This series I place up at the top with the "Outlander" Series by Diana Gabaldon. You CANNOT go wrong reading about these beautiful men which sprung from Karen Marie Moning's imagination. I would love to be able to write like her. She is just fantastic, and makes it really difficult to choose one Highlander over another.
Unlike a lot of romance novels, Karen's characters have more depth to them and there exists a real chemistry between the hero and heroine. These are definitely soulmate/twin flame stories.
Can you say Druid Binding Vows?
My favorite books in this series are Kiss of the Highlander, The Dark Highlander, and To Tame a Highland Warrior. (For myself, Kiss and Dark are ties for the #1 spot but that Grimm... hmm, maybe those 3 books are #1 for me. Can I do that?)
It does help to read this series in the correct order to learn more about Adam, and I HIGHLY recommend that Kiss and Dark are read in order. Also, don't let the synopsis on the backs of these books fool you. Sometimes the write up's make these stories sound like the complete opposite of what they truly are. Believe me when I say these are not hokey, silly romances with farfetched plots. These are very well written novels with much more character development than a lot of romances out there.
Read Karen's Highlander series, and you will not be disappointed. They have everything you could possibly want to read in a romance. And again, I cannot stress enough how much I fell in love with Kiss, Dark, and then Tame. Every KMM fan - aka "Maniac" - has their favorite highlander(s) but usually we go back and forth from re-read to re-read. Lol! For me personally, however, my top 3 will forever be Drustan/Dageus/Grimm.
While most people read this series in order, I didn't and had no trouble at all. Personally, I would recommend reading Kiss (Drustan/Gwen's story) followed by Dark (Dageus/Chloe's story) first. And as I said earlier, those two MUST be read in that order. Once you read Kiss, you'll understand why. I love both those characters so much. Drustan is the most "romantic" of the Highlanders, and Dageus... wonderfully naughty, but self-sacrificing for the one's he loves!
http://www.karenmoning.com/kmm/novels.html
A MUST READ!
Repeat: A MUST READ!
More titles to come.....
This is a loooong series with a lot of side stories, but CONTINUE READING for Jamie and Claire's story alone. It is quite a beautiful one. My personal favorites are the 1st four books. If you do not devour this series, I will hunt you down!
Jamie is an absolutely beautiful character that will ruin 21st century men for you forever. Not only does the man have a sense of humor, but he sure knows how to talk to a woman! The words that come out of his mouth will make you laugh... make you cry. And the man is so protective of his wife and family. I can't explain in words how amazing Jamie is. (Which is not to say this man is without flaws, because he is. There's one chapter in particular, in Outlander, which will have you steaming mad at him... perhaps even for forever. But that's what's so fantastic about these books! They are true to the time period and these characters actually GROW as human beings. They learn from their mistakes and the reader is shown without question how a certain decision which Claire makes in Jamie's time really is a matter of life and death not only for her but others... hence Jamie's reaction). James Fraser feels very real to a lot of people; nothing like a fictional character at all. I don't think there's a person alive who has read this series, and whom doesn't feel the same. He and Claire simply MUST be real, and they're whispering their story in Diana Gabaldon's ear.
Only be forewarned that in the first book something very violent happens to Jamie, but it really does make you admire his courage (and Claire's determination to help him) all the more. The hell Jamie goes through is testament to his strength of character. Every woman in this world should have their own Jamie Fraser.
And Claire is a tough one as well. There's nothing the shrinking violet about her.
And while Diana does tend to go off tangent with the minor characters and these books really could be a lot shorter... her editor must eat bon-bon's all day... I do believe the woman is a genius. She is incredibly knowledgeable on so many topics, and her writing is top notch. This lady is REALLY, REALLY talented. She's a great painter of words. The Michelangelo of storytelling.
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Click HERE for quotes from the series
"To see the years touch ye gives me joy, Sassenach,"
he whispered, - "for it means that ye live."~ Chapter 85: Hearthfire, page 737
JULIE GARWOOD
By edict of the king, the mighty Scottish laird Alec Kincaid must take an English bride. His choice was Jamie, youngest daughter of Baron Jamison...a feisty, violet-eyed beauty. Alec ached to touch her, to tame her, to possess her...forever. But Jamie vowed never to surrender to this highland barbarian.
He was everything her heart warned against—an arrogant scoundrel whose rough good looks spoke of savage pleasures. And thought Kincaid's scorching kisses fired her blood, she brazenly resisted him...until one rapturous moment quelled their clash of wills, and something far more dangerous than desire threatened to conquer her senses...
Set in 13th-century England and Scotland, this rollicking adventure is among Garwood's most enjoyable. The news that her despicable husband is dead has left beautiful 16-year-old Lady Johanna both wealthy and available. Wicked King John wants to marry her to one of his henchmen, but her beloved foster brother convinces the powerful highland laird Gabriel MacBain to put aside his natural repugnance for all things English and wed the girl.
Emotionally scarred by her first marriage, Johanna is intimidated both by her strange surroundings and by the outsized, gruff laird; but with the help of an eccentric old soldier and MacBain's illegitimate son, Johanna learns to hold her own with the soldiers, their wives and her new husband. Then an unwelcome surprise tests her newfound courage.
Garwood endows the novel with a first-rate setting, a splendid supporting cast and witty dialogue that more than offsets the rote predictability of Johanna's great beauty and MacBain's forceful charisma.
In Ransom, New York Times bestselling author Julie Garwood returns to her beloved Highlands and the dark days of the despotic rule of King John to reacquaint readers with Scottish chieftain Brodick Buchanan, first introduced in The Secret. Brodick finds himself playing protector to Gillian, an exquisite English beauty, who is desperate to find her long-lost sister and a treasure of incalculable worth--one for which many already have died, including Gillian's own father. Coerced by the fiendish Baron Alford, who murdered her father before her eyes and usurped her birthright 14 years earlier, Gillian must return to England with Arianna's Box, a bejeweled golden box commissioned by King John, or her beloved Uncle Morgan will be tortured to death. In spite of Gillian's fragile looks and her loathsome English bloodlines, Brodick encounters a woman of immeasurable courage and determination, one not at all intimidated by his legendary temper or imposing size. And as he realizes that he has met his match in Gillian--whose sense of honor and duty equals his own--their passion for each other grows ever stronger in this thrilling historical.
Review from Amazon:
Princess Alesandra's father and mother married for love. Her father gave up his title and position for her mother. Then he dies when Alesandra is really young. Alesandra and her mother go to live at a convent where her mother is taken ill and soon dies as well.
Alesandra grows up in the convent where she is looked at as a trouble maker. She means well. Things just tend to get a little out of hand when she is involved. Then her home country wants her to rule. There is a General after her to make her his wife so that he can gain power over her country.A long ago friend of her fathers steps in to take guardianship of Alesandra and to help her find a husband. Her guardian soon falls ill, along with the rest of the family so she is sent to stay with his son, Colin until everyone is well.
Alesandra is a fun character who is dying to marry for love, but is being forced to marry for necessity. Colin is a man who doesn't want to marry until his 5 year plan of success is complete.Soon, they are married... :)
Colin is a man with some issues physically as well as mentally. Alesandra is someone who craves love.
I liked the characters very much. Thought they were well suited to each other and enjoyed Colin and the way he finds humor in his wifes antics. He is the typical 1800's male, he has definite ideas as to a womans place. But he is also very caring and tender with his wife.
The Butler in this book is great. He practically worships the Princess.
http://www.juliegarwood.com/
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KATIE MACALISTER
Mystery writer Kathie Williams firmly believes in rules when it comes to romance, and falling in love at first glance is not one of them. Yet somehow one look at Iain MacLaren and Kathie forgets the conference she's attending to dream up ways to seduce the dishy Scotsman. She accepts a surprise dinner invitation from Iain, which leads to a much more intimate kind of evening than she ever could have imagined.
Throwing caution to the wind, Kathie agrees to spend the rest of her vacation with him on his sheep farm in the Scottish Highlands, but any hope of a long-term relationship with her laconic lover means dealing with his assorted relatives and neighbors, a scheming ex-paramour who is not about to let Iain slip through her clutches, and Iain's career, which involves letting adorable lambs become someone's entree.
With its wickedly witty writing, wonderfully snappy dialogue, and uniquely amusing characters, MacAlister's latest is perfect for any reader seeking a deliciously sexy yet also subtly sweet contemporary romance.
http://katiemacalister.com/
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KINLEY MACGREGOR
Caledonia MacNeely fights an unfamiliar shiver when she is offered in marriage to the infamous ‘Lord Sin’ who others claim is the Devil’s own son. One so hated his own mother refused to even give him a name.
Though Callie fears this feral knight less for the dark whispers that damn him than for the uncertainty in her that he evokes, she is under order of the English King to marry him or see her clan destroyed. But bringing the devil into her clan is not only foolhardy, it’s dangerous.
http://www.sherrilynkenyon.com/
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KRESLEY COLE
Can a ruthless Highlander ever learn to love?
Burning vengeance…
Ethan MacCarrick was a heartbreakingly handsome rake until a powerful nobleman ordered him brutally beaten and his face scarred for a crime he didn’t commit. Ethan’s reprisal—bankrupting the nobleman and forcing his exile—does little to appease his wrath. Ten years later, a haughty, mysterious beauty enchants Ethan—the daughter of his enemy. At last, Ethan will have the revenge he’s craved; he’ll promise her marriage, seduce her, then cast her aside.
Bitter hardships…
When Madeleine Van Rowen’s family was suddenly plunged into destitution and dishonor, she steeled herself against further heartache. She never weakened, never trusted, until a towering, scarred Highlander relentlessly pursues her, breaking down her defenses.
At what price forgiveness?
The passion between them burns hotter than Ethan’s fury, and soon he finds he can’t let her go. But when Madeleine uncovers the truth about him, can Ethan convince her to accept all he now offers—when he once destroyed everything she had?
http://kresleycole.com/
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JUDE DEVERAUX
Bestselling romance writer Hayden Lane just lost the “perfect” man. But what real man could compete with the dark intriguing character she writes about? When a psychic tells her that Hayden has had a past life, she yearns to know more.
Despite the psychic’s warnings, Hayden gets hypnotized and comes to in Edwardian England where she immediately faints. Upon awakening, Hayden embarks on an adventure beyond her wildest dreams. She gets a chance at love so rapturous that it defies the boundaries of time…
Jude Deveraux’s beloved bestseller has captivated readers the world over; now in a special edition featuring new material, this timeless love story greets a new generation. Abandoned by her lover, thoroughly modern Dougless Montgomery finds herself alone and brokenhearted in an old English church. She never dreamed that a love more powerful than time awaited her there…until Nicholas Stafford, Earl of Thornwyck, a sixteenth-century knight, appeared. Drawn to him by a bond so sudden and compelling that it defied reason, Dougless knew that Nicholas was nothing less than a miracle: a man who would not seek to change her, who found her perfect just as she was. But she could not know how strong were the chains that tied them to the past — or the grand adventure that lay before them.
http://judedeveraux.com/
