Vanessa Kelly has written a very good historical holiday romance. I liked the plot and enjoyed the romance.

Another fun adventure with the Kendrick clan. Donella doesn't think she is ready to go back into the world after spending several years in a nunnery. Logan has come to escort her to her family. There are several attempts to kidnap Donella and Logan will keep her safe at all costs. Donella has some secrets and Logan needs to find out what they are so he can protect her. He wants to keep Donella in his life forever but she says she will find another convent who will accept her. Can Logan keep her safe and can he keep her forever?

After her betrothed returned home to marry another woman and the resulting family scandal, Donella Haddon left home to join a convent. But just shy of become a nun she is given no choice but to leave the convent and find a new direction for her life. Logan Kendrick is tasked with escorting her home from the convent to her family estate. Their journey immediately finds trouble as their party is accosted by kidnappers, as the scandal from her past comes back to haunt her.
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This is the first book from this author that I have read and I am so glad that I did. I'm going look into some other books/series by this author to add to my to-read list. In reading The Highlander's Christmas Bride, I already feel invested in this family and will be going back to read the first in the series to learn more about them as well as looking forward to more books being added. That being said, it is not necessary to have read the first in the series to before reading The Highlander's Christmas Bride, as this book can serve as a stand-alone.

I loved all the characters in this book, but especially Logan, Donella, and Joseph. Logan and Donella were just such relatable characters. Plus banter! They were flawed and the mistakes thade with their dealings with each other stemmed from a place of insecurity, which made them all the more relatable. The relationship between the two of them wasn't rushed and went so much deeper than simply two people thrown together on a life-threatening journey; this was simply a starting point for them.

5 stars, I recommend this book to fans of historical romance and a good adventure. This book will be getting its own spot on my favorites shelf.
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I would like to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for sharing an eARC of The Highlander's Christmas Bride by Venessa Kelly with me for reviewing purposes. This is my honest review.

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. The Highlander’s Christmas Bride by Vanessa Kelly is the second book in her exciting Clan Kendrick Series. Characters from some of her other series play roles in this book so if you are new to Vanessa Kelly and enjoy this one, you have lots more great books to read. We meet the heroine Donella Haddon just as she is being asked to leave the convent where she has spent the last 3 years. Donella is a wonderful heroine she is brave, intrepid, kind and always standing up for what she believes is right even if it’s not in her best interests. Businessman and widower Logan Kendrick is sent by her Uncle to retrieve Donella from the convent and what should be a simple journey of a couple of days turns into a dangerous adventure when Donella’s past comes calling. There is a nice slow burn romance with the couple first learning to respect each other then friendship grows and a romance that is not without it’s complications. I enjoyed reading this book very much and do recommend it as a perfect read for the holiday season or anytime of the year for that matter. Medium Steam. Publishing Date October 20, 2019. #NetGalley #TheHighlandersChristmasBride #VanessaKelly #ChristmasRomanceNovel #Bookstagram #KensingtonBooks #ZebraRomanceNovel #HighlanderRomanceNovel

This second book in the series can easily be read as a stand-alone as long as you realize that there are many characters that are crossovers from other series as well as those that are included in this series. There are characters from How to Marry a Royal Highlander (The Renegade Royals series) and The Highlander's Princess Bride (The Improper Princesses series). The Kendrick family was introduced and featured in The Highlander’s Princess Bride. You’ll love the Kendrick’s although you’ll want to lock grandda in a closet and lose the key.

Donella Haddon has had a life of many upheavals, scandals, and turmoil. After the last scandal, all she wanted was a quiet life and she sincerely thought becoming a nun was the way for her to go. However, after three years, and just one month before she was to take her final vows, she was called to the Reverend Mother’s office and told that she just wasn’t going to be able to continue as a nun. Though Donella begged to stay, the Reverend Mother was adamant. Donella was to leave the convent just as soon as her uncle could make arrangements for her to travel home.

We met Logan Kendrick in the earlier books, but it was lovely to really get to know him in this book. He is a widower who is still guilt-ridden from the death of his older brother, Nick’s, son. Having a six-year-old son of his own now, he feels that guilt, again and again, every time he sees Nick. Logan exiled himself to the Canadian wilderness after the child’s death and became quite wealthy there. He met his wife, fell in love, married, had a child, and then lost his wife in just a few scant years. Now, he and Nick have resolved their differences, except for Logan’s guilt, and Logan is back in Scotland for a while growing his shipping and timber business.

Logan had been trying to work a deal with the Earl of Riddick who was a powerhouse in Scotland’s timber industry. So, when the man asked Logan if he’d make a short side-trip on one of his journeys and escort his great-niece home from a convent, Logan agreed. We can only say that the young woman he picked up wasn’t at all what he was expecting!

The journey began to go downhill right from the beginning when they were waylaid by seven men bent on kidnapping Donella. Escape was a narrow thing and the attempts didn’t stop. As their journey continued, Logan learned what a strong, self-reliant, confident young woman she was – and he quickly came to admire her. Even after they reached their destination, the excitement didn’t end. If you add in former loves, vicious gossips, and insane mothers, you have a lively, and fun read.

Again, as with the previous books I’ve read by the author, there was a lot of anachronistic verbiage and that always throws me off. I liked Donella better than Ainsley (heroine from the last book), but she still got on my nerves. Why do authors always seem to equate being a strong, forthright, intelligent and independent woman with being rude and foolhardy? That scene in the first kidnapping attempt is a prime example – evidently, she didn’t care if she got captured or got Logan or one of the others killed or injured. She just had to have her say and be the one in charge. I also didn’t care for grandda. I know I’m supposed to think his antics are funny, but I don’t. He is hurtful, rude, and disrespectful.

The bottom line, it was a lovely, fun, fast-paced read and I enjoyed it.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Very well written Scottish historical romance, as usual from this author. It's been a while since I read any of her books and they are always excellent. I thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed the slow burn sizzle of this romance and the premise of the story and the first few chapters really drew me in. I liked both Logan and Donella, but did find some of their conversations a bit modern in flavour. Then their story stalled a bit when the H/h went their separate ways for a while and the family members started making appearances - very many family members...sigh. My brain could not keep up with them all at times. I get that it was Christmas and they were spending it together. So in essence, this book is not singularly focussed on a main romance, rather that the romance is featured as part of a ensemble family story with lots of layers. It involves Logan's son, his grandfather, siblings, etc. Same with Donella - her family and a kidnapping triggered by past events and bad feelings amongst clans.

The extra cast of characters featured in the book spoiled the flow of the H/h's romance for me and I kept putting it down in frustration. Naturally the side characters' banter was well written and entertaining, but I found their many recollections were irrelevant to this story and really it was a lot of useless banter that I skimmed through. Also, I have some of those previous books on my e-reader as yet unread and I didn't want spoilers! I do prefer romances to be mostly about the main couple and this one was simply not. I understand that the majority of these family members featured in previous books and the author is trying to catch loyal fans up with their present lives. I do recommend you read the others first, as I should have! Story for me, 3.5 stars. Writing style 5 stars.

I cannot say enough good things about this series! I loved Donella and Logan, These characters just get better and better with each book. Ms. Kelly has written about a family that any reader would want to be a part of. This book just comes to life and you don't want to put it down until you have turned to the very last page.

Donella is resigned to a quiet life in a convent, but the sisters tell her she’s not good nun material. Her uncle sends a prospective business partner, Logan Kendrick, to collect her. When they run into trouble on the road, the two find themselves alone and unchaperoned. If anyone learns the truth, they might be forced to marry. But is that such a bad thing after all?

I definitely felt like I was missing something from an earlier book, not part of this current series. The characters do a reasonably good job of summarizing past events for each other, but some things would probably have been more meaningful to me if I’d read a previous series by this author.

Donella and Logan were very sweet together, and I particularly liked Logan’s young son, Joseph.

I totally enjoyed the romance novel filled with highland setting, feisty heroine and the buried secrets. The witty dialogue between Donella and Logan was really fun and heartwarming as well. It is not very steamy which I think will work for a lot of readers. Both the lead characters had interesting personalities and were very much likable. I thoroughly enjoyed the adventure they underwent right at the start.

Truly a delight!

Thank you to @netgalley for the advanced copy!⁣

Very light, fun, easy read.
Donella has had a few minor scandals in her past, and she had made a decision to leave her clan and become a nun. Unfortunately for her, she was not truly cut out to take vows, and was asked to leave and return home. Her uncle sends Logan to escort her back home, but things don't go smoothly. After several kidnapping attempts, and many misunderstandings, Logan and Donella are faced with the reality that somewhere along the line they fell in love. Can they put all the lies, secrets, and clan feuds behind them and find their happily ever after?
This book was fun, Donella has a great personality and Logan's family made me laugh out loud several times. I felt there were times when the book became drawn out and repetitive, but overall a good read.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Highlander’s Christmas Bride. The holiday element added to the charm of this book, and was what initially caught my interest in reading this book. However, what made this such a great read for me was the epic family feeling and characters. There is a brawny hero who will melt your heart and a strong heroine who will earn your regard, and they are surrounded by equally interesting and magnificent friends and relatives.

I was also pleasantly surprised at the amount of adventure and intrigue in this story. I recommend this for all fans of historical romance who like a backdrop of the highland clans. Although this is the second book of a series, I read it fine as a stand-alone. I am very much looking forward to the rest of this series.

I liked The Highlander's Christmas Bride but can't say that I loved it. I found the story line was a little convaluted and unbelievable but I because I liked the characters so much I was able to continue reading to the end.

The Highlander’s Christmas Bride is the second book in the Clan Kendrick series. This was a great book to start the Christmas reading season off with. The book was well written, and the characters were perfect for each other. It is part of a series, but it was fine as a standalone. It was a perfect holiday romance. Witty, mystery, gossip, and a haunting past that causes guilt, Overall it’s another great book by the author and a must read holiday romance!

I wasn't really able to get into this book. The characters were flat and didn't seem to have any chemistry. Secondary characters were fairly interchangeable and did nothing to help the plot along. The plot itself was plodding. What should have made this book stand out: a young woman kicked out of a convent and attempted abductions didn't keep the pace (or my interest) going the way I had expected. I hope others have a better reaction to this book, I found it too boring to be a good time.

So, with a book title and cover like that, I was really expecting this to be your typical passionate highland smut book. In a rare twist of things, this book actually focused a lot more o the plot and romance than smut. Yes, there are sexy scenes, but really nothing too explicit or crazy, I thought. It honestly took me aback, like, wait, a REAL romance? Not just a tension build-up and then things just go downhill after they get together?? It was refreshing, but also quite baffling. I just don't know what to do with an actual romance book these days.

2.5 stars

The beginning started out quite interesting. The interaction between Logan and Donella was good. I liked how Donella got on with Logan's son and the intimate scenes were OK. The middle part of the book introduced a cast of family. Perhaps the author thinks that clan life was about relatives always being around, always having their say and in my opinion just generally getting in the way. Just in case you forgot it was set in scotland there's lots of och the noo and did you ken. Logan then seemed to precis previous storylines where he was less than hero like and Donella did the same. Even though this book is number two in a series it's pretty obvious it links into a ton more. The latter third seemed to me to jump into a lot of sexual shenanigins from a fairly cold start.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was an absolute delight to read and I'm still giggling at all the antics that Logan and Donella's families get up to!! Loved all the humor and could just picture it all in my mind:)

This is Logan and Donella's story and what a story it is! Logan is a widower and has a 6 year old son, Donella lived in a convent for 3 years and was just about ready to become a nun when she was told to go home because she's just not "nun material". They meet when Logan shows up to escort her home and on the way, a kidnapping attempt is made on Donella. She's got secrets and something that happened in the past is all catching up to her. Both their families have opinions of their own and with all the shenanigans going on, it's a surprise that Logan and Donella even get a chance to fall in love!! lol

There's one scene where I laughed so much...when Logan is forced to stand up after being caught with Donella in a compromising situation...omigosh, I had tears running down my face from laughing!!

This is not a short read, in fact it's a very long read but worth every minute of it. I definitely do recommend this book. I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

I really liked this book! Admittedly, I did like book one more, but this was still fun. I wish we could've gotten to see Royal, Ainsley, and Tira, though it's suggested in the book that they'll come back at some point. The first part of the book, while fun, is a little slow on the romance side of things. That said, it does allow the characters to get to know each other. The second half was really fun (save for the bit of time Logan acted stupid). I loved getting to know Logan's son, and I loved his bond with Donella. A great book, and I can't wait to see more of these characters!

I was so happy to find the new Kendrick family story. It was fun seeing all of the mischief that this family can get into. Donella gets into enough trouble for all of them. I truly enjoyed this book.

I was really excited to read this book but then it got bogged down in details and I couldn’t finish it. I really wanted to get to Donella and Logan’s romance, since their attraction was obvious. However, I had to learn all the backstories of the various supporting characters and I lost interest.