Highland
Light
The
MacGrough Clan Book 1
By
Cherime
MacFarlane
HIGHLAND
LIGHT
is a historical romance set in 1308 during the Scottish war for independence.
A young Scots girl cannot find a man who appreciates a headstrong plain woman.
A small group of Knights Templar escape to Scotland to hide and start new
lives. Among them is a young man, a ward of the Master of the Temple. The men
have brought a treasure to Scotland. In exchange for a large share of the treasure,
the knights may marry and be adopted into certain clans. No one must know of
the agreement. Each man has a duty to the clan they are adopted into, and a
duty owed to Robert The Bruce.
One young man has been with the Templars since the age of ten. He knows nothing
of relationships or women. Their wedding is a business arrangement. Having no
experience of sex or marriage, the young couple make a game of loving and learn
of life together.
Let the games begin.
What did I think of the book?
Gideon has
been the ward of The Masters of the Knights Templar since he was ten years
old. But things are about to change. The Knights' have been forced to flee from
Philip the Fair of France, and as the Pope has already excommunicated The
Bruce, Scotland seems as safe a place as any to seek sanctuary.
Ailene
MacGrough is headstrong, fiercely independent and a courageous young woman. She
has so far rejected every suitor that has been presented to her, but there was
something about Gideon that caught her eye.
Determined
to put an end to the brutality of Edward Longshanks and his claim to the
throne
of Scotland, The Bruce organises a secret meeting between his supporters
and
the Templars. Bruce commands that the only way he will offer sanctuary
to the Templars is if they marry an eligible Scottish maiden, which will
then make
them the citizens of this war torn country.
Gideon
knows nothing of women but suddenly finds himself with a wife, a family, and a
country to protect.
Can Gideon
and Ailene's new-found love survive the horror of the Scottish War of
Independence — only time will tell.
Oh. My.
Days...! I would like to call Highland Light a romance, but it is so much more
than that. It is an epic story about innocent young love, set in the backdrop
of war. MacFarlane did a staggering job of bringing 14th Century Scotland back
to life, and her attention to detail must be commended. A thoroughly well
researched and breath-taking read.
MacFarlane gives her readers just the right amount of detail. Whether
that be with regards to the love making scenes— in this case, less is certainly
more — and the battle scenes, which gives her readers a sense of what it must
have been like in the heat of battle, but without going overboard with the
detail.
This is a
truly addictive read — once you start you are so not going to want to stop. I
couldn't wait to get back to the book every evening to find out what was going
to happen next.
Do I
Recommend? You bet ya! A fantastic 5* read.
Links for Purchase
About the author
Meet Award-Winning,
Best-Selling Author Cherime MacFarlane. A prolific multi-genre author, she has
a broad range of interests that reflect her been there-done that life. Romance,
Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal, all sorts of characters and plots
evolve from a vivid imagination.
I came to Alaska kicking and screaming in 1976, and I never want to leave. I
cut firewood on shares for money to get through the winter. I swore I would not
live above the Alaska Range because it was too cold there and wound up in the
Copper River Basin where it got just a cold as Fairbanks.
My second husband, a Scot from Glasgow, was the love of my life. When I write
Scots dialect, I experienced hearing it from my in-laws. Each time my husband
got on the phone to Scotland after five seconds, I could hardly understand a
word. I was my second husband's chief mechanic's helper and roadie.
I live in a cabin which is slowly being surrounded by the city and wish I were
further out. My two cats and Husky-Collie mix dog are happy in our little slice
of heaven called Alaska. In the silence of winter dreams of people and places
provide a rich pool of ideas to explore.
As a reporter for the Copper Valley Views, Cherime MacFarlane received a letter
of commendation from the Copper River Native Association for fair and balanced
reporting.
Cherime won the Hardest Working Author Award from Author Classified.
The Scottish author,
Joan Fallon, began her career as a writer after moving to Spain at the start of
the new millennium; her first published work was a social history, 'Daughters
of Spain', inspired by the women she met in her new home. The research for this
book in turn encouraged her to write the following two novels: 'Spanish
Lavender', which is set in Malaga during the early years of the Civil War and
'The House on the Beach', the story of two young women growing up in Franco's
Spain. Her subsequent novels have grown out of her experiences living and
working in Spain. 
