Tag Archives: Willa Blair

Highland Prodigy by Willa Blair-a review

Posted on by
12

Highland Prodigy (Highland Talents Heritage 1) by Willa Blair-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au / B&N paper /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 16, 2021.

Jamie Lathan is a formidable warrior, yet his life depends not only on his legendary prowess with a sword, but on keeping a dangerous secret. Like his mother, Jamie wields the power of healing magic. From childhood, he knew that those skills, often feared in a woman, would be condemned outright in a man. Discovery could mean imprisonment or death, but Jamie soon learns that denying his compulsion to heal is to deny the very core of himself.

Aftyn Keith desperately tries to fill the role of Healer after her mother dies unexpectedly. Still an apprentice, ill-prepared and hampered by her illegitimate birth, Aftyn knows that her best may not be enough to keep her place as a useful member of the clan. When a handsome Lathan warrior with healing skills far beyond her ken arrives and succeeds in saving his gravely injured kinsman, she begs him to teach her.

Jamie risks everything in choosing to trust Aftyn. But when she unwittingly betrays him, Aftyn is faced with a decision that may gain Jamie’s freedom, but cost her the only home that she has ever known. In the face of her growing feelings for Jamie, she knows that either decision will leave her heart broken beyond any Healer’s mending.

•••••••••

REVIEW: This made for such a refreshing read after reading so many historical romances that all do the same thing….

Jamie might be a great swordsman and warrior, but he has a secret that if found out about will certainly end his life!He can heal the sick and wounded, and in those days it really was a woman’s job. But that’s not the issue, the problem is that he heals them with his hands!

Aftyn is a healer, but not a great one, her mother was so much better at it. But sadly she died, and Aftyn is left to fill the role. She has her mother’s journal to read and follow, but most of it is written in a way that Aftyn doesn’t understand! She feels like she’s going to fail, and be a useless healer.That is until she meets a stranger that knows how to heal! She needs his help and she needs it fast!

Jamie and Aftyn soon become each other’s confidantes, but can Jamie really trust her with his secret?And when Jamie is betrayed by Aftyn (but it was an accident) can she regain his trust?

Apparently this is the next generation of healers (Highland Talents) and I have to admit I’ve not read any of the previous books. And I don’t think it matters really, although I’m now interested in reading how the other series fares against this one.It’s the start of a new series, and one I’m going to be keeping an eye out for.

The lives of the chat came alive within this book, you could easily imagine the rolling hills and the hard life in which they lived. The interaction between Jamie and Aftyn was good, and as an added bonus they’d met each other as children (and that i thought was a nice touch)

For anyone who likes a historical romance, I’d happily recommend this one.

? Reviewed by Julie

Copy supplied for review

Share

When You Find Love by Willa Blair-a review

Posted on by
12

When You Find Love by Willa Blair-a review

 

 

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 4, 2019

When Scottish antiques appraiser Caitlin Paterson accepts a commission in the Hamptons, ’tis the season for Christmas miracles. Too bad she doesn’t have one handy.

Successful businessman Holt Ridley resents being forced by his great-aunt’s bequest to winter at the family estate he has hated since childhood. Still, the enticing appraiser he finds there is an unexpected holiday gift—or is she?

Among the furnishings Caitlin is tasked with appraising, she discovers the key to centuries-old heartache that plagues Holt’s family. Caitlin longs to help Holt find the happiness that eluded him his entire life—but this secret could destroy everything.

••••••••••

REVIEW:When You Find Love is a contemporary romance with a slight paranormal twist. This was a very enjoyable read. I love the characters and the style of writing with author Blair is blessed.

I won’t spoil the book for you, just give you the set up and tell you what I loved so much about this lovely novel with a Christmastime theme.
This is the story of billionaire, but hard-working Holt Ridley and Caitlin Paterson, an appraiser of antique British furniture and items (she’s a highlander).

Holt inherits his great aunt’s estate but doesn’t really want it. However, he been having a lot of legal issues defending his company against an ex that was trying to steal his company’s secrets, he decides that the extra cash from selling the estate and its contents will help. The contents are mostly English or Scottish and the executor of the estate hires Caitlin Paterson to appraise the value of the household and create a catalog for an auction.

Caitlin arrives from Scotland a few days earlier than Holt can get there. She loves the challenge of investigating the providence of the items in the house and can’t understand why anyone would decide to sell such a lovely estate with so much history. However, Holt only sees the pain his mother and he went through when his great aunt disinherited his mother and he’s still very angry. The estate is a painful reminder of the mistreatment of his mother and himself.

Holt’s whole family history is full of stories of unhappy marriages or short-lived happiness. When Caitlin discovers an old cabinet with a curse inscribed within it, the fun begins. Can she unravel the truth behind his family, and will he believe it if she does?

Okay, that’s pretty much the set-up. The characters are both strong and loveable, but this strength creates friction and small clashes that are interesting. Author Willa Blair is talented and creative as a storyteller. Her style is twisty with a touch of the paranormal. I have enjoyed her highland stories and hope to read many more. If you’re fortunate enough to have read Willa Blair’s Waiting for the Laird, you’ll love the ending of this one. Our ghost dog friend Fergus makes an appearance…

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Georgianna

Share

His Highland Love (His Highland Heart #2 ) by Willa Blair-a review

Posted on by
9

His Highland Love (His Highland Heart #2) by Willa Blair-a review

His Highland Love

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 11, 2017

A Love Denied
Kenneth Brodie offered for young Mary Catherine Rose but her father declined, then a year later accepted an offer from another clan. Furious at hearing Cat would be married soon to someone else, Kenneth fled to France and drowned his disappointment in wine, women and war.

A Love Lost
Two years after her father demanded they wait until Cat was older, she doesn’t understand why Kenneth hasn’t returned for her. Broken-hearted, Cat spurns yet another betrothal her father arranges and runs away to her cousin in St. Andrews, vowing never to marry.

A Love Worth Fighting For
By the time Kenneth returns home, trouble is brewing in Scotland. Sent to St. Andrews as hostage for his clan to the Regent, Kenneth resents being exiled—until he encounters his lost love, Cat Rose. When war breaks out, they must escape. And even though he betrayed her with more than one mademoiselle, he’s the only man Cat trusts to get her home to the Highlands. Can she forgive his past and renew the love they once shared?

••••••••••

REVIEW: His Highland Love is a historical romance, and is book two in her His Highland Heart Series The opening scene is in St. Andrews and the year is 1411.

Kenneth Brodie is our male lead. He had run away to France some years ago, heartbroken by the refusal of James Rose to let him marry his youngest daughter. The two were in love and he had offered for her hand in marriage, only to be told she was too young to marry. However, her father soon betrothed her to another clan leader. This news caused Kenneth to snap and thinking his love was married to another, he ran to France to fight in wars. He learned much and became a fierce warrior as well as wiser about life.

When Kenneth returned to Scotland, his friend and Laird Iain Brodie was angry he’d run away and punished him by sending him as the clan’s token hostage as demanded by the Duke of Albany. He was sent to Stirling, but later was moved to St. Andrews and his clan did not know where he was or when he’d be returned.

The lead female in this book is Cat or Catherine Rose, daughter of James Rose their clan laird. Her mother passed away while she was a child and she was raised by her father and her sisters. After her heart was broken by his refusal of her love for Kenneth, she was betrothed to three others…each failing for one reason or another. She always thought Kenneth would find a way to take her from here, but found he’d left for France. She’d had enough of this and still dreaming of Kenneth, she ran away. Her sisters helped her get safely away, keeping her from an unwanted marriage. She ran to St. Andrews to some family friends and left her father a note telling him why she left, but not where she was going.

That’s the basic gist of the beginning. Author Willa Blair is an award winning author and does a really good telling of the stories. Readers are also granted a small look at Highland confrontations and wars, the politics that was rampant in those times. Many Lairds married their daughters and even sons off for alliances, some worked…some did not.

If you love romantic highland stories of warriors and danger, love and honor, you’ll find this story intriguing as well as enjoyable. The characters and their motives are complicated with obligations warring with emotions. We’re treated to some secondary characters that are equally interesting and will be featured in future novels. I thought it was an interesting look at how daughters were beginning to find a way around the arranged marriage thing and beginning to follow their hearts. The sisters trying to help each other by manipulating their stubborn father was also interesting. Not that the practice of arranging marriages would end anytime soon.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews

His Highland Heart
His Highland Love

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Georgianna S

Share