, he is very surprised to find her so intelligent and that they have a lot in common. The author pulls you in with her descriptions of the times and the characters. What the two find is that not matter how hard you resist, fate has a different idea! Loved these this couple and you will also!!

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One of seven brothers Conan McTiernay speaks several languages is smart and considers himself an avid reader, and doesn’t fair to Bad with women. His passion is to map the Scottish countryside. For him marriage isn’t in the nearest future, he has places to go and many maps to draw, after all there’s more to life than marriage, maybe in the future.

Mhairi Mayboill is in quite the predicament she either gets married or take vows in the church. She knows she’s not nun material and not interested to marry all she yearns for is to travel and live every adventure she’s read in her books, after all she’s an intelligent woman she can read and write and speak several languages she’s not the avarge highland lass. The only solution is marriage but will Conan be amenable to a wife who wants adventure and travel.

Two souls that are the other half of each other. Well written and descriptive and the flow is good. The author has done her research and the story is an enjoyable one. In my opinion it can be read as a stand-alone but it’s best to read in order to get the feel of the whole story.

I received a complimentary copy from the publish through NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

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4.5 stars. I enjoyed this novel and was hooked from the beginning to right near the end. This is the 7th book in a series, which I didn't know going in, but it read well as a standalone though you know based on comments that there were other books. I knocked the book down half a star as the last 15% of the book dragged, with too much time waiting for the wedding. Not sure if it was to drag out tension as the reader waits to see if the first scene in the book will have some repercussion to their marriage, or if MS was trying to get her page count. Either way, up till that point I was good with the pacing of the story. I liked the uniqueness of the H&h and I appreciated the research that would have gone into this book for historically appropriate books and theories to be presented by the characters. Overall, a very good romance. *I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and this is my voluntary and honest review.

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This is Conan and Mhairi’s story. Conan was the brother who no one thought would commit to anyone. Mhairi was going to travel with her merchant father. They fight their feelings. They are constantly arguing. There is a lot of passion involved. They fight it until they can’t fight it anymore. It ends with a cliffhanger. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

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3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
This was my first book by Michele Sinclair and I have to say I have mixed feelings about it. I actually enjoyed the story, but it felt like it might just be a ‘bridge’ book. Something to do with the ‘unlikable’ brother while the author sets the stage for the next, probably more exciting book. There wasn’t any excitement or danger, nobody hunting the heroine or trying to kill the hero and/or his family. A bit of intrigue was written into the very beginning of the story – and then at the end, but none in between. I have given the author the benefit of the doubt in giving the book the rating I did. I am going to assume that the character who is lying lifeless in a pool of his own blood in the epilogue actually survives. If they don’t – I’ll revisit this review and downgrade the rating considerably. Then again, this is an ARC, so maybe the published version won't have that wording in it. One can only hope.

To me, the stars of the whole book were Bonny and Brenna. Bonny is six and Brenna is ten and they are the daughters of Conan’s brother Conor. They are so smart and funny – and they are born matchmakers. Once they decide that Conan and Mhairi should be together, there is no stopping their matchmaking schemes. You’ll love them. You’ll also love Conor, the girl’s father, who was the hero in the first book of the series.

There are seven McTiernay brothers. Five of them are married and are lairds in different clans. They were all featured in the first books of the series. From what I can tell – their names all begin with the letter ‘C’. Since I hadn’t read the first books, I found myself getting them mixed up as I read this book. I hate it when authors do that - in this book, all of Conor's children's names begin with a 'B'.

Conan McTiernay is a scholar. He’s huge and muscular and trains with the soldiers in his brother Conor’s guard, but his real interest is making maps. Since there are no real maps, he sees the value of having good accurate ones of his homeland in order to guide their king in stopping English invasions and also to guide travelers from place to place. Conan has little patience or liking for most people – he lives in his own head most of the time. He’s brutally honest, to the point of rudeness. He is solely focused on getting his vellum ready for his mapping trip that begins in the spring and resents anything or anyone who gets in the way of it.

Mhairi Mayboill is the exquisitely beautiful daughter of a traveling merchant. She loves traveling from place to place, seeing new things and meeting new people. For the last several years she has been living in a cottage near an abbey. Her father had sent her and her sister there to keep them safe because as they grew up and became more beautiful he didn’t feel it was safe for them to travel with him. He had taught them both how to take care of themselves – they could fight, use a dirk, hunt, fish, etc. – but he didn’t want their skills to be tested by traveling with him. Mhairi is as smart as (or maybe smarter than) Conan. She loves books and has a huge collection of them. She’s also a gifted artist.

Conan meets Mhairi when his sister-in-law sends him to his brother Cole's keep to pick up a person and bring them back to Conor's. That person is Mhairi and she’s in need of a place to stay because the abbey had burned and the church had taken all of the nuns away, but Mhairi wasn’t a nun and didn’t want to go. Sparks fly between Conan and Mhairi as soon as they meet – they are nose-to-nose and toe-to-toe arguing before they’ve even been introduced.

Neither Conan nor Mhairi have room in their plans for a spouse. Yet, everyone around them can see how perfect they are for each other. Mhairi isn’t intimidated by Conan and can stand her own with him – intellectually and physically.

I hated the epilogue, not because it wasn’t well written but because of what happens. The set-up for it was also just not believable. Supposedly the laird is sleeping in a tent outside his own castle because they had given their bedroom to Conan and Mhairi for the night. That just didn’t make sense. Mhairi had given up her room in the castle to make room for the wedding guests, but Conan still had his own room – so there was no need or reason for either of them to be sleeping in a tent outside the gates.

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"I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher."

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Conan McTiernay is one of seven brothers in the McTiernay clan who speaks several languages, collect scrolls and books, but his favorite is mapping the Scottish countryside. He has no plans to ever marry he’s too busy with his favorite pastime mapping out Scotland. He plans to travel the country, drawing maps of all the clan lands for King Robert.
Mhairi Mayboill is facing choosing to marry or take the vows of a nun and she decides she doesn’t want to be a nun, she longs for travel and adventure. Mhairi is unlike any woman Conon has ever met she’s very intelligent, speaks several languages and collects scrolls and books. Conan and Mhairi soon realize they have everything in common. Mhairi wants freedom to travel and find adventure and she realizes marriage is possibly her only option. An entertaining book of two people who want nothing of love, but have everything in common where emotions soon forge an unforeseen bond.
This is my honest opinions after I voluntarily read a copy of this book that was provided to me with no requirements for a review.

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The Most Eligible Highlander in Scotland (The McTiernays, #7)
by Michele Sinclair

Anna Swedenmom's review Jan 25, 2018 ·

(The Most Eligible Highlander in Scotland by Michele Sinclair)4 stars

Definitely buy this book if you’re not afraid of extremely strong characters! This is not your normal guy meets girl and falls in love book. The story-line is compelling and deep and you will fall madly in love with all of the characters. For being part of the series, it is still good to read as a stand alone. The author shows her talent again and again in her writing of this one. I have only downgraded it one star for it seemed like the book dragged at times. However, it just is one of those books you will sincerely enjoy. I was given this book in return for an honest review. Regards, Anna

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I've read other books in this series and enjoyed them, but this one just dragged on. The author writes well, but there is just too much exposition and it makes for a boring read. Unfortunately, I stopped reading at about 40% as I just didn't care anymore how Conan and Mhairi finally ended up together.

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I found the story a little wordy...I wanted the nitty gritty, but kept reading eloquent descriptions. That being said, I loved the story line and the cast of characters. Mhairi is so smart, beautiful, funny and wonderful. Conor is smart, sassy, arrogant, and wonderful. Their story will give you laughs and tears.

Now, the end of the book. OMG, how long will we have to wait for the rest of the story???? Soon, PLEASE Michele!

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