Giveaway and Review: "Highlander Most Wanted"

"Highlander Most Wanted"
by Maya Banks

Publisher: Ballantine
Release Date: March 19, 2013
Source: sent by publicist (TLC)

My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

Summary from goodreads.com:

In Highlander Most Wanted, a reclusive woman content to live in the shadows shows a Highland warrior the true meaning of love.

Genevieve McInnes is locked behind the fortified walls of McHugh Keep, captive of a cruel laird who takes great pleasure in ruining her for any other man. Yet when Bowen Montgomery storms the gates on a mission of clan warfare, Genevieve finds that her spirit is bent but not broken. Still, her path toward freedom remains uncertain. Unable to bear the shame of returning to a family that believes her dead or to abandon others at the keep to an imposing new laird, Genevieve opts for the peaceful life of an abbess. But Bowen’s rugged sensuality stirs something deep inside her that longs to be awakened by his patient, gentle caress—something warm, wicked, and tempting.

Bowen seizes his enemy’s keep, unprepared for the brooding and reclusive woman who captures his heart. He’s enchanted by her fierce determination, her unusual beauty, and her quiet, unfailing strength. But wooing her will take more than a seasoned seducer’s skill. For loving Genevieve, he discovers, means giving her back the freedom that was stolen from her—even if it means losing her forever.

My Review:

I think my enjoyment of this one suffered a little because I read this book and the previous book in the series (Never Seduce a Scot, review to come) back to back. The result was that this book seemed very similar to its predecessor, but I enjoyed Never Seduce a Scot much more. Both books feature an injured woman, reviled and ridiculed by the rest of the clan, and the Montgomery brothers zoom in to the rescue. However, in this book the heroine was in much worse shape emotionally when the hero meets her. Genevieve's life is very sad indeed.

Genevieve's story was a little too intense for me, personally. She had been through SO much. When I read a historical romance, I really want more of an escape, instead of having to read so much about abuse and offering to sell one's body. Bowen and Genevieve's relationship was perfectly sweet and genuine, it was just her past that was difficult to read for me. Many fans will love the redemption that Genevieve gains through her love with Bowen.

I feel like I got to know Bowen much more in the previous book. If I hadn't read it, I might feel like I didn't know much about him. He seemed so stoic here, while full of life before.

On one hand, I totally understand that this formula works for the author. It is a great formula, and one we don't see that often in historicals. Usually it's the man who is scarred or tortured, and the woman learns to love him. So it is fantastic to see a man loving a seemingly less than perfect lady. However, I would have rather spaced my reading of the books out a bit more, then it would have seemed more fresh. I can see how Banks is the go-to author for many fans of this type of story. She writes intense stories very well.


Main Characters: 3/5
Supporting Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Romance: 4/5
Uniqueness: 3/5
Cover: 5/5
Writing: 4/5


Bottom Line: Fans of the author will love this new addition to the series, as will fans of stories about scarred heroines and heroes.




Find Maya Banks on the web:

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Highlander-Most-Wanted-Montgomerys-Armstrongs/dp/0345533240

Maya's website:  http://mayabanks.com/

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GIVEAWAY RULES

The publicist has generously provided a copy of "Highlander Most Wanted" to a lucky reader of my blog.

All you have to do is follow my blog publicly and fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Please follow publicly or I can't tell that you are following :)

• US/CAN only
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• Books will be mailed out by the publicist/publisher
• Must be 18 or over 

• Ends April 21

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