Margo Maguire

**Courtesy of CK2S Kwips & Kritiques**

There is only one way Brogan’s clan may defeat their enemy – they must find and retrieve the Blood Stones, which have been hidden in different times and places. Brogan’s search takes him to England approximately 900 centuries into the future where he cannot use any of his sorcery lest he be discovered by his enemies before he has found the precious talisman.

But in his quest to find the magical stone, he finds something even more precious – Sarah show more Granger. She stirs him in ways no woman in his own time ever has. If he didn’t know better, he would say she was his céile mate.

Sarah doesn’t know quite what to think of the nearly naked stranger who washed up on their beach. She does know he isn’t telling her everything, although she finds she trusts him in spite of that knowledge. And she can’t deny the way her body responds to the mysterious man…

I absolutely loved A Warrior’s Taking, the first book in Margo Maguire’s The Sorcerer series! Although this is the first time I have read any of Maguire’s work, I am captivated by both the story and her writing talent!

Sarah is an admirable heroine, persevering in the face of adversity time and again, and never losing her empathy for others even as she finds herself scorned by her peers and abandoned to an unfortunate fate after the death of her father. Having finally found a true home caring for her late cousin’s family, she will do anything to protect and care for the children left in her care when they are orphaned, no matter the sacrifice or hardship for herself.

Brogan is the kind of hero women fantasize about – strong, mysterious, noble, and still a good bit roguish in all the ways that count! Fighting his intense attraction to Sarah, he is determined to do right by her. His plan? Knowing he can’t be with her himself, he decides he must help her find a husband, or at least teach her the ways to attract a man. As with all good love stories, his plans soon backfire on him, as he finds himself hopelessly in love with the winsome Sarah.

Ms. Maguire does a magnificent job of blending a bit of paranormal fantasy with an old-fashioned historical, weaving a world that is wonderfully believable. The romance between our lead couple rings true, and the suspense is intriguing. As I came to the story’s end, I found myself disappointed that it had finished, but quickly cheered myself with the knowledge that this is only the first in a series I am definitely going to be reading more of! show less

This was a cute little regency romance. It had the potential to be much more than what it was however. The hero, Nash, was a third son who inherited an earldom after the suspicious deaths of his older brothers within a year of each other. Ashby, the estate that he inherits is incredibly run down. More so than I think would be realistic from one year of mismanagement by the second oldest brother and one additional year of being looked after by only a steward, a housekeeper and a child's show more nurse. The descriptions were more in line with a house and estate which had been standing empty for 10 or more years.

Nash was wounded at the Battle of Waterloo and his face and shoulder were burned. Here the author was brave enough to say that the man's face was burned including his cheek, over his eye and up to his forehead and his eye was damaged and is cloudy. Many times a man who is scarred is only scarred a little and then we are told that he is horribly disfigured. I get frustrated when an author tries to tell me that a rich titled man is turned away from in disgust because a bit of the fleshy part of his cheek might be scarred. Have the courage of your convictions. But the author did carry it a bit too far. No woman had looked at him without disgust in so long that he had begun to despair that none ever would find him attractive again. Is it really that uncommon for a man to go without any nooky for a year? I'm not feeling very sorry for you. He is not written as a libertine particularly. He's an earl. Surely he knows that women will overlook the face. Particularly women who might be getting a monetary benefit from it. Like say a prostitute or even a bar maid to whom he would be going to toss a coin.

The heroine is a woman who was raised as a vicar's daughter but finds out she was a foundling when her mother dies. She comes as a governess to Nash's house to take care of his little niece. Obviously she is going to turn out to be the long lost granddaughter of the duke whom we know is looking for his granddaughters from the preface to the novel. Her actions are not true to those of a strictly brought up girl. She has spent her whole life being quite and demure but has no trouble acting sassy etc. Except that her level of sassyness is not very high even then. She is not a strongly written character.

Problems with the book. There is not a lot of interaction between the hero and the heroine. The conversations are short and not that interesting. Then they seem to spend pages thinking in convoluted circles about each other. I don't know why they fell in love. I certainly didn't see enough there. She is a properly brought up young virgin yet she gives in to him sexually with maybe one obligatory thought of maybe she shouldn't have done that. She gives no thought to her reputation while living with 6 or 7 men with not another female in the house. She gives no thought to her reputation while sleeping with the hero. She gives no real thought to maybe getting pregnant.

He keeps thinking I can't take advantage of her. But he does so with very little emotion shown. No angst and very little self condemnation that he shouldn't have done it. I expected him, as a gentleman, to offer marriage the very next day. This is a regency after all. But no, he blythely sleeps with her again and again. I didn't have much respect for him.

In the end she decides to chase after him and persuade him to marry her. That just gave me a yucky feeling like he done her wrong and she shouldn't run after him. He should have been begging her to marry him. In fact, he almost leaves it too late to be acceptable.

The ending is very rushed. Expose the bad guy, propose marriage while running down some stairs after she had pleaded with you to love her. Find out about the duke looking for her. Elope. Done.

Whoa, I really expected a scene where she meets her grandfather.

I felt like there were several bits of story that started and then just went nowhere. The letter to the old suitor. The seeds and interest in gardening. The painting abilities of the young girl. The let's get the house ready for a party we're never going to have. The lets find out who all was at the hunting party where the oldest brother was shot but not actually talk to any of them. The book in general needed more focus, a stronger sense of being in the regency period, more interaction between the hero and the heroine during which interaction their love develops. Less actual love scenes and more falling in love and yearning to be with each other.

The love scenes were nothing special. There was no feelings involved on the part of the hero or the heroine and thus no real feeling on the part of the reader. I don't read a regency for smut or explicit scenes. I want to experience the couple falling in love. There was great potential for angst but it just flew right by. Denial of the physical expression of love is stronger than just giving in to it. So all int all it was cute but not memorable. show less

Lady Isabel is abducted by Scots from her father's castle the night she was supposed to choose a husband. Her elected husband is also abducted with her. On their rescue comes the formidable knight Anvrai d'Arques of powerful physique but scarred in the face and missing one eye. After many days they manage to escape the Scots but they have to get back to England through enemy territory. During their journey through Scotland, Isabel gets to know both men better and is surprised with her show more feelings. She grew up in a convent and always felt a sensitive, peace-loving courtier would be the best match for her; so why is she now attracted to the hardened warrior beside her? Anvrai on the other hand, has long ago realised that no woman will ever come to his bed willingly and certainly none will have him as a husband. He has turned into a powerful warrior and knows that he'll never enjoy a family of his own. And though lady Isabel seems different that any womam he's met and is not so repulsed by him, she has said she's going to marry that weak but handsome and rich fiance of hers. Why would she ever give him up for a poor, scarred knight who does not have a property of his own?There is a lot of action as those three make their journey through Scotland to get to friendly land. There is almost pulpable passion and heat between Isabel and Anvrai; you can really feel the sparks between them and even when the're just kissing, it's HOT. And the most refreshing part was that Isabel is not a weak, timid, shivering maid; she plans the escape from the Scots, helps Anvrai with the physical tasks, sews their wounds without hysterics, learns to cook and carries her own bag. I really couldn't put this down and medievals are not even my favorite genre. A keeper for me. show less

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I am a sucker for the romance, history, and mystery mix. They get me every time. And when they are well written, those authors have found a fan. I am now a fan of Margo Maguire, author of The Warrior Laird.

Set back in the 1700s, this is a story of a woman who finds herself unwanted by her own parents and siblings. Her decision to save her little sister’s life from her father makes her even more of an outcast. The final blow was her father’s decision to send her little sister away show more and send the defiant daughter away to be married to an old man. They underestimated her.

As she is led to her groom’s home, she manages to escape but not before meeting a laird that does more than please the eye. Her own actions bring him closer to her where they both find fulfillment of prophesies. They only have to reach the goal and stay alive in the process.

That was all very hard to say without turning it into a spoiler. But I think I succeeded. I found this a really good read. Even as an advance reader’s copy, the formatting and editing was great. This is not always the case. The story flowed smoothly with good character development. Ms. Maguire has a way of drawing the reader in. I felt like I was standing in the highlands. I could almost smell the air around the characters. Truly amazing.

I highly recommend this book. It would be great for a summer read or a romance book club. There are some minor graphic scenes of intimacy. They are short, but present. If you don’t mind skipping a page or two then go ahead and read the book. If any mention of intimacy bothers you, I sadly suggest you skip this recommendation. Though you will miss a great historical romance.

Note: I was given this book by the publisher with no expectation of a positive review. show less