Thursday, May 12, 2022

Book Review: Highland Justice

I swear, the closer we get to summer, the less ambition I have to do anything. I thought I was doing pretty well yesterday, until I realized it was the day Jackson has tennis, I still haven't gone grocery shopping this week, and I realized I signed up to bring snacks to the dance recital this week and I haven't done that yet. Today it's really raining and storming so I clearly am not trying to go do any shopping today, so apparently, I have some delusion that I'll be able to do it all tomorrow.  

Because that never backfires on me. *insert panic laughing here*

Highland Justice - Heather McCollum

Without mercy, there is no love in this third installment of the Sons of Sinclair historical romance series by award-winning author Heather McCollum.

Gideon Sinclair, the third Sinclair brother, judges everything in stark terms of good and evil. There is nothing in between, and he is efficient at passing judgment without mercy. Now that his clan has conquered the warring Mackays, Gideon starts the process of integrating them into the Sinclair Clan. He will sort the people, punish the bad, and better the lives of the good. Judging is as easy to him as breathing, until he meets Cait Mackay, who steals his breath...along with his Sinclair ring.

A young widow, Cait Mackay has given her life over to helping the orphaned children in the clan. But love won’t put shoes on their cold feet and food in their stomachs. Cait tired years ago of seeing the rich get richer and the poor suffer more and more, so she decided to do something about it. An agile thief of the rich by night, when she is caught, the new conquering chief must decide her fate.

When Gideon realizes that the thief is the same woman who had already captured his attention, he hesitates for the first time in his life. Letting her get away with her deed leads to more trouble when she is accused of stealing from King James and is arrested. Now Gideon must commit his own crime against the Scottish crown if he is to save Cait. But can a man who was raised to honor and uphold justice break the law for the woman who’s stolen his heart?
What I have learned after reading this book is 1. I am not reading nearly enough historical romance books and 2. I apparently really like Scottish romances because I completely LOVED this book. It's part of a series, but of course, they are all stand-alones so you can jump in anywhere you'd like. After finishing this one though, I really do want to go back and get the first two. Also, author Heather McCollum is a new to me author, and I really liked her writing style and how she had the story flowing through all while weaving this relationship development with Cait and Gideon. 

I really liked both Cait and Gideon too, and I really wanted them to work out, even though there are a lot of obstacles in the way. The thing about historical romances that always throws me at first is how rigid the expectations everyone has put on them. Early on when the author is setting up Cait's character, the concept of her literally not marrying anyone so she can basically mother all of these orphans seemed a bit much, but then it almost has an Oliver Twist feel to it, but obviously she's not a boy. I can't knock Gideon and how black and white he is, because somehow that feels like a standard, so I guess that's me approving the patriarchy here (ha!), but I prefer a dark, brooding, grumpy male lead versus a sweet guy. Red flags are clearly my favorite. ;) 

Not only does this book feature the best first kiss ever, it also features a broken bed, so if that's any indication of the steam level, that basically says it all. I really liked this one a lot and I definitely need to read more of this series, and more from this author. 

Thank you to TLC Book Tours and Entangled Publishing for having me on this tour and providing a copy for review! (That cover isn't bad to look at either, if we're being honest.)

No comments: