♥ℳelody's Reviews > The Taming of a Highlander

“I’ll nae tolerate yer pain, mo chridhe. Ye must glow for me. My heart. My light. ’Tis all I have to keep me sane.”

Good lord this was magic. Elisa Braden's writing is witchcraft, I just know it. I don't know how else to explain it. The stories she comes up with, the characters, her prose, the tropes she uses and how she deploys them. It's just magic that weaves around you and pulls you in and you can't stop reading until it's over. Then you wanna do it all over again. There are very few authors that I've discovered over the years that can pull off this elusive skill, I can count them on my hand. Elisa Braden is one of them. If you haven't read anything by this author, I urge you to try her. It's an adventure. The way she weaves a story and you wonder how two people who are like night and day could possibly come together and she does it effortlessly. How we go from weary dislike to "I'd burn the whole world down for you" is just so satisfying to see. It's like wrapping yourself up in a warm blanket. Everything in the story serves a purpose down to every detail.

The man was deliberately obsessing her; she was certain of it. He even claimed not to mind her singing. Could there be a clearer sign of sinister intentions? She thought not.

Broderick MacPherson's journey from a broken tortured man wrongly imprisoned to besotted husband dazzled by his new English bride was an adventure of it's own. He's book husband material if I ever saw one. I adored him so so much. There's just something about a mountain of a man crumbling over the woman he loves that does things for me. (view spoiler)[ Seeing a hero lose his shit over nearly losing the heroine is my love language. Please and thank you. I mean singing to her to get her to wake up in a moment of distress? Help! TAKE MY WHOLE DAMN HEART WHY DON'T YOU? JUST TAKE IT. 😭💔 (hide spoiler)] This book made me cry. I never cry. Maybe it's cause I was sick in bed for a whole week who knows. But if I could hug a book to my chest it would be this one.

The opening of this book the author takes her time setting the stage and you do need a little patience. Broderick's time in prison does take up some page time which did make me a bit nervous but like always Braden is a very deliberate writer and the payoff is worth it. What the hero goes through is gruesome and awful and just made the obsessed villain with a grudge even more sinister. Since I'm horrible at doing a book I loved justice all I can say is read it, I don't want to give it away. It's Highlander Romance meets Shawshank Redemption. It's marriage of convenience, angst, emotion, humor, dark trauma, bluestocking heroine who sings off key, danger, suspense all rolled into one.

“Do you know why? Because I dream of boasting about the prize my darling husband hunted with his mighty prowess.”
“I’m missin’ an eye, Kate. My prowess isnae what it once was.”

Loved the heroine Katherine Huxley. Kate made for an adorable bubbly match to stoic blunt lumbering giant Broderick. For once, a heroine who didn't believe in love and calls it an "affliction". LOL The humor in this is delightful, I loved seeing her frazzle the hero. I also appreciate how much emphasis is put on the size of these MacPherson brothers, all over 6'5 tall with meaty hands, baritone voices and wide shoulders. Umpph. 🔥 I had no idea Katherine is baby sister to Jane, the heroine from The Truth About Cads and Dukes which delighted me. I love when characters interweave across series, I had no idea this was a spinoff from that world. Loved the whole MacPherson family and I really truly hope this series doesn't fall to the wayside unfinished after Book 3? I really hope not. :( Or if that was the plan all along that makes me sad because I'm already antsy for the remaining brothers' stories. She created such interesting set ups and possibilities for Alexander and Rannoch, I would be sad to see it go to waste. But yes, in conclusion: another favorite by Elisa Braden. Her writing is like crack for me and I need another hit.

“And thank God for that. Because I want ye.” His thumb stroked her cheek, brushed her lower lip with a sensual tug. “Do ye hear me? I want ye more than I’ve ever wanted any bluidy thing in my existence. Ye’re a fire in my blood, mo chridhe. These wee curls along yer cheeks. The way ye shine when ye smile. The sweet scent of ye and the sweeter way ye touch me when ye think I’m asleep.”

“That’s where I live. In the black. But every now and then, my wee, bonnie wife smiles, and a bit of light comes for a visit. Then, she laughs, and that light dances.” He quirked a smile of his own. “Ye’re a flame in my darkness. I wouldnae have predicted it, given how we met. But nothin’s ever been truer.”

“You mustn’t do this again,” she whispered, scarcely aware of what she was saying. “When you are cold, I shall warm you. Your place is with me. Not there. Here.” What was she babbling on about? Still half-asleep, she didn’t really know. The words welled up from nowhere. “You must stay with me forever. That was your promise. That I could love you forever.” Her throat tightened as she heard him sigh. Felt his shivering begin to ease. “You’re not there any longer. You are here.” She held him, kissed him mindlessly. Instinctively. “And when you sleep, I shall be your blanket.”

Also that cover? Holy moly. So gorgeous. 😳 Looks like something from a John William Waterhouse painting.