Highland Crown

May McGoldrick

Apr 2019 · Royal Highlander Book 1 · Sold by St. Martin's Paperbacks

About this eBook

Scottish pride, persuasion, and passion—this is Highland romance at its breathtaking best. From USA Today bestselling author May McGoldrick comes Highland Crown, the first book in the Royal Highlander series.

Inverness, 1820
Perched on the North Sea, this port town—by turns legendary and mythological—is a place where Highland rebels and English authorities clash in a mortal struggle for survival and dominance. Among the fray is a lovely young widow who possesses rare and special gifts.

WANTED: Isabella Drummond
A true beauty and trained physician, Isabella has inspired longing and mystery—and fury—in a great many men. Hunted by both the British government and Scottish rebels, she came to the Highlands in search of survival. But a dying ship’s captain will steer her fate into even stormier waters. . .and her heart into flames.

FOUND: Cinaed Mackintosh
Cast from his home as a child, Cinaed is a fierce soul whose allegiance is only to himself. . . until Isabella saved his life—and added more risk to her own. Now, the only way Cinaed can keep her safe is to seek refuge at Dalmigavie Castle, the Mackintosh family seat. But when the scandalous truth of his past comes out, any chance of Cinaed having a bright future with Isabella is thrown into complete darkness. What will these two ill-fated lovers have to sacrifice to be together...for eternity?

Ratings and reviews

The start of a new series set in the Highlands and follows the struggles as a female English physician is hiding from the soldiers who seek her. Isabella isn’t one to hold her tongue before sharing her thoughts, and while she isn’t strictly wrong in her proclamations, it also has brought her no friends and many searching for her, on both sides of the conflict. Inverness in the early 19th century is a hotbed of conspiracies, suspicions and survivors, and she is just one more evading both the crown and the home-grown rebels. Intelligent, fierce and wholly determined to be her own woman, she’s not going to go easily or temper her tongue. Cinead is a MacIntosh, although never actually living in the family home lands. Fierce, determined and wholly self-serving, he’s learned the hard way that he can rely on no one, and to that end, he’s unwilling to try. But, quickly he’s finding that there are some things he can’t do by himself, and Isabella may hold the key to his life, if only for the moment. She’s saved it, and her care is all that stands between him and no more, but he’ knows that neither of them is safe in the city. Heading to his clan at Dalmigavie castle, he can rest easier knowing that a measure of safety is there. Of course, the clan and castle also know his deepest secrets; secrets that could scuttle the budding relationship he and Isabella are building. McGoldrick cleverly mixes the historical fact and fiction here, adding bits of intrigue and danger surrounding the reasons Isabela is wanted by BOTH the Crown and the Rebels, as well as the overriding struggles between the Highlanders and the English becomes an intriguing and easily readable story. Detailed descriptions of the highlands raw beauty, a clever relationship developing between Isabella and Cinead with plenty of moments to enjoy. An interesting and intriguing start to a series. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Cast from his home as a child, Cinaed Mackintosh is a fierce soul whose allegiance is only to himself, he's made a life for himself after being sent to sea aged nine, now the proud owner of the Highland Crown a ship that travels across the Atlantic bringing amongst other things arms to the Highlanders. Then a storm hits & his ship flounders on a reef, whilst in the long boat Cinaed is shot & tumbles nto the sea only to be saved by Isabella. Isabella Drummond is thirty four & a widow running with a price on her head. A true beauty and trained physician who’s now hunted by both the British government and Scottish rebels, she came to the Highlands in search of survival. Now, the only way Cinaed can keep her safe is to seek refuge at Dalmigavie Castle, the Mackintosh family seat. This book is the start of a new series & what a start, another book to avoid starting late at night if you're planning to get any sleep. Enthralling & engrossing it grabbed me from the start & didn’t let go until the end. It had everything smuggling, fugitives, intrigue & of course romance. There are strong characters & the attraction between a slightly younger man & older woman sizzles. The revelation near the end was unexpected & surprising & made me want to read the next book immediately My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

Isabella Drummond is an unusual combination of strength and intelligence, caught up in the machinations of politics. Circumstances and luck, along with people who want justice for those caught, have given Isabella safehaven with Jean, an old wizened brusque woman. I enjoyed the character building the author did for this secondary character. At first, she’s concerned for her own skin, regrets helping her nephew by providing a hiding place for Isabella. But soon her priorities change as the story flies off the page. The old woman is part of a community which lives off what the sea coughs up. One night a ship carrying weapons for the rebels in Scotland crashes against the rocks. Villagers are eager to grab what they can, killing the survivors of the shipwreck. Cinaed, captain of the ship is almost killed by a bullet, but miraculously, he makes it to shore. As the villagers scan the shore for wreckage and survivors, Isabella takes it upon herself to try to save them man. Just one more body for the old woman to hide in her wee cottage. She hauls him to the cottage under cover of darkness with the help of the old woman Her actions of compassionate as a doctor to heal puts both herself and the old woman at peril. Even when Cinaed is close to death he's concerned for the women. He's a man of fine qualities. His actions go beyond his physical capacities, yet, his will makes him a survivor. The journey these three take together is one filled with honor, justice and determination to save each other and do what is right. To live they must escape the cottage... You won’t be disappointed in this adventurous, fast-paced, character-driven story. From the first chapter you are hooked through the events and kind of people who make this story zip along. The best and worst of man is portrayed. Cinaed truly finds himself in the Highlands among family which surprise him.

About the author

USA Today Bestselling Authors Nikoo and Jim wrote their first May McGoldrick romance using historical figures that Jim researched while earning a PhD in sixteenth-century Scottish and English literature. Nikoo, a mechanical engineer, is a born storyteller. She is all about characters and feeling. Jim is about action and sense of place. Together, they have crafted over forty fast-paced, conflict-filled historical and contemporary novels and two works of nonfiction under the pseudonyms May McGoldrick and Jan Coffey.