Her Reluctant Highlander Husband by Allison B. Hanson
A Clan MacKinley Novel #3

An arranged marriage sees widow Bryce MacKinley Campbell wed to Dorrie McCurdy. She arrives barefoot and in rags and he drags his feet to the altar. It is not a bright beginning for the two and it takes a LONG time for them to find their way to an eventual HEA. I think I preferred book one in the series but enjoyed this one, too. If you are willing to suspend belief and think of this as a fairy tale then it works.

What I liked:
* Dorrie: Even after 9 years in what was essentially solitary confinement, she seemed resilient. I might have questioned it, but I did admire her.
* Bryce: warrior, widow, mired in grief or regret or perhaps guilt. Living but not alive. He had a lot of growing to do.
* The slow coming together of the couple, although it wore after awhile
* Rascal: a brave, friendly, courageous rescue dog
* Dorrie’s biological father’s family – was on the fence for awhile about Dorien, her father
* The location and MacKinley tribe
* That the McCurdy’s received their just desserts
* That there was finally a happy ending
* Wondering who might star in book three of the series…Liam or Rory or someone else

What I didn’t like:
* The McCurdy’s
* That it took so long for Bryce to “wake up”
* That I had more trouble investing in this couple – not sure why – I wanted them to figure it out but I really wanted to sit them down, especially Bryce, and tell them to get one with things and see what was before them.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled-Amara for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars

A sweeping story filled with so much emotion. Dorie has been mistreated for so long and her circumstances go through so many changes in a short time that it’s not surprising that she seems tossed about. A really lovely story about loss and healing, about finding love in unsuspecting places.

The second story in the Clan MacKinlay series is about Bryce MacKinlay and Dorie McCurdy. Bryce has not been able to move past the death of his wife and daughter. He plans never to wed again. Dorie has been abused, actually imprisoned in a small dark room in her clan’s castle since she was a child. The two of them marry to seal an alliance to obtain a route to the seaport. Until Dorie’s life is threatened, he leaves her in town and he lives at the castle. From that point, they live together, but are distant, except at night. This lasts until Dorie discovers and leaves with her real father. Will he go after her, or will he let her go?

This is a heartbreaking and heartwarming story that brings two broken people together to heal. Both have suffered in the past, Dorie more recently. I like that their feelings for each other developed slowly. The MacKinlays and Dorie’s English family surrounded the couple with support and encouragement. This is an engaging story with wonderful characters. I enjoyed and recommend it.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

Set in seventeenth century Scotland, Her Reluctant Highland Husband is an entertaining and sexy Scottish historical romance offering a second chance at love for hero Bryce MacKinlay and an opportunity for heroine Dorie McCurdy to learn to trust.
While the pacing is a little slow at times there is lots to like about this book. Bryce and Dorie are both wounded souls that need healing and together, with a little help from Bryce’s extended family of cousins and their wives, they heal each other as they find love where they least expected it. Setting any novel in Scotland is a winner for me every time. I love the imagery in this book. I could easily picture the lochs, hills and castles. Finally there is a strong sense of family and community that extends throughout the story, wrapping Dorie and Bryce in love when they need it. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Because of the ways of this time period and place you are already on pins as you start this one. Your heart already also belongs to the character Dorie for what she has already endured and believes she will being forced to marry a stranger. He happens to be the new war chief and we are given their story in this one that we gladly enjoy. Thank goodness he does not like certain things and thinks he though can give her everything but one thing. Readers guess what that is? Lovely to see two people emerge from this. As their story unfolds you are fed what you need from a historical romance and the way the war of hearts does battle. Oh what a story.

Outstanding Highlander romance!

This enthralling book was a beautiful character study, an intense romance, and a tribute to the best examples of valor and virtue all wrapped up in a sweet story that was pure joy to read.

Dorie is quite literally rescued from hell by her marriage to the stalwart Bryce, a man who has vowed never to love again after losing his wife and daughter years before. But he's an honorable man, and he will do his duty to his clan and to his new wife.

The writing was so beautiful as the author brought us right into the hearts of her characters. Bryce is content to keep Dorie at arm's length emotionally, until her courage to live for more challenges him to confront the demons that still haunt him so he can move on and embrace a new future.

The complex storyline skillfully wove in life-threatening attacks, battles, clan politics, and multi-generational history that propelled the story to a beautifully triumphant HEA. I loved every bit of it, and I highly recommend this book and author for anyone who loves historical Scottish Highlander romances. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

This couple, their story and this book will put your heart through a wringer. To say that Dorie and Bryce's romance is emotional is a gross understatement. My heart hurt so badly while reading this book. Each of these characters has a painful history that has left them broken and closed-off. This makes you fiercely invested in their future happiness as individuals and as a couple. The story quickly had me engaged and eager to continue reading more during each spare minute I could steal. If you are anything like me this book will wreck you but it will also put you back together and leave you feeling all warm and swoony.

This is a beautifully written story about two people who have faced tragedy in life and are now trying to do their best. They are both scared to trust anyone but when the fate brings them together somethings become undeniable. Bryce and Dorie's story is touching, thrilling, and has enough twists to keep the readers entertained. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes a good historical romance.

With the previous MacKinlay war chief now happily married, the duty to marry for the good of the clan falls on Bryce MacKinlay Campbell’s shoulders. Stuck in grief and guilt over the deaths of his wife and daughter, he plans to provide for his bride without having anything more to do with her after the wedding. Besides, McCurdys are treacherous and likely renege on their end of the bargain. What he doesn’t expect is that Dorie McCurdy, silenced by grief and fear, will be in danger from her own family and he’ll find himself in more of a marriage than he planned for.

More somber in tone than the first outing in this series, Her Reluctant Highlander Husband features another heroine who has been ill treated by those who should love her best, and her new husband is slow to truly treat her well. Both are haunted by their pasts, until events conspire to free them from, though not before more mischief occurs.

With drama, a bit of pathos, and peril, this is a lower keyed, slow burn romance. While many of the characters appear in both books, each can be enjoyed as a standalone, but reading them in order may enhance the reader’s experience.

I voluntarily read a digital galley of this book through NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher. A positive review was not required and these are only my own honest opinions. Open door romance.

Bryce Thomas MacKinley Campbell is the War Chief for the clan MacKinley. About ten years ago he lost his beloved wife and baby daughter. He then vowed to never allow any feelings for anyone to affect him again.
Dorie was a sweet girl who's mom had been killed. Laird McCurdy hated her and locked her in a small room for nine years. To ally, Dorie was offered. She had almost rags on her body, she was very thin and she no longer spoke out of fear.
Bryce was forced to marry her by his Laird. His laird needed a port for their ships. They were married and he took her to his house and left her there. He said he would protect her but he failed several times.
I think this man should have been made to man up. He might have been a good War Chief but he was a second-rate protector. I did not care for him. He left her with the ingredients to cook something to eat but she couldn't cook. She got very weak.
Even though I did not care for Bryce, the book was well thought out. I enjoyed watching her trying to learn all that she should have known growing up but had no one to teach her. Getting new clothes, Dorie was fun to watch. The characters had their flaws but were still great.
I received this ARC from Net Galley and voluntarily reviewed it.

ARC received from Entangled through Netgalley. Voluntarily reviewing and all opinions are objective and my own.

Even better than the first book! These two are the definition of historical angst!

While Byrce agrees to the marriage, he is reluctant to her. He vows to treat her well and provide for her, but doesn’t plan on living with her whatsoever, or even treating her as a wife should be treated. They do end up in the same room, and slowly become friends. I typically don’t go for the whole widow thing in novels, but I think Byrce’s hesitation was really well done. Frustrating at times for sure, but good overall, and fun to read.

Dorie is the epitome of trauma. After her mother dies, she vows to never speak again. This vow carries forward to her marriage and the first half of it is done in silence. She has had a horrible life, but I do give her props for how she handles the whole marriage.

As expected, they do grow close, but the angst doesn’t stop there! No, no. In fact, this book had me in tears at one point. My stomach was in knots!

Such a good read and I can’t wait for more. I assume the next one will be about the third war chief. Poor Lachlan; he keeps having to pick new ones.

I'm not from the time period of the book nor have I lost someone I love, but Bryce seemed a bit of a wimp when it came to finding love again with Dorie. Dorie was a sweetheart, but I'm glad she found her feet.

I did feel sorry for Dorie McCurdy, she had such an horrendous life at home and now she was to be a bride to a man who didn’t want to marry again. Bryce MacKinley Campbell was the war chief for his clan. He had lost his beloved first wife and child and had build a wall around his heart to protect himself from further loss. Although Dorie and Bryce had an active physical relationship, Dorie longed for more. Unfortunately, Bryce was determined not to succumb to his feelings for Dorie. This was an entertaining read, it had some dangerous moments, a surprising event and a good amount of action. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I've only read the first book in this series by this author and the 2nd was just as enjoyable! The hero/heroine don't fall instantly in love, and it's a slow burn for them to realize their feelings for each other. It's like watching your best friends fall in love. Rascal was a perfect touch to staying with Dorie. You could feel her emotions and feelings as you read the story, and I ended up crying while my children looked at me like I was crazy! I can't wait for the next one! Thank you for the advanced copy of the book!

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is book two in the clan MacKinlay series. In this one Bryce is now being forced into an unwanted marriage. He is an widower who doesn’t want to forget his love ones which I completely understand. It was driving me crazy how his “friends” kept forcing him into things that he didn’t want to do. That part of the story drove me crazy but I did enjoy the overall read it was well done looking forward to more from this author.

This is the second in Ms. Hanson’s Clan MacKinlay Series [https://www.goodreads.com/series/298430-clan-mackinlay]. Knowing how much I loved the first one, I was SUPER excited to read this one. Long story short, I was not disappointed.
This book was wonderful.
I have found that in a stereotypical romance novel the characters will come together, overcome some obstacles, have a passionate encounter (or two), and then ride off into the sunset to, presumably, live happily ever after. While this is all fine and fun, what I have come to love about Ms. Hanson’s works is that, in these two books of hers I have read, the characters get married early in the book and then have to deal with the troubles that come up in typical married life – dealing with your partners past, traumatic or not; learning to communicate your needs, wants, and dislikes; and overcoming obstacles as a team.
I find the author’s insight into and use of behavioral health topics throughout her books to be very well done and refreshing – PTSD and domestic violence survival in the first and grief and abandonment trauma in this book.

Stars - 5
Would I Recommend? Yes

A great addition to the Clan MacKinlay series. I was really looking forward to Bryce's story and it did not disappoint. I really liked Dorie, even though she was wary of her new surroundings she was still a strong woman. There were a few scenes that left me watery-eyed. But it all worked into a surprising HEA.

After losing a wife and child years ago, Bryce MacKinlay Campbell has no plans to ever marry again. But his laird has other plans. Since the original war chief can no longer marry the McCurdy laird's daughter the responsibility now falls on him.

When Dorie McCurdy, her brother, and a few of their clans' members arrive for the wedding, Bryce mistakes her for a maid because of her shabby attire. After seeing the horrible way they treat her, Bryce vows to protect and provide for her. He'll never be able to give her his heart.

Thanks so much to the author, Entangled and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review.

A great highlander romance featuring a forced marriage between a young woman who had been imprisoned by her clan for 9 years and a clan war chief who had lost his beloved wife and child. Everyone could see the love grow between the couple except for Bryce, the hero. His refusal to appreciate his wife was frustrating to me but mostly to her. Of course there is a great happily ever after.

Well written! A story that will hold you captive to the pages as you get to know the characters and see their lives unfold. Dorie opens up on each page and blossoms like a rose. Bryce is slow to come around but when he does he goes all in for what he wants. It is a wonderful story of loss and love. It is passionate and funny. The characters are great and fun to get to to know.

Her Reluctant Highlander Husband is the second book in the Clan MacKinlay series by Allison B. Hanson. A swoon-worthy historical romance that is sure to take your breath away. While this is part of a series, it can easily be read as a standalone novel. The Clan MacKinlay series keeps getting better with each book! Hanson's writing style is engaging and emotional, which is sure to pull at your heartstrings. I look forward to reading more in this series.