What do you think?
Rate this book
Midnight in Scotland #2
The Taming of a Highlander
A Scot on fire.
Wrongfully imprisoned and tortured by an unseen enemy, Broderick MacPherson lives for one purpose--punishing the villain who targeted him. But when a wayward English lass interrupts his revenge, he loses his enemy in the dark. Now, her compelled testimony could send Broderick back to the prison that nearly killed him. Unless they find a loophole--an inconvenient, shockingly tempting loophole.
A beauty under pressure.
For Kate Huxley, visiting her brother in the Scottish Highlands is a blissful escape from the stifling expectations of the marriage mart. Blissful, that is, until a scarred, beastly Highlander with a heartbreaking past frightens her out of her wits, making her a witness in a criminal inquiry.
A match to light the darkness.
Kate has no wish to testify against a man who's already suffered too much. But the only remedy is to become his wife. And she can't possibly marry such a surly, damaged man . . . can she? Well, perhaps. If it means she can stay in her beloved Scotland. And if he promises they'll never fall in love.
Contains mature themes.
Wrongfully imprisoned and tortured by an unseen enemy, Broderick MacPherson lives for one purpose--punishing the villain who targeted him. But when a wayward English lass interrupts his revenge, he loses his enemy in the dark. Now, her compelled testimony could send Broderick back to the prison that nearly killed him. Unless they find a loophole--an inconvenient, shockingly tempting loophole.
A beauty under pressure.
For Kate Huxley, visiting her brother in the Scottish Highlands is a blissful escape from the stifling expectations of the marriage mart. Blissful, that is, until a scarred, beastly Highlander with a heartbreaking past frightens her out of her wits, making her a witness in a criminal inquiry.
A match to light the darkness.
Kate has no wish to testify against a man who's already suffered too much. But the only remedy is to become his wife. And she can't possibly marry such a surly, damaged man . . . can she? Well, perhaps. If it means she can stay in her beloved Scotland. And if he promises they'll never fall in love.
Contains mature themes.
1 pages, Audio CD
First published December 8, 2020
309 people are currently reading
2142 people want to read
About the author
Elisa Braden
25 books1,709 followersReading romance novels came easily to Elisa Braden. Writing them? That took a little longer. After graduating with degrees in creative writing and history, Elisa spent too many years in “real” jobs writing T-shirt copy ... and other people’s resumes ... and articles about giftware displays. But that was before she woke up and started dreaming about the very unreal job of being a romance novelist. Better late than never.
Elisa lives in the Pacific Northwest, where you're constitutionally required to like the colors green and gray. Good thing she does. Other items on the "like" list include cute dogs, strong coffee, and epic movies. Of course, her favorite thing of all is hearing from readers who love her characters as much as she does.
If you're one of those, get in touch on Facebook (@authorelisabraden), visit her website (www.elisabraden.com), and - most importantly - be the first to hear about new releases, price specials, and awesome free bonuses by signing up for her email newsletter (bit.ly/ElisaNewsletter). It's easy, quick, and FREE.
Elisa lives in the Pacific Northwest, where you're constitutionally required to like the colors green and gray. Good thing she does. Other items on the "like" list include cute dogs, strong coffee, and epic movies. Of course, her favorite thing of all is hearing from readers who love her characters as much as she does.
If you're one of those, get in touch on Facebook (@authorelisabraden), visit her website (www.elisabraden.com), and - most importantly - be the first to hear about new releases, price specials, and awesome free bonuses by signing up for her email newsletter (bit.ly/ElisaNewsletter). It's easy, quick, and FREE.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 453 reviews
July 10, 2022
I adored the first book in this series. Now I have had this book and its almost time to return it to the library. I have started it 3 times and just lost interest and wandered off. Last night I sat down and read 40%. I was determined to finish it today. Elisa's character did not grab me, I found her to be quirky and odd and not in the fun way of Mad Annie. Also, it took waaaaay too long in the prison recap. I just skimmed some of it as I had read the first book. The later part of the story had some fun bits, but it just never drew me into the story where they were in love in days. Also I did not buy the reason for the marriage. The side character of the old magic woman again was a treat.
March 14, 2021
Well, I wish it was more than 4 stars, but I might be generous even giving it 4 stars.
I was REALLY looking forward to this story. But maybe it's bc I've been reading a REALLY BEST OF THE BEST book and therefore expectations are too high, but I mostly skipped this book. And I paid for it!!
It's just that 25% of the book was the hero's tortured time in prison. So for 25% of the book, the h didn't even meet the H. Now, I knew he was tortured in prison from book 1. I didn't need 25% of this book to go on about it. I think it would have been more effective written in other ways, maybe peppered throughout the first 50% or so.
The coming together of these 2 MCs... was FAST. They married and suddenly, she convinces him to tup her (and has a VERY FINE TIME despite being a virgin and despite him being BIG and used her rough... yeah... OK, that's believable), then she promptly falls in love when he treats her sweet.
FAST.
Meanwhile, not exactly sure when he fell for her, but suddenly there it was.
I found some of the back and forth to be strange and illogical. I don't know that adults would actually think this way. The heroine is strange. So was the h from the first book, but Annie's strangeness was endearing and funny while Kate's is just... weird.
So, not sure I care about the next book. Might be done with this series.
Good intense sex tho...
I was REALLY looking forward to this story. But maybe it's bc I've been reading a REALLY BEST OF THE BEST book and therefore expectations are too high, but I mostly skipped this book. And I paid for it!!
It's just that 25% of the book was the hero's tortured time in prison. So for 25% of the book, the h didn't even meet the H. Now, I knew he was tortured in prison from book 1. I didn't need 25% of this book to go on about it. I think it would have been more effective written in other ways, maybe peppered throughout the first 50% or so.
The coming together of these 2 MCs... was FAST. They married and suddenly, she convinces him to tup her (and has a VERY FINE TIME despite being a virgin and despite him being BIG and used her rough... yeah... OK, that's believable), then she promptly falls in love when he treats her sweet.
FAST.
Meanwhile, not exactly sure when he fell for her, but suddenly there it was.
I found some of the back and forth to be strange and illogical. I don't know that adults would actually think this way. The heroine is strange. So was the h from the first book, but Annie's strangeness was endearing and funny while Kate's is just... weird.
So, not sure I care about the next book. Might be done with this series.
Good intense sex tho...
September 9, 2021
I loved this one even more than the first 😍 a scarred hero, a writer heroine, and the way this man loved her was a thing of beauty. Just a complete delight from beginning to end.
March 21, 2023
I still love it 💕💕💕
4.75 Stars
If you love the Historical Romance genre, then Elisa Braden is right up there. Her books can only be called "a little bit of magic". I am posting this review after a re-read, and let me just say that I loved it all over again.
Quick Review
- Ms Braden's supreme talent presents you with a tale that is a wonderfully balanced combination of great writing, amazing plots, romance, angst, humour, and steam, but I think that she truly excels in the characters she creates. Every one of them is unique.
- I loved this story about a broken hero who meets a bubbly heroine and their marriage of convenience. Kate and Broderick were so adorable together that they had me sighing. This entire series has an underlying mystical pattern to it, along with an element of insta-love and meant-for-each-other. It was unusual and yet beautiful.
- Broderick, strong, alpha, enduring, tortured, poor Broderick. I loved him. His experience was so painful to read that I held my breath for the entire chapter. If ever there was a hero who deserved to exact savage revenge against the villain, it was Broderick. As ruthless as he was with Lockhart, he was lovingly sweet with Kate. Such a swoon-worthy, indulgent hero who reads Shakespeare, he might just give John Huxley a run for his money.
My husband has come to dislike Elisa Braden as he hates being compared to fictional characters. I make crazy demands to him every time I read her books, complain about him being unromantic and greedy woman that I am, and accept little gifts in the bargain. *hehehe insert evil laugh here*
- Kate was achingly sweet, sometimes a bit childish, and a ditsy heroine. Mostly it was charming, but it became annoying when her imagination ran rampant. Her misunderstanding was pointless, along with her constant need for verbal reassurance. I mean, girl, please pay attention to the actions of your man.
- Kate and Broderick's romance was sweet, their banter was fun, and their chemistry was a slow burn that jumped headfirst into steamy.
Special Mentions
- The Villain: Crazy, deranged guy
- The MacPhearson clan: I love these craggy bunch
- Mrs MacBean: Oh, how I love this weird old lady with her bride charms and fertility charms
My Recommendation
There is magic in the Highlands, and there is magic in Ms Braden's stories. They will always leave you with a satisfied smile on your face.
4.75 Stars
If you love the Historical Romance genre, then Elisa Braden is right up there. Her books can only be called "a little bit of magic". I am posting this review after a re-read, and let me just say that I loved it all over again.
Quick Review
- Ms Braden's supreme talent presents you with a tale that is a wonderfully balanced combination of great writing, amazing plots, romance, angst, humour, and steam, but I think that she truly excels in the characters she creates. Every one of them is unique.
- I loved this story about a broken hero who meets a bubbly heroine and their marriage of convenience. Kate and Broderick were so adorable together that they had me sighing. This entire series has an underlying mystical pattern to it, along with an element of insta-love and meant-for-each-other. It was unusual and yet beautiful.
- Broderick, strong, alpha, enduring, tortured, poor Broderick. I loved him. His experience was so painful to read that I held my breath for the entire chapter. If ever there was a hero who deserved to exact savage revenge against the villain, it was Broderick. As ruthless as he was with Lockhart, he was lovingly sweet with Kate. Such a swoon-worthy, indulgent hero who reads Shakespeare, he might just give John Huxley a run for his money.
My husband has come to dislike Elisa Braden as he hates being compared to fictional characters. I make crazy demands to him every time I read her books, complain about him being unromantic and greedy woman that I am, and accept little gifts in the bargain. *hehehe insert evil laugh here*
- Kate was achingly sweet, sometimes a bit childish, and a ditsy heroine. Mostly it was charming, but it became annoying when her imagination ran rampant. Her misunderstanding was pointless, along with her constant need for verbal reassurance. I mean, girl, please pay attention to the actions of your man.
- Kate and Broderick's romance was sweet, their banter was fun, and their chemistry was a slow burn that jumped headfirst into steamy.
Special Mentions
- The Villain: Crazy, deranged guy
- The MacPhearson clan: I love these craggy bunch
- Mrs MacBean: Oh, how I love this weird old lady with her bride charms and fertility charms
My Recommendation
There is magic in the Highlands, and there is magic in Ms Braden's stories. They will always leave you with a satisfied smile on your face.
December 8, 2020
A new release by Elisa Braden is always an event for me. I am always waiting on tenterhooks with a mixture of anticipation, eagerness, and dread. Dread because I know that when I get my hands on it, I will disappear within its pages till it is finished far too soon and then I am back to waiting in agony for the next instalment. Which is exactly what happened this time as well. I read through the night. I could not put it down. I have not read a book of hers that has disappointed yet.
The Taming of a Highlander is the second book in Elisa’s Midnight in Scotland series and tells the story of Broderick and Katie. It can be read as a stand-alone although it involves then follows on from events in book one [The Making of a Highlander] but all is explained so you don’t feel as if you have missed out. Obviously, reading the first book will have set you up for this as soon as you start reading.
Broderick MacPherson has survived unimaginable horrors having been wrongfully imprisoned and tortured by the machinations of an unseen enemy. His only aim in life now is to find the villain and mete out justice. Having cornered the enemy, he is accidentally interrupted in his ultimate vengeance by Lady Kate Huxley. His enemy disappears but Broderick is in real danger of being sent back to the prison that nearly broke him if she is forced to give her testimony. There is only one way to stop that from happening – and he is shockingly tempted.
Lady Kate Huxley is on a visit to her brother and his wife in the Scottish Highlands and she has fallen in love with the place. She dreads having to return to the monotonous rounds of the marriage mart. She has found her muse. When she witnesses the terrifying, scarred Highlander about to exact his vengeance she is frightened. When she learns of his heartbreaking past she does not want to make life worse for him. But the only way to stop that is to marry him. Can Kate shine a light into Broderick’s damaged heart and banish the darkness within?
Occasionally you read a book that touches every part of your soul. I cannot describe how wonderful this book is. This story really put me through the wringer. It is darker in tone than the first in the series and I was expecting that but when we are given the flashback to what actually happened to Broderick throughout his ordeal I was almost in tears. I almost didn’t want to read that part because you know what happens to him and it is beyond bearing but I was compelled to.
Broderick emerges from that a completely changed man physically and mentally and your heart just aches for him. He is so strong to survive what he did. I fell in love with Broderick. He went through such horrors, but he did not lose his courage, honour, kindness, or gentleness. He was focused on his revenge, but he didn’t throw away his relationships or withdraw from his family. His love for them shines through. Kate threw him for a loop but although he was at first surly and distant, he was never cruel. In fact, he recognised fairly quickly what Kate meant to him and he did everything to keep her protected.
I loved Kate. She is kind, sweet-natured, independent and will do anything for her loved ones. She is definitely a Huxley with that Huxley flush! She is also a ray of sunshine and joy in Broderick’s dark world. I love how she wants to protect Broderick and keep him from harm.
Although it is slightly darker and there are elements of heartrending sorrow in parts, the story is filled with humour, charm, passion, hope and whimsy. Elisa’s writing is superb. She has the ability to make the reader feel what the protagonists feel. With a word here and a sentence there the reader is submerged into the world she creates. She really is a master of her craft. The story is scattered with so many sweet and humorous moments that steal your heart – Kate’s habit of touching Broderick’s scarred face for one, Mrs MacBean’s Stoat Tonic - and I have to admit that I did not realise what ‘coo’ meant till Kate giggled over Broderick’s pronunciation!
The secondary cast of characters are as always wonderful. The MacPherson men – Angus, Alexander, Campbell and Rannoch, John and Annie, Sabella who breaks my heart, Magdelene, Francis and the fabulously eccentric Mrs MacBean. They all contribute to and enrich the story.
I was gifted an ARC of this but will be buying my own copy and am [as expected] waiting with bated breath for the next story in this series. It goes without saying that I highly recommend you read this book. I know it will be a permanent fixture on my reread list.
The Taming of a Highlander is the second book in Elisa’s Midnight in Scotland series and tells the story of Broderick and Katie. It can be read as a stand-alone although it involves then follows on from events in book one [The Making of a Highlander] but all is explained so you don’t feel as if you have missed out. Obviously, reading the first book will have set you up for this as soon as you start reading.
Broderick MacPherson has survived unimaginable horrors having been wrongfully imprisoned and tortured by the machinations of an unseen enemy. His only aim in life now is to find the villain and mete out justice. Having cornered the enemy, he is accidentally interrupted in his ultimate vengeance by Lady Kate Huxley. His enemy disappears but Broderick is in real danger of being sent back to the prison that nearly broke him if she is forced to give her testimony. There is only one way to stop that from happening – and he is shockingly tempted.
Lady Kate Huxley is on a visit to her brother and his wife in the Scottish Highlands and she has fallen in love with the place. She dreads having to return to the monotonous rounds of the marriage mart. She has found her muse. When she witnesses the terrifying, scarred Highlander about to exact his vengeance she is frightened. When she learns of his heartbreaking past she does not want to make life worse for him. But the only way to stop that is to marry him. Can Kate shine a light into Broderick’s damaged heart and banish the darkness within?
Occasionally you read a book that touches every part of your soul. I cannot describe how wonderful this book is. This story really put me through the wringer. It is darker in tone than the first in the series and I was expecting that but when we are given the flashback to what actually happened to Broderick throughout his ordeal I was almost in tears. I almost didn’t want to read that part because you know what happens to him and it is beyond bearing but I was compelled to.
Broderick emerges from that a completely changed man physically and mentally and your heart just aches for him. He is so strong to survive what he did. I fell in love with Broderick. He went through such horrors, but he did not lose his courage, honour, kindness, or gentleness. He was focused on his revenge, but he didn’t throw away his relationships or withdraw from his family. His love for them shines through. Kate threw him for a loop but although he was at first surly and distant, he was never cruel. In fact, he recognised fairly quickly what Kate meant to him and he did everything to keep her protected.
I loved Kate. She is kind, sweet-natured, independent and will do anything for her loved ones. She is definitely a Huxley with that Huxley flush! She is also a ray of sunshine and joy in Broderick’s dark world. I love how she wants to protect Broderick and keep him from harm.
Although it is slightly darker and there are elements of heartrending sorrow in parts, the story is filled with humour, charm, passion, hope and whimsy. Elisa’s writing is superb. She has the ability to make the reader feel what the protagonists feel. With a word here and a sentence there the reader is submerged into the world she creates. She really is a master of her craft. The story is scattered with so many sweet and humorous moments that steal your heart – Kate’s habit of touching Broderick’s scarred face for one, Mrs MacBean’s Stoat Tonic - and I have to admit that I did not realise what ‘coo’ meant till Kate giggled over Broderick’s pronunciation!
The secondary cast of characters are as always wonderful. The MacPherson men – Angus, Alexander, Campbell and Rannoch, John and Annie, Sabella who breaks my heart, Magdelene, Francis and the fabulously eccentric Mrs MacBean. They all contribute to and enrich the story.
I was gifted an ARC of this but will be buying my own copy and am [as expected] waiting with bated breath for the next story in this series. It goes without saying that I highly recommend you read this book. I know it will be a permanent fixture on my reread list.
November 26, 2022
⭐️⭐️⭐️
3 stars.
An OK read with interesting main characters.
But not as good as the first book in the series.
The heroine is kind of ditzy and has her head in the clouds.
The hero is damaged and scarred (both mentally and physically) but is still a good and caring man underneath.
The couple eventually had somewhat good chemistry…. But the romantic build up was rather lacking/rushed.
The Beauty & the Beast retelling aspect of the story was a little bit simplistic and tired.
( It would have been more interesting with an older heroine that had some more uniqueness to her appearance or/and person …. like maybe having distinguishing features like heterochromia etc.)
The villain and the violence in this book is rather over the top.
And the size and height difference (tiny heroine+huge hero) of the main characters is unoriginal and overused.
December 30, 2020
It took me a long time to read this book. I love Elisa Braden but this was not one of her best works.
It started of with all these chapters about Broderick’s past which I found throughly uninteresting.
And then heroine goes from being scared of him to being attracted to him from one chapter to another.
Their wedding didn’t make sense. Her infatuation and love for him didn’t make sense. I thought romance is about development of a relationship between two people. Relationship in this book was more like a switch that went from being off to on. Few Gaelic words were thrown in, few Scottish stereotypes to add the flavor and out comes the story. The meat of the story was all focused on the bad guy for whom I didn’t care for from the first book in the series and there was nothing in this book to make me change my mind.
I am not sure if it is me who was just not interested in this shallow story or whether this book is really that basic. Cheerful, idealistic girl from good family vs monster with scars but good heart in a plot to find revenge.
Would not recommend
It started of with all these chapters about Broderick’s past which I found throughly uninteresting.
And then heroine goes from being scared of him to being attracted to him from one chapter to another.
Their wedding didn’t make sense. Her infatuation and love for him didn’t make sense. I thought romance is about development of a relationship between two people. Relationship in this book was more like a switch that went from being off to on. Few Gaelic words were thrown in, few Scottish stereotypes to add the flavor and out comes the story. The meat of the story was all focused on the bad guy for whom I didn’t care for from the first book in the series and there was nothing in this book to make me change my mind.
I am not sure if it is me who was just not interested in this shallow story or whether this book is really that basic. Cheerful, idealistic girl from good family vs monster with scars but good heart in a plot to find revenge.
Would not recommend
December 14, 2020
Every time I read a book by this author, I'm left in a happy haze. She's absolutely one of my favorites.
This is the second book in her Midnight in Scotland series (which is brand new and I have to wait for the next one) which takes place near Inverness in a tiny town called, Glenscanadoo. It involves the McPherson family and and the Huxleys. Anyone who has read Braden's "Rescued From Ruin" series should love the Huxleys as much as I do. And the McPhersons are yet another quirky family that is highly entertaining and lovable.
In the last book we saw that Broderick McPherson was falsely accused of murder and sent to "The Bridewell", an infamous, horrific prison. Never tried, just held, he had been targeted by a minor lord who was jealous over his mistress's affection for Broderick. What a piece of shite that guy is. That's all I'll say about him.
Kate Huxley is the last of our Huxleys to find her match, which is something she doesn't want. She wants to be independent and fancies herself an author or playwright, one of the two or both. She's adorable and lovable and, like all the Huxleys, sees beneath the surface to the person of worth beneath. Which is good because her love match is horribly scarred and damaged as well.
Broderick and Kate work very well together and their love grew believably -- something at which Elisa Braden excels at writing.
I'm so psyched for this series to continue, I'm going to launch myself into a reread of her other books. Just the thing for my happy, hazy book hangover!
This is the second book in her Midnight in Scotland series (which is brand new and I have to wait for the next one) which takes place near Inverness in a tiny town called, Glenscanadoo. It involves the McPherson family and and the Huxleys. Anyone who has read Braden's "Rescued From Ruin" series should love the Huxleys as much as I do. And the McPhersons are yet another quirky family that is highly entertaining and lovable.
In the last book we saw that Broderick McPherson was falsely accused of murder and sent to "The Bridewell", an infamous, horrific prison. Never tried, just held, he had been targeted by a minor lord who was jealous over his mistress's affection for Broderick. What a piece of shite that guy is. That's all I'll say about him.
Kate Huxley is the last of our Huxleys to find her match, which is something she doesn't want. She wants to be independent and fancies herself an author or playwright, one of the two or both. She's adorable and lovable and, like all the Huxleys, sees beneath the surface to the person of worth beneath. Which is good because her love match is horribly scarred and damaged as well.
Broderick and Kate work very well together and their love grew believably -- something at which Elisa Braden excels at writing.
I'm so psyched for this series to continue, I'm going to launch myself into a reread of her other books. Just the thing for my happy, hazy book hangover!
February 24, 2025
A boatload of fun. Elisa Braden is almost always entertaining and worth reading, sometimes emotional, occasionally whimsical, and frequently funny. Her books are like popcorn movies, and deliver what they promise. I don’t expect emotional depth going in, so the brief passages when this book delivered some were a nice surprise.
The MMC in this second book in the Midnight in Scotland series is Broderick, the brother falsely and maliciously imprisoned and tortured because he bedded the mistress of an insanely possessive and powerful lord. The month-by-month recounting of his imprisonment certainly makes a reader desperate to see the scarred and broken Broderick freed and happy. Instead he is blackmailed into marrying Kate Huxley, an English lady with a serious aversion to traditional aristocratic marriages who witnesses Broderick trying to murder the lord who had him imprisoned and uses it to leverage him in to marriage.
Kate seems far too frivolous for Broderick but abracadabra! They went from begrudgingly married to hot sex and deep devotion in ten days without exchanging a word in between, which is this book’s main fail. If you can overlook that, or even just shrug it off, there’s a cool story, warm beddings, and a very evil villain to be conquered.
Speaking of villains, Sabella’s remembrances of the brother she once knew made for some of this book’s most touching moments. How tragic that her sweet brother became such an evil monster.
The MMC in this second book in the Midnight in Scotland series is Broderick, the brother falsely and maliciously imprisoned and tortured because he bedded the mistress of an insanely possessive and powerful lord. The month-by-month recounting of his imprisonment certainly makes a reader desperate to see the scarred and broken Broderick freed and happy. Instead he is blackmailed into marrying Kate Huxley, an English lady with a serious aversion to traditional aristocratic marriages who witnesses Broderick trying to murder the lord who had him imprisoned and uses it to leverage him in to marriage.
Kate seems far too frivolous for Broderick but abracadabra! They went from begrudgingly married to hot sex and deep devotion in ten days without exchanging a word in between, which is this book’s main fail. If you can overlook that, or even just shrug it off, there’s a cool story, warm beddings, and a very evil villain to be conquered.
Speaking of villains, Sabella’s remembrances of the brother she once knew made for some of this book’s most touching moments. How tragic that her sweet brother became such an evil monster.
December 24, 2020
Must read, I couldn’t put it down !
I love Elisa Braden’s books and this one is an other excellent story.
There was so much of humor , it was sweet, so emotional, romantic and HOT .
It was such a pleasure to read it . I loved the H/h both.
I always love how Elisa's heroines bring so much joy to the hero's life.
Elisa Braden becomes one of the best authors I have ever read...
I love Elisa Braden’s books and this one is an other excellent story.
There was so much of humor , it was sweet, so emotional, romantic and HOT .
It was such a pleasure to read it . I loved the H/h both.
I always love how Elisa's heroines bring so much joy to the hero's life.
Elisa Braden becomes one of the best authors I have ever read...
September 25, 2021
4.5☆☆☆☆☆
I absolutely adored the heroine and the Hero, hell, I loved all the characters. Even the villain was well built as a crazy and degenerate bastard.
I liked the love story, the steam was on point and all I can say is that I'm definitely waiting for the next book in the series.
P.S. this review is highly subjective as I'm a sucker for wounded heroes type of story and sassy heroines. 😍
I absolutely adored the heroine and the Hero, hell, I loved all the characters. Even the villain was well built as a crazy and degenerate bastard.
I liked the love story, the steam was on point and all I can say is that I'm definitely waiting for the next book in the series.
P.S. this review is highly subjective as I'm a sucker for wounded heroes type of story and sassy heroines. 😍
December 12, 2020
Guh, I have no words to describe how much I loved this book. This may be my favorite Elisa Braden to date. It had everything I love! Tortured hero, his woman in danger, beautiful avowals of love, great dialog between the H and h, some of which had me rolling. Just so much to love about this book.
I'm not in the headspace to write a detailed review but I was laughing with this book, crying, and just loving it.
Kate and Broderick get off to a rocky start but Kate, well, Kate is a unique individual and she just never stops. Broderick never had a chance with her. With a woman who calls falling in love a "mind infection" and doesn't quite understand how she succumbed to it.
Seriously, the interactions between these two is great. Kate says whatever is in her mind and Broderick is just baffled by it and well, it just makes these two adorable.
Not to make it seem like they had an easy time of it, they didn't. What Broderick went through in that prison was so heartbreaking. Annie described it best and it is so haunting:
💔 “The devil came for him. And the devil won.”
Broderick had much to overcome but Kate's spirit and her laugh, well, her laugh was his thing to obsess about as so many of Braden's past heroes have done with their loves, that he couldn't help but become entranced with her.
We do get a wee bit of angst, which doesn't last long at all but was brutal to read at the time. However, it isn't long before Broderick realizes what a fool he was and let's Kate no in no uncertain terms that he wants her and only her.
These two are just so sweet with each other and Broderick is so swoon worthy and doesn't even mean to be, he just wants to protect Kate.
I really loved this book and I am eager for the next in the series. My guess it will be which should be interesting since he can't stand her and he seems to be all she wants.
Quotes & Faves:
💖
💖 He squeezed her tighter and braced her nape, his eye flashing like lightning amidst thunderous black. “I’ll nae tolerate yer pain, mo chridhe. Ye must glow for me. My heart. My light. ’Tis all I have to keep me sane.”
💖 The man may not have said I love you to her by this point but my goodness his way with words says everything!
💖
💖 Gentle lips caressed hers. “Ye must awaken, mo chridhe. I’ll nae stay here without ye.”
I'm not in the headspace to write a detailed review but I was laughing with this book, crying, and just loving it.
Kate and Broderick get off to a rocky start but Kate, well, Kate is a unique individual and she just never stops. Broderick never had a chance with her. With a woman who calls falling in love a "mind infection" and doesn't quite understand how she succumbed to it.
Seriously, the interactions between these two is great. Kate says whatever is in her mind and Broderick is just baffled by it and well, it just makes these two adorable.
Not to make it seem like they had an easy time of it, they didn't. What Broderick went through in that prison was so heartbreaking. Annie described it best and it is so haunting:
💔 “The devil came for him. And the devil won.”
Broderick had much to overcome but Kate's spirit and her laugh, well, her laugh was his thing to obsess about as so many of Braden's past heroes have done with their loves, that he couldn't help but become entranced with her.
We do get a wee bit of angst, which doesn't last long at all but was brutal to read at the time. However, it isn't long before Broderick realizes what a fool he was and let's Kate no in no uncertain terms that he wants her and only her.
These two are just so sweet with each other and Broderick is so swoon worthy and doesn't even mean to be, he just wants to protect Kate.
I really loved this book and I am eager for the next in the series. My guess it will be which should be interesting since he can't stand her and he seems to be all she wants.
Quotes & Faves:
💖
💖 He squeezed her tighter and braced her nape, his eye flashing like lightning amidst thunderous black. “I’ll nae tolerate yer pain, mo chridhe. Ye must glow for me. My heart. My light. ’Tis all I have to keep me sane.”
💖 The man may not have said I love you to her by this point but my goodness his way with words says everything!
💖
💖 Gentle lips caressed hers. “Ye must awaken, mo chridhe. I’ll nae stay here without ye.”
December 4, 2020
Series: Midnight in Scotland
Publication Date: 12/8/20
Number of Pages: 404
Broderick MacPherson was wrongfully imprisoned because of the machinations of a very sick (in the head) man who had lots of money to buy or blackmail judges, jailers, criminals, etc. Broderick was horribly, horribly abused while he was jailed and would have died in that jail if not for the influence of his new English brother-in-law, John Huxley, who is heir to an earl. Broderick has been recuperating at home and doing his best to rebuild his strength with one single-minded purpose in mind. Revenge. The man who paid for all of his injuries and disfigurement will pay – with his life. He cannot be allowed to live because he’s after everyone Broderick loves – his entire family.
Katherine “Kate” Huxley is enamored of everything Scot – the land, the people, the language, the stories, the lochs, all of it. After attending the marriage of her brother John and Annie MacPherson, she decides to stay on with them for a time while her parents return to England. Kate will cause you to shake your head – at times she’s a bit of a ditz – as in thinking she’s a writer of plays/novels and other times singing whatever she’d normally be saying. At other times, she shows how loyal, loving, and caring she is. Kate is the only brightness in an otherwise very dark book. Kate is very determined NOT to fall victim to the “mind infection” that has afflicted all of her sisters and friends when they married and had a family. They all seemed to change and lose themselves in their new families – she doesn’t want to lose herself. “To Kate, love was indistinguishable from a consuming parasite of the mind.”
Kate has the habit of wandering the fields, woods, etc. all by herself – much to the consternation of her brother who is trying his best to keep her safe. During one such excursion, Kate becomes turned around – the night creeps in and rain starts – and then she sees a horrible monster – sees him clearly – and he’s beating another man to death. She scurries back and takes off running, but is soon rescued by her brother (or maybe it was a brother-in-law). When she describes what she saw, they all know it was Broderick who had cornered Kenneth Lockhart and proceeded with his revenge. The worry was that now Kate could be compelled to testify against Broderick – and the Sergeant on the case was relentless in his pursuit. He’d hound Kate until she gave the full information because one thing Kate could not do successfully was to prevaricate.
Kate has an ingenious solution – SHE decides she’ll marry Broderick, and when he refuses, she blackmails him into it. To her, it is the perfect solution. It allows her to stay in Scotland, to be near her brother, to keep her from having to testify against Broderick, and there is no chance either of them will be afflicted by the mind infection.
Kate and Broderick definitely had a hard-row-to-hoe in order to get to their HEA, but they finally got there. I thought the book was excellently written, the story well-plotted, and the characters were likable and compelling. The book was also very dark and intense. I had hoped some of the things Kate did would be enough to lighten the book a bit, but it was like a small candle burning in a huge dark cavern. Not quite enough. For my personal preferences, there would have been less graphic detail on the gruesome parts, but I still enjoyed the story and the characters.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Publication Date: 12/8/20
Number of Pages: 404
Broderick MacPherson was wrongfully imprisoned because of the machinations of a very sick (in the head) man who had lots of money to buy or blackmail judges, jailers, criminals, etc. Broderick was horribly, horribly abused while he was jailed and would have died in that jail if not for the influence of his new English brother-in-law, John Huxley, who is heir to an earl. Broderick has been recuperating at home and doing his best to rebuild his strength with one single-minded purpose in mind. Revenge. The man who paid for all of his injuries and disfigurement will pay – with his life. He cannot be allowed to live because he’s after everyone Broderick loves – his entire family.
Katherine “Kate” Huxley is enamored of everything Scot – the land, the people, the language, the stories, the lochs, all of it. After attending the marriage of her brother John and Annie MacPherson, she decides to stay on with them for a time while her parents return to England. Kate will cause you to shake your head – at times she’s a bit of a ditz – as in thinking she’s a writer of plays/novels and other times singing whatever she’d normally be saying. At other times, she shows how loyal, loving, and caring she is. Kate is the only brightness in an otherwise very dark book. Kate is very determined NOT to fall victim to the “mind infection” that has afflicted all of her sisters and friends when they married and had a family. They all seemed to change and lose themselves in their new families – she doesn’t want to lose herself. “To Kate, love was indistinguishable from a consuming parasite of the mind.”
Kate has the habit of wandering the fields, woods, etc. all by herself – much to the consternation of her brother who is trying his best to keep her safe. During one such excursion, Kate becomes turned around – the night creeps in and rain starts – and then she sees a horrible monster – sees him clearly – and he’s beating another man to death. She scurries back and takes off running, but is soon rescued by her brother (or maybe it was a brother-in-law). When she describes what she saw, they all know it was Broderick who had cornered Kenneth Lockhart and proceeded with his revenge. The worry was that now Kate could be compelled to testify against Broderick – and the Sergeant on the case was relentless in his pursuit. He’d hound Kate until she gave the full information because one thing Kate could not do successfully was to prevaricate.
Kate has an ingenious solution – SHE decides she’ll marry Broderick, and when he refuses, she blackmails him into it. To her, it is the perfect solution. It allows her to stay in Scotland, to be near her brother, to keep her from having to testify against Broderick, and there is no chance either of them will be afflicted by the mind infection.
Kate and Broderick definitely had a hard-row-to-hoe in order to get to their HEA, but they finally got there. I thought the book was excellently written, the story well-plotted, and the characters were likable and compelling. The book was also very dark and intense. I had hoped some of the things Kate did would be enough to lighten the book a bit, but it was like a small candle burning in a huge dark cavern. Not quite enough. For my personal preferences, there would have been less graphic detail on the gruesome parts, but I still enjoyed the story and the characters.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
June 28, 2024
“I’ll nae tolerate yer pain, mo chridhe. Ye must glow for me. My heart. My light. ’Tis all I have to keep me sane.”
Good lord this was magic. Elisa Braden's writing is witchcraft, I just know it. I don't know how else to explain it. The stories she comes up with, the characters, her prose, the tropes she uses and how she deploys them. It's just magic that weaves around you and pulls you in and you can't stop reading until it's over. Then you wanna do it all over again. There are very few authors that I've discovered over the years that can pull off this elusive skill, I can count them on my hand. Elisa Braden is one of them. If you haven't read anything by this author, I urge you to try her. It's an adventure. The way she weaves a story and you wonder how two people who are like night and day could possibly come together and she does it effortlessly. How we go from weary dislike to "I'd burn the whole world down for you" is just so satisfying to see. It's like wrapping yourself up in a warm blanket. Everything in the story serves a purpose down to every detail.
The man was deliberately obsessing her; she was certain of it. He even claimed not to mind her singing. Could there be a clearer sign of sinister intentions? She thought not.
Broderick MacPherson's journey from a broken tortured man wrongly imprisoned to besotted husband dazzled by his new English bride was an adventure of it's own. He's book husband material if I ever saw one. I adored him so so much. There's just something about a mountain of a man crumbling over the woman he loves that does things for me. This book made me cry. I never cry. Maybe it's cause I was sick in bed for a whole week who knows. But if I could hug a book to my chest it would be this one.
The opening of this book the author takes her time setting the stage and you do need a little patience. Broderick's time in prison does take up some page time which did make me a bit nervous but like always Braden is a very deliberate writer and the payoff is worth it. What the hero goes through is gruesome and awful and just made the obsessed villain with a grudge even more sinister. Since I'm horrible at doing a book I loved justice all I can say is read it, I don't want to give it away. It's Highlander Romance meets Shawshank Redemption. It's marriage of convenience, angst, emotion, humor, dark trauma, bluestocking heroine who sings off key, danger, suspense all rolled into one.
“Do you know why? Because I dream of boasting about the prize my darling husband hunted with his mighty prowess.”
“I’m missin’ an eye, Kate. My prowess isnae what it once was.”
Loved the heroine Katherine Huxley. Kate made for an adorable bubbly match to stoic blunt lumbering giant Broderick. For once, a heroine who didn't believe in love and calls it an "affliction". LOL The humor in this is delightful, I loved seeing her frazzle the hero. I also appreciate how much emphasis is put on the size of these MacPherson brothers, all over 6'5 tall with meaty hands, baritone voices and wide shoulders. Umpph. 🔥 I had no idea Katherine is baby sister to Jane, the heroine from The Truth About Cads and Dukes which delighted me. I love when characters interweave across series, I had no idea this was a spinoff from that world. Loved the whole MacPherson family and I really truly hope this series doesn't fall to the wayside unfinished after Book 3? I really hope not. :( Or if that was the plan all along that makes me sad because I'm already antsy for the remaining brothers' stories. She created such interesting set ups and possibilities for Alexander and Rannoch, I would be sad to see it go to waste. But yes, in conclusion: another favorite by Elisa Braden. Her writing is like crack for me and I need another hit.
“And thank God for that. Because I want ye.” His thumb stroked her cheek, brushed her lower lip with a sensual tug. “Do ye hear me? I want ye more than I’ve ever wanted any bluidy thing in my existence. Ye’re a fire in my blood, mo chridhe. These wee curls along yer cheeks. The way ye shine when ye smile. The sweet scent of ye and the sweeter way ye touch me when ye think I’m asleep.”
“That’s where I live. In the black. But every now and then, my wee, bonnie wife smiles, and a bit of light comes for a visit. Then, she laughs, and that light dances.” He quirked a smile of his own. “Ye’re a flame in my darkness. I wouldnae have predicted it, given how we met. But nothin’s ever been truer.”
“You mustn’t do this again,” she whispered, scarcely aware of what she was saying. “When you are cold, I shall warm you. Your place is with me. Not there. Here.” What was she babbling on about? Still half-asleep, she didn’t really know. The words welled up from nowhere. “You must stay with me forever. That was your promise. That I could love you forever.” Her throat tightened as she heard him sigh. Felt his shivering begin to ease. “You’re not there any longer. You are here.” She held him, kissed him mindlessly. Instinctively. “And when you sleep, I shall be your blanket.”
Also that cover? Holy moly. So gorgeous. 😳 Looks like something from a John William Waterhouse painting.
January 1, 2021
3.75/5. Ah, this one is a difficult one to rate. I adored The Making of a Highlander, easily the best new-release HR for me this year. There are much of the same charming humour and lovable characters. The affection that the MacPherson siblings share for one another just squeezes my heart. Broderick MacPherson has my heart. Tortured and disfigured while imprisoned and falsely accused of murder, his family secured his freedom and saved his life, but the handsome and affable ladies' man is no more. In his place is a raging, vengeful savage. Except Broderick is no savage.
Yes, he has his moment of violent possessiveness:
"If somebody touches ye apart from me, they’ll lose whatever part did the trespassin’.”
But he's really a kitten in a lion's body. A giant lion's body. It really didn't take long for his forced upon unwanted, tuneless, English bride to tame the beast within him.
“That’s where I live. In the black. But every now and then, my wee, bonnie wife smiles, and a bit of light comes for a visit. Then, she laughs, and that light dances.”
After her initial night-marish encounter with Broderick, Kate didn't take too long to see the man behind the scars and grunts. And the effervescent Kate is not going to be stopped by a nae or three.
“I thought that was what you wanted.” “What part of haud yer wheesht is confusin’, lass?” “The whole thing, really.” She lifted her chin. “You kissed me. How was I to think sensibly, let alone translate your nonsense Scottish commands into English?”
Kate's character was a bit of a downer for me. She was off with the fairies most of the time, having grandiose goals for herself and by doing so, failing to see that she was just fine as she was. I really don't get her fear given that her sisters (featuring in Rescued from Ruin series) are happy and content and fully realised women.
But Braden's writing is top notch with gems such as these that feel so authentic to the setting:
And when she’d mentioned having his bairns—“one or two,” mind—he’d gone hard enough to sharpen his dirk.
“The long nights turn a man’s ballocks into frozen baubles fit for naught but clangin’ together like two wee pebbles in a saggin’ sporran.”
And so rounded up.
Yes, he has his moment of violent possessiveness:
"If somebody touches ye apart from me, they’ll lose whatever part did the trespassin’.”
But he's really a kitten in a lion's body. A giant lion's body. It really didn't take long for his forced upon unwanted, tuneless, English bride to tame the beast within him.
“That’s where I live. In the black. But every now and then, my wee, bonnie wife smiles, and a bit of light comes for a visit. Then, she laughs, and that light dances.”
After her initial night-marish encounter with Broderick, Kate didn't take too long to see the man behind the scars and grunts. And the effervescent Kate is not going to be stopped by a nae or three.
“I thought that was what you wanted.” “What part of haud yer wheesht is confusin’, lass?” “The whole thing, really.” She lifted her chin. “You kissed me. How was I to think sensibly, let alone translate your nonsense Scottish commands into English?”
Kate's character was a bit of a downer for me. She was off with the fairies most of the time, having grandiose goals for herself and by doing so, failing to see that she was just fine as she was. I really don't get her fear given that her sisters (featuring in Rescued from Ruin series) are happy and content and fully realised women.
But Braden's writing is top notch with gems such as these that feel so authentic to the setting:
And when she’d mentioned having his bairns—“one or two,” mind—he’d gone hard enough to sharpen his dirk.
“The long nights turn a man’s ballocks into frozen baubles fit for naught but clangin’ together like two wee pebbles in a saggin’ sporran.”
And so rounded up.
September 24, 2021
When will "The Temptation of a Highlander" be released? MIDNIGHT IN Scotland series are a little bit paranormal but loved them like all Ms. Braden's book.
August 2, 2025
"In the Bridewell [prison], the only safe place was the Dark Cell. No window. No light. I came to crave it, would have the gaolers toss me in there as often as possible." He stroked her hair, knuckling the curls near her damp cheek. "That's where I live. In the black. But every now and then, my wee, bonnie wife smiles, and a bit of light comes for a visit. Then, she laughs, and that light dances." He quirked a smile of his own. "Ye're a flame in my darkness."
I really enjoyed the first book by Elisa Braden I read, so I was even more disappointed with this one. And that's saying something, because I'm always up for the marriage of convenience trope and a tortured, scarred hero.
Admittedly, I don't like revenge plots or adventure plots, and this book reminded me why: because the love story often gets lost in them. On top of that, the MCs are blind to their heartfelt love for each other, mistaking it for pure lust. Despite their blindness, the heroes are likeable overall, but not remarkable. As for the tortured hero – he's a big disappointment. Horrible things had happened to him, but even though you are told about his time in jail and the events there, you just don't feel his pain and despair, and trauma.
Overall, it's a solid but pretty forgettable book. Maybe just not my cup of tea.
2.5
I really enjoyed the first book by Elisa Braden I read, so I was even more disappointed with this one. And that's saying something, because I'm always up for the marriage of convenience trope and a tortured, scarred hero.
Admittedly, I don't like revenge plots or adventure plots, and this book reminded me why: because the love story often gets lost in them. On top of that, the MCs are blind to their heartfelt love for each other, mistaking it for pure lust. Despite their blindness, the heroes are likeable overall, but not remarkable. As for the tortured hero – he's a big disappointment. Horrible things had happened to him, but even though you are told about his time in jail and the events there, you just don't feel his pain and despair, and trauma.
Overall, it's a solid but pretty forgettable book. Maybe just not my cup of tea.
2.5
December 8, 2024
3.5 stars rounded up because the end was exciting.
But my gawd, the entire middle of this book was them having sex. Over and over. I got super bored with it, because enough is enough, I mean, we actually do need some plot at some point.
But when there was plot happening it was entertaining, the heroine was a bit too childlike for me, but the hero was a typical scarred grouch. The beginning did a lot of recapping of his time in prison which was unnecessarily long and involved a lot of time jumps forward by a month here and a month there. The intrigue plot was good and I am interested in continuing the series eventually.
This was a typical turn your brain of historical Scottish romance, I enjoyed it well enough.
But my gawd, the entire middle of this book was them having sex. Over and over. I got super bored with it, because enough is enough, I mean, we actually do need some plot at some point.
But when there was plot happening it was entertaining, the heroine was a bit too childlike for me, but the hero was a typical scarred grouch. The beginning did a lot of recapping of his time in prison which was unnecessarily long and involved a lot of time jumps forward by a month here and a month there. The intrigue plot was good and I am interested in continuing the series eventually.
This was a typical turn your brain of historical Scottish romance, I enjoyed it well enough.
September 23, 2021
**** 4.5 stars ****
This series is freaking awesome!!
Do I love these humongous highlanders?? Hell yes!
All the McPherson brothers are too good to be true. After reading the first book I KNEW Brodrick's story is gonna be intense and he needs a heroine with her own unique individuality. And Kate was the perfect work of fiction for our hero!❤️
Elisa Braden's written style is out of the world. She makes me fall in love with each and every scene of her books. Idk how even minute or simple screnes start to feel something extraordinary in her writing??
I'm desparately waiting for the story of other McPherson brothers.
This series is freaking awesome!!
Do I love these humongous highlanders?? Hell yes!
All the McPherson brothers are too good to be true. After reading the first book I KNEW Brodrick's story is gonna be intense and he needs a heroine with her own unique individuality. And Kate was the perfect work of fiction for our hero!❤️
Elisa Braden's written style is out of the world. She makes me fall in love with each and every scene of her books. Idk how even minute or simple screnes start to feel something extraordinary in her writing??
I'm desparately waiting for the story of other McPherson brothers.
October 19, 2022
4 1/2 Stars!
I love it. Maybe I'll come back and write a real review. But I really loved it! Happy reading!
I love it. Maybe I'll come back and write a real review. But I really loved it! Happy reading!
April 24, 2023
i loved loved loved this! It’s a historical set in Scotland with a huge highlander as our MMC and i absolutely LOVE HIM. It was also very spicy for a historical and lots of breeding talk. Ya gotta love it.
Broderick was imprisoned wrongfully because this dude was mad he slept with his mistress. He made brodericks life in prison hell and had people in the prison tortured him. He lost an eye and was badly disfigured. A year later our FMC witnesses something Broderick is doing and basically has to marry him so he doesn’t go back to jail. There’s an instant chemistry and attraction. I loved them together and they were just so precious!
What I loved so much was that there was this little element of paranormal-ish in it. There was a very old woman who always spoke in riddles and prophecy to our main characters are all of her “non sense” came true and it was so freakin cute.
Broderick was imprisoned wrongfully because this dude was mad he slept with his mistress. He made brodericks life in prison hell and had people in the prison tortured him. He lost an eye and was badly disfigured. A year later our FMC witnesses something Broderick is doing and basically has to marry him so he doesn’t go back to jail. There’s an instant chemistry and attraction. I loved them together and they were just so precious!
What I loved so much was that there was this little element of paranormal-ish in it. There was a very old woman who always spoke in riddles and prophecy to our main characters are all of her “non sense” came true and it was so freakin cute.
February 6, 2022
LET THE TAMING BEGIN
Magical and sexy. Broderick the brawny, scarred, protective, passionate, resilient and tender Hero was absolute perfection and my new BBF🏴🥵🤤. Our lovely heroine Kate Huxley was spirited, capable and unique. Loved this beautiful marriage of convenience story so much; through angst and resilience a solid and strong love forms in the enchanting Highlands. As always the writing was engrossing, delightful, witty, suspenseful and steamy delicious.
Another beauty from Elisa Braden.
Magical and sexy. Broderick the brawny, scarred, protective, passionate, resilient and tender Hero was absolute perfection and my new BBF🏴🥵🤤. Our lovely heroine Kate Huxley was spirited, capable and unique. Loved this beautiful marriage of convenience story so much; through angst and resilience a solid and strong love forms in the enchanting Highlands. As always the writing was engrossing, delightful, witty, suspenseful and steamy delicious.
Another beauty from Elisa Braden.
April 11, 2023
The Taming of a Highlander is the second book in Elisa Braden’s Midnight in Scotland series and I loved this one a lot more than the first in the series! I still love her Rescued from Ruin series as a whole more than this series, but this was such a solid book!
The story kicks off with Kate Huxley in the Scottish Highlands visiting her brother John, the hero of book 1 (The Making of a Highlander). Kate is a playwright who just wants to write and is feeling inspired in Scotland. She ends up meeting Broderick under unusual circumstances and since Kate doesn’t want to return to the marriage mart and would prefer to stay in Scotland, she offers up to marry him so she won’t have to testify against him or send in back to prison.
And omg is Broderick an amazing hero! I love how into Kate he was. He’s been wrongly imprisoned, is scarred and missing an eye (wears an eye patch), but deeply cares for those close to him. If you love a broody, scarred hero then Broderick delivers! Kate is a bit quirky at first and spirited, she did take a bit for me to get into. 😅
Between this series and Braden’s Rescued from Ruin series you get all of the Huxley siblings books: Annabelle (Ever Yours, Annabelle), Jane (The Truth About Cads and Dukes), Maureen (Confessions of a Dangerous Lord), Eugenia (A Marriage Made in Scandal), John (The Making of a Highlander), and now Kate (The Taming of a Highlander).
The story kicks off with Kate Huxley in the Scottish Highlands visiting her brother John, the hero of book 1 (The Making of a Highlander). Kate is a playwright who just wants to write and is feeling inspired in Scotland. She ends up meeting Broderick under unusual circumstances and since Kate doesn’t want to return to the marriage mart and would prefer to stay in Scotland, she offers up to marry him so she won’t have to testify against him or send in back to prison.
And omg is Broderick an amazing hero! I love how into Kate he was. He’s been wrongly imprisoned, is scarred and missing an eye (wears an eye patch), but deeply cares for those close to him. If you love a broody, scarred hero then Broderick delivers! Kate is a bit quirky at first and spirited, she did take a bit for me to get into. 😅
Between this series and Braden’s Rescued from Ruin series you get all of the Huxley siblings books: Annabelle (Ever Yours, Annabelle), Jane (The Truth About Cads and Dukes), Maureen (Confessions of a Dangerous Lord), Eugenia (A Marriage Made in Scandal), John (The Making of a Highlander), and now Kate (The Taming of a Highlander).
April 17, 2023
I enjoyed this a lot for my first historical romance in a long while, but I have an anxious desire to know if all quirky heroines who want to be creative are just as dumb as this heroine.
I’m sorry I really do hate shit-talking the heroine but she was making me cringe with her bursting into song like a Disney Princess to mumbling Shakespeare to herself because she’s cared of the hero.
But luckily the heroine stops being awkwardly quickly and just relatably horny. Sidebar: I love it anytime the heroine is literally appreciating the male beauty that is the hero 🤭 where she loses her train of thought. The humour was really cute.
My only notes is that I think there was more to squeeze from the conflict of the heroine not wanting to have the “mind disease” or falling in love. This is quickly handled and there is not really that much angst from the heroine feeling like the hero does not love her, which is the second conflict that arises towards the end.
Elissa Braden is definitely one of my favourite historical romance writers. I forget how obsessed I was with the Rescued From Ruin series. I wonder where the author is. It felt like she was setting up all the brothers for their own story.
I’m sorry I really do hate shit-talking the heroine but she was making me cringe with her bursting into song like a Disney Princess to mumbling Shakespeare to herself because she’s cared of the hero.
But luckily the heroine stops being awkwardly quickly and just relatably horny. Sidebar: I love it anytime the heroine is literally appreciating the male beauty that is the hero 🤭 where she loses her train of thought. The humour was really cute.
My only notes is that I think there was more to squeeze from the conflict of the heroine not wanting to have the “mind disease” or falling in love. This is quickly handled and there is not really that much angst from the heroine feeling like the hero does not love her, which is the second conflict that arises towards the end.
Elissa Braden is definitely one of my favourite historical romance writers. I forget how obsessed I was with the Rescued From Ruin series. I wonder where the author is. It felt like she was setting up all the brothers for their own story.
December 8, 2020
Wow what a sweet, HOT, lovely and romantic book. Really this book has everything. Kate doesn’t want to become her sisters by losing herself in love... but then love happens and she just can’t help it. Broderick can’t lose one more thing he cares about... so he tries his hardest not to care... until he does with all his heart then holds on with everything he has. This is classic grumpy hero and sunshine heroine and guess what? It works! So so well.
My only “complaint” here is that once again the story starts a bit slow. It takes a long time for Kate and Broderick to meet. They rehash and go into more detail on Broderick’s time at the Bridewell which is important to the plot but it was a bit of a slough to get though. There were parts that were repetitive to the plot in Annie and John’s book, the first highlander novel. This is GREAT if you want to read this book as a stand alone but definitely repetitive in spots if you’ve read the first book.
However once Kate and Broderick meet everything takes off at the speed of light! In spite of Broderick’s hesitancy, they get married really quickly. They fall in love nearly as quickly. And the sex scenes might be the hottest I’ve read outside erotic romance. I mean scorching!
The plot thickens and the characters begin to get to know each other as their drama unfolds. The plot continues somewhat from Annie’s story but there is really no need to read book 1 to follow the plot, it is pretty well developed and explained in this book from Broderick’s perspective.
While you can’t call this insta-love, the romance feels whirlwind for sure. They are both absolutely sweetheart and are immensely protective of each other. These two were a pure joy to watch fall in love!
I really recommend this book and more importantly getting past Broderick’s time in Bridewell, chapter 6 is where things pick up! Enjoy!
My only “complaint” here is that once again the story starts a bit slow. It takes a long time for Kate and Broderick to meet. They rehash and go into more detail on Broderick’s time at the Bridewell which is important to the plot but it was a bit of a slough to get though. There were parts that were repetitive to the plot in Annie and John’s book, the first highlander novel. This is GREAT if you want to read this book as a stand alone but definitely repetitive in spots if you’ve read the first book.
However once Kate and Broderick meet everything takes off at the speed of light! In spite of Broderick’s hesitancy, they get married really quickly. They fall in love nearly as quickly. And the sex scenes might be the hottest I’ve read outside erotic romance. I mean scorching!
The plot thickens and the characters begin to get to know each other as their drama unfolds. The plot continues somewhat from Annie’s story but there is really no need to read book 1 to follow the plot, it is pretty well developed and explained in this book from Broderick’s perspective.
While you can’t call this insta-love, the romance feels whirlwind for sure. They are both absolutely sweetheart and are immensely protective of each other. These two were a pure joy to watch fall in love!
I really recommend this book and more importantly getting past Broderick’s time in Bridewell, chapter 6 is where things pick up! Enjoy!
April 25, 2024
I received an ARC from the author. All opinions are my own.
The Taming of a Highlander follows John’s sister, Kate, and Annie’s step-brother Broderick. Kate stayed after her brother’s marriage and loves Scotland and wants it to be her home. Nothing is for her in England - her sisters all married, she doesn’t want to return to the marriage mart she’s been in for a few years. She first sees Broderick during an event that makes her fear him.
We get the back story that explains Broderick’s injuries. We learned some in book 1 but this detailed account makes you feel for all he went through. Now he’s bent on (understandable) revenge. They have a marriage of convenience of sorts. Convenient for her, but for him... well he makes it known he wants nothing to do with her. We all know how that’s going to turn out, right?
It was a wonderful story of the hero denying he wanted love and denying he was falling. Their opposite natures make for some great misunderstandings and dialogs. The backdrop of the revenge is a written well plot and acts as a way to draw the two closer. The only small issue I had was how quickly the heroine fell in love but it does fit in with her character and all the quirks, so it does make sense.
Braden is masterful as usual for the development of feelings between a hero and heroine. The falling was rewarding like Harrison or Chatham. Marriage of convenience, opposites attract, hero who doesn’t want to fall are all here as tropes. This series so far is different on tone than RFR. It is a bit more humor thrown into places. Both are wonderful and give both their own distinct mood. I’ll be rereading when it comes out!
Events in this book are tied to different points of view of events in the other book so it’s best to read in order.
The Taming of a Highlander follows John’s sister, Kate, and Annie’s step-brother Broderick. Kate stayed after her brother’s marriage and loves Scotland and wants it to be her home. Nothing is for her in England - her sisters all married, she doesn’t want to return to the marriage mart she’s been in for a few years. She first sees Broderick during an event that makes her fear him.
We get the back story that explains Broderick’s injuries. We learned some in book 1 but this detailed account makes you feel for all he went through. Now he’s bent on (understandable) revenge. They have a marriage of convenience of sorts. Convenient for her, but for him... well he makes it known he wants nothing to do with her. We all know how that’s going to turn out, right?
It was a wonderful story of the hero denying he wanted love and denying he was falling. Their opposite natures make for some great misunderstandings and dialogs. The backdrop of the revenge is a written well plot and acts as a way to draw the two closer. The only small issue I had was how quickly the heroine fell in love but it does fit in with her character and all the quirks, so it does make sense.
Braden is masterful as usual for the development of feelings between a hero and heroine. The falling was rewarding like Harrison or Chatham. Marriage of convenience, opposites attract, hero who doesn’t want to fall are all here as tropes. This series so far is different on tone than RFR. It is a bit more humor thrown into places. Both are wonderful and give both their own distinct mood. I’ll be rereading when it comes out!
Events in this book are tied to different points of view of events in the other book so it’s best to read in order.
December 3, 2020
♥️ I did not want to stop reading! ♥️
This is the second book in the Midnight in Scotland series. A beauty and beast, forced marriage scenario that can be read as a stand alone if you have not read The Making of a Highlander.
Broderick MacPherson has a dark and damaged soul, scarred and battered from his time in jail. He was wrongly accused and kept there because of bribery where he suffered horrible atrocities. He has healed physically and now seeks his revenge and is in the process of retribution when Kate Huxley interrupts.
Kate, John Huxley’s sister, stayed on in Scotland after his wedding to Annie Tulloch, Broderick’s stepsister. She did, so that she’s able to complete her Scottish novel/play. She’s naive and creative. She gets lost while out in the highlands and stumbles upon Broderick getting his revenge which terrifies her.
I enjoyed this book just as much as I did the first book, probably a little more because I tend to really like a dark brooding hero that falls in love and finds his HEA. I got all the feels while reading this book from heart break to laughter. It kept my attention so much so that I had to force myself to go to sleep one night sorry but 2020 has forced me to change my reading habits. But that being said I read through it quite quickly. I received an ARC of this book and chose to post my review.
This is the second book in the Midnight in Scotland series. A beauty and beast, forced marriage scenario that can be read as a stand alone if you have not read The Making of a Highlander.
Broderick MacPherson has a dark and damaged soul, scarred and battered from his time in jail. He was wrongly accused and kept there because of bribery where he suffered horrible atrocities. He has healed physically and now seeks his revenge and is in the process of retribution when Kate Huxley interrupts.
Kate, John Huxley’s sister, stayed on in Scotland after his wedding to Annie Tulloch, Broderick’s stepsister. She did, so that she’s able to complete her Scottish novel/play. She’s naive and creative. She gets lost while out in the highlands and stumbles upon Broderick getting his revenge which terrifies her.
I enjoyed this book just as much as I did the first book, probably a little more because I tend to really like a dark brooding hero that falls in love and finds his HEA. I got all the feels while reading this book from heart break to laughter. It kept my attention so much so that I had to force myself to go to sleep one night sorry but 2020 has forced me to change my reading habits. But that being said I read through it quite quickly. I received an ARC of this book and chose to post my review.
April 28, 2022
4.25 Stars
Maybe not as much as The Making of a Highlander (I mean, that was something else,) but I still really enjoyed this one. Broderick was everything I thought he would be after all he endured and Kate Huxley was the perfect heroine to help heal his brokenness. The villain was vile as ever and made for a suspenseful read. Personally, I think the audio is the perfect way to experience this series, because I love me some Scottish burr.
December 3, 2020
The Taming of a Highlander
Midnight in Scotland Series #2
Elisa Braden
https://www.facebook.com/authorelisab...
Release date 12/08/2020
Publisher Verity Jane Publishing
𝗕𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗯
A Scot on fire
Wrongfully imprisoned and tortured by an unseen enemy, Broderick MacPherson lives for one purpose—punishing the villain who targeted him. But when a wayward English lass interrupts his revenge, he loses his enemy in the dark. Now, her compelled testimony could send Broderick back to the prison that nearly killed him. Unless they find a loophole—an inconvenient, shockingly tempting loophole.
A beauty under pressure
For Kate Huxley, visiting her brother in the Scottish Highlands is a blissful escape from the stifling expectations of the marriage mart. Blissful, that is, until a scarred, beastly Highlander with a heartbreaking past frightens her out of her wits, making her a witness in a criminal inquiry.
A match to light the darkness
Kate has no wish to testify against a man who’s already suffered too much. But the only remedy is to become his wife. And she can’t possibly marry such a surly, damaged man … can she? Well, perhaps. If it means she can stay in her beloved Scotland. And if he promises they’ll never fall in love.
𝗠𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄
Will they find their way to one another in the night surrounding them ...
Why is it always so much more difficult to express my liking for one book more than an other.
While there is no big fuss about the author, I await each new release like a gold digger scrutinizes his sieve. Each is a gem to cherish, and this one no different.
This tale is more sober and more somber than its prequel, but it is still a recipient of the author’s narrative talent, of her skill to bring multidimensional flawed souls to life.
I do remember when the Rescued From Ruin series ended having a thought for the last two Huxleys remaining unmarried. When John was a figure of the shadows, Kate was very much there, a lively young girl then miss during the span of years unraveling the different romances.
Of all the Huxleys sisters, I thought her at first a bit on the meek side, afraid of her own shadow but it is a misleading impression, she is a babbling mess when stressed, her imaginative brain creates monsters when there is none, she is the worst liar possible while in fact she is made of magic, she sparks in the dark, she has been made to lighten even the darkest place, to ignite the closed place, to free the trapped soul and broken heart. She sees the good in people and by offering her backing, she releases them from their shackles. Why she is able to look past Broderick’s scars to comprehend the man behind the mask.
How I was heartbroken for Broderick in the previous book, the horrors he survived were just inconceivable, all because of someone crazy wounded ego.
Now disfigured, damaged, he is only breathing for his need to exact revenge. An eye for an eye.
He has no other reason to live, and knows it might end with his own demise.
Why he instantly builds a wall between him and Kate, she is too innocent to touch the beast he has become. But Kate is a force to be reckoned, she does not understand the meaning of “no”. And one brick at a time, she crumbles every wall he tries to erect between them.
This is a moving but also scorching hot tale of a lady with a magic heart mending one caress after an other the crippled soul of a man who has lost his way.
5 stars
I was granted an advance copy by the author, here is my true and unbiased opinion.
https://www.facebook.com/429830134272...
Midnight in Scotland Series #2
Elisa Braden
https://www.facebook.com/authorelisab...
Release date 12/08/2020
Publisher Verity Jane Publishing
𝗕𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗯
A Scot on fire
Wrongfully imprisoned and tortured by an unseen enemy, Broderick MacPherson lives for one purpose—punishing the villain who targeted him. But when a wayward English lass interrupts his revenge, he loses his enemy in the dark. Now, her compelled testimony could send Broderick back to the prison that nearly killed him. Unless they find a loophole—an inconvenient, shockingly tempting loophole.
A beauty under pressure
For Kate Huxley, visiting her brother in the Scottish Highlands is a blissful escape from the stifling expectations of the marriage mart. Blissful, that is, until a scarred, beastly Highlander with a heartbreaking past frightens her out of her wits, making her a witness in a criminal inquiry.
A match to light the darkness
Kate has no wish to testify against a man who’s already suffered too much. But the only remedy is to become his wife. And she can’t possibly marry such a surly, damaged man … can she? Well, perhaps. If it means she can stay in her beloved Scotland. And if he promises they’ll never fall in love.
𝗠𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄
Will they find their way to one another in the night surrounding them ...
Why is it always so much more difficult to express my liking for one book more than an other.
While there is no big fuss about the author, I await each new release like a gold digger scrutinizes his sieve. Each is a gem to cherish, and this one no different.
This tale is more sober and more somber than its prequel, but it is still a recipient of the author’s narrative talent, of her skill to bring multidimensional flawed souls to life.
I do remember when the Rescued From Ruin series ended having a thought for the last two Huxleys remaining unmarried. When John was a figure of the shadows, Kate was very much there, a lively young girl then miss during the span of years unraveling the different romances.
Of all the Huxleys sisters, I thought her at first a bit on the meek side, afraid of her own shadow but it is a misleading impression, she is a babbling mess when stressed, her imaginative brain creates monsters when there is none, she is the worst liar possible while in fact she is made of magic, she sparks in the dark, she has been made to lighten even the darkest place, to ignite the closed place, to free the trapped soul and broken heart. She sees the good in people and by offering her backing, she releases them from their shackles. Why she is able to look past Broderick’s scars to comprehend the man behind the mask.
How I was heartbroken for Broderick in the previous book, the horrors he survived were just inconceivable, all because of someone crazy wounded ego.
Now disfigured, damaged, he is only breathing for his need to exact revenge. An eye for an eye.
He has no other reason to live, and knows it might end with his own demise.
Why he instantly builds a wall between him and Kate, she is too innocent to touch the beast he has become. But Kate is a force to be reckoned, she does not understand the meaning of “no”. And one brick at a time, she crumbles every wall he tries to erect between them.
This is a moving but also scorching hot tale of a lady with a magic heart mending one caress after an other the crippled soul of a man who has lost his way.
5 stars
I was granted an advance copy by the author, here is my true and unbiased opinion.
https://www.facebook.com/429830134272...
December 3, 2020
Broderick and Kate are such a perfect couple. In this story you’re introduced to the pair of them but before the relationship can progress Elisa takes us on a detour that gives us a detailed reminder of where our broken hero has been and what he was up against.
"White light flashed moon-bright, and for a moment, she was a rabbit pinned by a wolf."
If you’re feeling like it’s been too long since you read the first book or you’re just now finding this series and haven’t read the first book at all. Don’t worry! Elisa makes sure no one is left behind and confused.
“What happened in Edinburgh?” Blue eyes opened. Overflowed. “The devil came for him. And the devil won.”
Once we get back to present day the story takes off like a shot and you’re reading a sweet and STEAMY (see: smoking hot smexytimes) that will make you swoon like crazy.
“There willnae be a bride! Any lass worth havin’ would take one look at me and flee in the other direction.”
I personally feel that the reason these two are so hot together is because of how they fill each other’s lives out of the bedroom. They’re each other’s missing puzzle piece.
"Kiss me, my bonnie Kate. Let me show ye why ye were always meant to be mine.”
Just like all of Elisa’s books there’s lots of humor and you’ll laugh out loud. There’s heartwarming family moments and rich descriptions of magical Scotland that makes you wish you could get on a plane and see it for yourself. Did I mention the heat? I did? Well it’s worth mentioning again. These two were fire!
"If there’s breath in my body, I’ll always find ye. No matter where ye are or how dark it seems.”
"White light flashed moon-bright, and for a moment, she was a rabbit pinned by a wolf."
If you’re feeling like it’s been too long since you read the first book or you’re just now finding this series and haven’t read the first book at all. Don’t worry! Elisa makes sure no one is left behind and confused.
“What happened in Edinburgh?” Blue eyes opened. Overflowed. “The devil came for him. And the devil won.”
Once we get back to present day the story takes off like a shot and you’re reading a sweet and STEAMY (see: smoking hot smexytimes) that will make you swoon like crazy.
“There willnae be a bride! Any lass worth havin’ would take one look at me and flee in the other direction.”
I personally feel that the reason these two are so hot together is because of how they fill each other’s lives out of the bedroom. They’re each other’s missing puzzle piece.
"Kiss me, my bonnie Kate. Let me show ye why ye were always meant to be mine.”
Just like all of Elisa’s books there’s lots of humor and you’ll laugh out loud. There’s heartwarming family moments and rich descriptions of magical Scotland that makes you wish you could get on a plane and see it for yourself. Did I mention the heat? I did? Well it’s worth mentioning again. These two were fire!
"If there’s breath in my body, I’ll always find ye. No matter where ye are or how dark it seems.”
Displaying 1 - 30 of 453 reviews