The Healer and the Guardian, Fae Magic, Politics and Desire:
This is certainly a complex story that deals with the fate and luck of two intriguing characters that captured my heart.
Rowena a healer with the magic healing stone and Aedan the guardian of Scotland takes us into their incredible journey of discovery and finding a deep love that helps them conquer many situations with some being extremely emotional, and many being terrifying such as pirates, accusations, imprisonment, escapes where all of these and more kept me on the edge of my seat until the heartfelt endearing end of this enthralling love story.
The main story is deeply intricate, although bit long in details with a multitude of verbiage that just lengthened the story.
My biggest disappointed was the low flame of desire that the author could have ignited the pages with at the end but instead left me disappointed with the lack of any kind of sizzle.

Historically accurate Highlander romance full of adventure (we’ve got pirates, we’ve got prison escapes!) and tonnnssss of hurt/comfort!

The first fifty pages were a little slow to get through but after Aedan is officially on the page we were off to the races!

I really enjoyed the characters and their slow burn yet insta love for each other. Very fun story and am excited for more to come

I read this as a standalone and it worked great if you haven’t read earlier books in the series

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Guardian's Bride by Susan King is a third person dual-POV historical romance with light fantasy elements set in 1306 in Scotland. Rowena is widow and a healer to the English king Edward accused of poisoning the king. When she meets her former betrothed, Aedan, a Scottish knight and guardian, in prison, the two escape to Aedan’s home and start the relationship they could have had years ago.

Because Aedan and Rowena never met prior to the story opening, this isn’t quite a second chance romance because they don’t have those shared memories and hurt that they need to move past. It does hit on some of the same notes as Aedan’s aunt and sister both encourage him to pursue a relationship with Rowena and the couple do bring up that they were almost together several times. I think someone who loves a second chance romance could still be fairly pleased with how the story plays out because of the tropes used later and the connection between Rowena and Aedan.

One thing I really appreciated was how Aedan and Rowena are both widowed and their story is about finding love after the death of a partner. Rowena almost had a family with her former husband and Aedan has a five-year-old son from his previous marriage, so neither are going into a relationship without experience of the heartaches and joys, though Aedan has had more of the joys as he had more time with his wife than Rowena did with her husband. There is a real maturity to their relationship because of this as neither are jealous or possessive or resentful of their former partners. Instead, there’s a shared understanding that helps them grow closer.

The other thing I liked was that there is no bashing of the former spouses. Sometimes romances feature an ex or a deceased spouse who was toxic or downright abusive and it’s very important to depict those things as they do happen in real life. But it’s also important to depict people who had content or happy marriages, who hold no resentment towards their old partner, and yet are finding love once again because sometimes we find our soulmates after we’ve already had a lifetime of experiences.

Content warning for mentions of miscarriage

I would recommend this to fans of historical fiction who also like a second chance romance and those looking for more romances between widows and widowers

Rowena is content as a healer in thirteenth century Scotland....until she is taken hostage on charges of poisoning the English king. While imprisoned, she joins fellow prisoner MacDuff in a breakout. She has to make her way home without attracting English attention, but her feelings for MacDuff provide a complication.

I love romantasy, so I was very excited to see that this book had fantasy elements. You could also see the influence of Outlander, especially with Rowena's healing career, but I do really appreciate a FMC who has a passion and a vocation. I loved Rowena's dedication to healing, as well as the setting. Far more romance novels are set in during one of the latter Jacobite rebellions, and I loved that this one was set in the also chaotic, earlier reign of Robert the Bruce.

The book was a quick read and would really recommend to anyone who wants a romance between two equals set in historic Scotland.