Another great installment in this series. Can they be a bit formulaic? Sure but what series romance like this isn’t? Doesn’t keep them from being enjoyable and entertaining.

The Highlander's Return (Highland Brides #12) by Lynsay Sands
I enjoy these books and have read most of them. Graeme and Annella are both very strong H/h with lots of baggage. There is angst, mystery, murder, deception, discovery, meanness and kindness, laughs and tears, wonderful and evil friends and family and some steam all to get us to a HEA.
Reasons I enjoyed this book:
Tragic Unpredictable Happily Ever After Scary Witty Steamy Great world building Wonderful characters Romantic Easy-to-read Tear-jerker Action-packed Page-turner Entertaining.

I’ve been on a Highland Brides journey over the past year, and Lynsay Sands’ newest addition, The Highlander’s Return, is such a vibe! ARC courtesy of Netgalley, this book brings all the over-the-top escapades we love from the series.
The story revolves around a warrior returning to lead his clan after his brother’s death, only to find himself enamored with his widowed sister-in-law. Naturally, he decides to marry her, but she has other ideas that involve everything but the marriage bed.

Just as bonkers as the other books in the series, it’s filled with plot twists and shadowy figures lurking in the dark. If you love historical romance with off-the-rails plot lines, silly dialogue, and simping heroes, this one’s for you!

I highly recommend this story and although it’s part of a series it’s easily read as a standalone. Both main characters were full of personality and there was a bit of intrigue thrown in to keep turning the pages. The epilogue was fantastic! It’s been a long time since I’ve read a highlander book and reminded me how much I love them.

Loved! Loved! Loved! Everything I was hoping for and more!main character, Annella, was married to William Gunn eldest Gunn son. Believed to become the next family Laird of the castle. He marries Annella but leaves her on their wedding night for a pilgrimage without consummating the marriage. She is told he is dead. She becomes the temp laird since Williams father has had an unfortunate accident is still alive but broke his back and can no longer perform the duties. Youngest son, David, thinks he is a shoe in for the job his sister-in-law has assumed the responsibilities despite the mother in laws constant criticism for six years has done a great job. At any rate the Highlander son, Graeme, is home to become the new laird. As happens, he is also to become Annella’s husband. I highly recommend this romance/ murder Special thanks to the following for allowing me to review early and give my own honest opinion:
#NetGalley
#HarperCollinsPublishers
#LynsaySands

Found interesting to read and kept my attention
I thought I had it figured out but then I was given a twist

enjoyed

Although this is book 12 in this series, you will have no need to read the others first. I do hope you choose to read because all of them are pretty darn good light reads!

As I said, this was a light and quite funny read with an excellent mystery added. All of this series has a mystery, and in this one, I found it a little harder to figure out the red herring than I usually do.

Poor Annelle. Her husband deserts her on her wedding night to go on a pilgrimage; several weeks later, her father-in-law suffers an accident, which forces her to take care of the keep and all of the responsibilities attached to it. Six years later, she is still doing all that and being the healer for everyone. Add to this her mother-in-law actively hates her, and there you have a miserable Annelle.

Graeme, Annelles brother-in-law, suddenly arrives home after being a mercenary for ten years and searching for William or his body. He is also bringing her husband William's bones.


But never fear; soon, passion rears its wonderful head, and things proceed from there. And yes, even after a lot of injuries and accidents, we do get a happily-ever-after!

This is a very fast read, heavy on "romance" and mystery. Annelle is a wonderfully strong woman, and of course, Graeme is a wonderfully sexy Scot.

*ARC was supplied by the publisher Avon/HarperCollins, the author, and NetGalley.

I loved this - the chemistry, the humor, the mystery, the hot romance! Both Graeme Gunn, the returned middle brother of her deceased husband, and Annella Mackay, the widow who acted as laird and healer, were likable characters. I also enjoyed the secondary characters - her family and his mercenary brother-in-arms. I highly recommend for anyone who enjoys a sexy Highlander story.

☀️ARC REVIEW☀️

3.5⭐

After reading 3/11 books from this interconnected series (not including this one). I was really excited to start this book! And it did not disappoint.

Graeme our hero is back home after learning that his brother left and died on a pilgrimage. Annella the FMC had to quickly grow a backbone and act basically as laird after her husband left shortly after being wedded to her. Like literally right after the ceremony.

The last time Graeme saw Annella she was a young timid bride so imagine his surprise when upon setting his eyes on her again she was knocking a man out. He had to leave so he could laugh! I really liked Graeme. You'd think he'd be a cold soldier type after being at battle for so long but really he was laid back and just a little naive when it came to women specifically Annella's emotional and intellectual needs but the physical stuff he had it down packed!

I loved Annella's character. She was tough as nails, independent, but she was also kind, and considerate of others. Not only did she feel lonely and insecure after her husband left but she had to deal with a monster in law. Still she pushed through it.

I really liked how the romance was set up however I wish it stayed that way. I feel like once he actually got married to her it stayed surface level compared to their first "date" where he laughed and actually listened to her thoughts. It just kind of stalled in the middle. My favorite thing about this series is how every MMC so far has a love at first sight type of reaction and Graeme is no different. He was already calling her wife in his inner monologue 🥰

This was a quick and fun read and I'll definitely be reading more from the series

✨tropes✨
🩶 Virgin FMC
🩶 He falls first
🩶 He takes care of her when she gets sick

I want to give a special thank you to the author and the publisher for an early ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts and review.🩷

Lynsay Sand's Highland Brides series is a knockout Highland Romance series that always leave me eagerly waiting for the next one. The Highlander's Return was no different. It was absolute perfection for this type of book and yet again an amazing page turner. All of these books are interconnected so beautifully together, yet they can be read as a stand alone.

Graeme is a warrior, a man's man, and back to be laird after years of mercenary work. Annella had a bad hand dealt to her with her marriage but managed it with grit and integrity taking on the responsibility of running everything after her loser husband, Graeme's brother, deserts her on their wedding night.

Through a series of incidents Graeme and Annella find each other but will they be able to navigate whomever is set to see them dead? I love that Graeme falls first. I love that Annella is a strong FMC. I love that they find each other. In short, I just loved this book.

Perfectly spicy highland romance at it's best. I am eagerly awaiting the next one already!

I love a Lynsay Sands highlander novel, they're always fun, engaging, and filled with action, so much so that even the weaker entries in the series are still more fun than a lot of other romance novels. Unfortunately, for me, this did end up being one of those weaker entries. While I really enjoyed the set up of the main couple, with Annella as the widow of Graeme's brother who was abandoned six years ago but has been running the family holding for the entire time, the pacing between the two just feels slightly off. Annella instantly is okay with sleeping with Graeme but balks at the concept of marriage, while Graeme mostly just sees her as convenient and you never really sense the evolution between the two into an actual love match. This is especially glaring when it's constantly pointed out that they never really have any conversations. The more action filled aspects are also pretty predictable, which was somewhat disappointing.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received an arc of this book from netgalley for an honest review.

I have grown up reading Lynsay Sands Highland romances, I have yet to read one that I did not devour and love. I loved Annella, she is a strong FMC who was dealt a pretty crappy hand, and then in comes Graeme a swoony hard headed Laird with instant hearts in his eyes.....Swoon...If you love highland romance with some mystery and lots of romance please check out Lynsay, all of her books are equally awesome!

When I read a Lynsay Sands, it’s because I’m in the mood for a Lynsay Sands. I know exactly what I’m going to get.

The Highlander’s Return really hit that lazy-Sunday easy-read spot:
Smart, capable, take charge woman? Check!
Gruff, teddy bear, in-over-his-head Scotsman? Check!
Suitably evil villain? Check!
Low stakes mystery? Check!
HEA? Yep!

Plus 10/10 for that cover. Well done.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for an eARC. Opinions are my own.

I’ve been waiting for another Lynsay Sands Highlander romance novel! It was a wonderful read and I enjoyed the plot of the story. We have our heroine Annella and our hero Graeme, I enjoyed their little love story. It has mystery, plenty of romance, and some small action scenes. Annella is a hardworking woman who had to take care of business once her husband abandoned her on their wedding night. Graeme hasn’t been home in 6 years, last time he saw Annella, she was a timid young woman that had married his brother. Now he’s in for a rude awakening once he sees this woman who’s not the delicate girl anymore. Annella doesn’t know what to do with this Highlander who’s come to tell her news about his brother, the husband who left her all those years ago.

This wasn’t my favorite book out of the series, but it was still very fun to read. There were a couple times that I felt like the story wasn’t progressing as fast as I wanted it too. Also, the little plot twist was a great addition!

How does one write about perfection? I absolutely adored this story. When I think of Highlander Romances, I think of Lynsay Sands. From the start the story and romance had me hooked. Perfect for readers impatiently waiting for Outlander.

This one started slowly. I thought it was going to be a miss, but boy was I wrong. It picked up in just the right spot and I was hooked through to the end. This was my first Lynsay Sand and, honestly, my first highlander and medieval in a hot minute. I enjoyed the building relationship between Graeme and Annella. The obstacles placed in their path felt realistic and not formulaic. Although, the mystery that twines its way through the book was itself fairly predictable. I will definitely be reading more Lynsay Sands and recommending this as a medieval read to friends!

My thanks to NetGalley and Avon for access to an eARC in return for an honest review.

This was a wonderful, adventurous read, with strong and well fleshed out characters. Giving my honest review, it did seem to drag out in a few areas for me, repeating information previously stated. Having said that, I appreciated the strong character of Annella MacKay. Just a side note, coming from the Morgan Clan myself, the Morgan's were the ancient clan of what is today the MacKay Clan. The Morgan/MacKay women are just like Annella!
I'm not sure if this is a one off book or not, but there are enough good characters to make a series. I would love to see what becomes of Payton specifically. At any rate, I would highly recommend this read to anyone that likes Romance reads, particularly about Highlanders!

Disclaimer: I would like to note that I received this ARC with the mindset that I would provide an honest review.
I do not think there are enough words in the English dictionary to explain the excitement that I feel about getting to read and review this book. I have been reading Lynsay Sands books since the very beginning. I have read every single one of her books and she is an instant buy author for me. So thank you thank you thank you for the opportunity to read and review this arc.

If you have read any of Lynsay’s books before you will learn that they are interconnected standalones. Yes, they technically could be read out of order but I personally feel that you get the most enjoyment from these books by reading them in order. You really connect with the characters because they always seem to pop up in the other books.

In this story we learn more about Graeme, the warrior, as he returns home after learning that his brother is dead. When he left home, it was during the wedding of William and Annella and it seemed as though everyone would be happy. However, we learn very early in the book that this was not the case and the marriage between William and Annella is not what he believed. William abandoned his home and new wife the morning/night after his wedding and had not returned home. William was also suppose to be the clan chief, a title that Graeme was happy to have left to him, but instead, left Annella to serve as both lord and lady of their clan. This background is important to the development of the story as Graeme now has a choice to make.

I love it when the FMC can surprise the MMC when forced to recognize that their assumptions and opinions were wrong. He believes her to be a soft and sweet lady who was quiet and withdrawn. However, when we they are reintroduced she is putting a large man into his place and shows the readers how strong her character truly became in the 6 years they last saw one another. And with this strength, she is about to engage him in a battle of wit throughout this book as she challenges everything he thought he knew.

Lynsay write spicy stories with fun and engaging characters. There is humor throughout this book that makes this book all the more enjoyable. I absolutely love reading Lynsay Sands books and wish everyone had the opportunity to read them. I highly recommend this book to everyone!

Thank you so much to Avon and Harper Voyage, Lynsay Sands, and NetGalley for this opportunity! It was a wonderful book!

Oh man, this was such a fast and fun read. This is the 3rd of the Highland Brides series that I have read and they continue to delight and not disappoint. The chemistry between these two Annella and Graeme was smoking and how they couldn’t keep their hands off each other even long enough to talk whenever they were alone together. Graeme comes back home with Annella's brother because they located her 6 years missing husband that has been gone since their wedding night so now she is a widow and looking forward to going back home. Graeme takes one look at her and realizes she is the one for him and proceeds to try to get her to agree to marry him by whatever means necessary. I love that there is always some danger and conflict which is usually someone trying to kill both of them and in this one someone different is trying to just kill Graeme and they of course catch both of them by the end. I love a little danger in the midst of my fluffy romance. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series since they are always a delight to read.

Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

I found this book to be an enjoyable and easy read. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. It was both a romance and a mystery. Although the mystery was easy to figure out, it was the getting there that was enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced readers copy.