Giveaway and Review: "The Guardian"

"The Guardian"
 by Margaret Mallory

Publisher: Forever
Release Date: May 1, 2011

Source: sent by publisher

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
 
Summary from goodreads.com:
Four young Highlanders - Connor, Ian, Alex and Duncan - hurry home from France after hearing news of the disastrous Battle of Flodden against Henry VIII's forces. With his father among the dead, Connor must take his place as chieftain. Before he can lead his clan through the perilous times ahead, however, he must first dislodge the usurper who has taken his family's castle and claimed leadership of the clan. Connor's cousins and best friend, Ian, Alex and Duncan, will stand shoulder to shoulder with him in every fight. They are willing to give their lives for their clan and their new chieftain. But taking wives to serve the clan's interests is a different matter altogether...

My Review:

I was really looking forward to this book because I loved the author's previous book, "Knight of Passion" (review here). Most of the reason why I loved that book so much was because I loved the hero, Jamie, and the romance. Here, I was disappointed in both of those aspects that I was really looking forward to.

There were many great characters in this book, but the hero, Ian, wasn't one of them. Sileas had what I like to call "Twilight" syndrome, where she is surrounded by great guys who respect her and care about her but she 'loves' the one guy who treats her disrespectfully.

Sileas spends more time with Ian's brother, Niall, who I absolutely love, than she does with Ian. Niall is so sweet and caring, even accompanying her on a dangerous trek. But she's not into him. She also is very happy when she's around Alex, Ian's cousin. Alex treats her well when Ian doesn't and picks up the slack for his cousin, trying to smooth things over. Also, Sileas is always laughing and happy around Alex but not around Ian. I would love to read the books where these two upstanding young men are the center of the story.

I really liked Sileas' relationship with Ian's family. They really were her family too, and there was a lot of love there. I don't think Ian would have had much of a chance with Sileas if it weren't for her bond with his family.


Main Characters: 3/5
Supporting Characters: 4/5

Setting: 3/5

Romance: 3/5

Uniqueness: 3/5
Cover: 3/5 (not really a fan of this one, where's the romance!?)
Writing: 4/5



Bottom Line: I felt like all Sileas and Ian had was the physical bond, and it just wasn't enough for me. I would have loved to see the heroine with either Niall or Alex, who both clearly respected her and cared about her.





GIVEAWAY RULES:

Hachette books has generously provided three copies of this historical romance for readers of my blog!

All you have to do is follow my blog publicly and leave a comment on this review with your email address! Please follow publicly or I can't tell that you are following :) Also, if you aren't comfortable leaving your email here, go ahead and leave a comment and then send me an email with your email addy
Extra Entries:
+1 Tweet this contest (leave link in comment)
+1 Post link in sidebar of your blog (leave link in comment)

Rules:
  • US and Canada only
  • No PO Boxes please
  • Must be a follower to enter
  • Extra entries are optional and can all be left in the same comment
  • Leave a comment with your email address
  • Books will be mailed out by Hachette
  • Must be 18 or over 
  • Ends Wed May 25
Thanks to everyone for entering! Good luck!

22 comments

  1. gfc rlrlaney
    rlrlaney@yahoo.com
    thanks for the review

    ReplyDelete
  2. The whole "twilight" aspect kind of put me off it

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the review and giveaway. I would like to check this book out.

    gfc follower

    rjofusATgmailDOTcom

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love Highlander Romances and this one caught my eye. Thanks for the review and giveaway.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Whoops...forgot my email.
    rjofus AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  6. From everything I've been hearing around the web, this sounds like a great story. I'm looking forward to reading The Guardian.

    Barbed1951 at aol dot com

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm always reading all sorts of romance books and I do love highlander romance books. Thanks for the great review. I would love to win this book. That cover is great, don't you think?

    miztik_rose@yahoo.com

    I am a gfc follower.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am a follower and would love to be entered.

    robin [at] intensewhisper [dot] com

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a great giveaway! This novel sounds good! Thanks:)

    I follow!

    natashajennex(at)gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Just dropping by to share the love of Margaret. She's awesome. No need to enter me in the contest and I've already got a copy. Keep on writing, Margaret. You're books are the most excellent!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Just dropping by to share the love of Margaret. She's awesome. No need to enter me in the contest and I've already got a copy. Keep on writing, Margaret. You're books are the most excellent!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I don't think it's too bad to be surrounded by great guys :D I'm following on GFC @headlessfowl.

    headlessfowl at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Got to love those highlanders. Great review!!

    (not an entry)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I want to read this one because I loved Margaret Mallory's other books. Thanks for the giveaway!

    jenalang@live.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Definitely a book I would enjoy reading. Please enter me to win this and thanks!

    LadyVampire2u AT gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  16. gfc follower

    felecia@twinoaksfl.org

    ReplyDelete
  17. I've been wanting to read this for a while now. Great to read what you thought about it! Thanks for the giveaway, please count me in!

    chibipooh(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  18. oh no! Ian's an Edward? lol! Love those highlander stories though!

    meredithfl at gmail dot com
    GFC follower

    ReplyDelete
  19. Oh Highlander romance. Nice!

    I'm a gfc follower
    books (dot) things (at) yahoo (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  20. I loved this one, but can see how Ian isn’t for everyone :) Great review, Carrie!

    P.S Alex is my favorite of the four. I wouldn’t have minded seeing him with Sileas either.

    ReplyDelete
  21. GFC Follower. Would really enjoy this.
    pbclark(at)netins(dot)net

    ReplyDelete
  22. There are so many great Highlander books coming out right now...this one is sounds like no exception!

    I am a GFC follower!

    mmafsmith(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for your lovely comments!