Highland Warrior: Heather McCollum

Title: Highland Warrior

Author: Heather McCollum

Publish Date: April 27th, 2021

Publisher: Entangled Publishing - Amara

Source: Huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC for review!

Joshua Sinclair, second brother of the mighty Sinclair clan of Northern Scotland, has been raised by his father to love war above all else. Frustrated with the way his older brother, the new chief, is bringing peace to the land, he strikes out on his own as a mercenary on Orkney Island and spends months helping a powerful Norse chief beat back threats to his rule.

Kristin Muir, the daughter of a fallen Viking chief, is determined to help her exiled people survive and grow in number on the northern isle. As a young widow in her broken clan, she must find a man to help her start the next generation of warriors by getting her with child. When she watches the massive Sinclair warrior defeat four thieves bent on taking his life, she chooses him.

Joshua doesn't question his good fortune when the beautiful warrior woman brings him back to a cottage sitting on the windswept land. Stormbound for days, they come together in explosive passion. But he's furious when she disappears as soon as the storm dies out. When he arrives back at the Norse Chief's castle to find Kristin a prisoner, being forced to wed the man who killed her father and stole their clan castle, his strategies put Kristin's people and her very life at risk. Joshua begins to question the need for war and the basis of his entire life.<

Penelope's Review

I've been getting right into the historical romance genre lately, and so when I saw this I knew it was something I wanted to read. I was right! This was a fun, sexy read with lots of layers and twists that I wasn't expecting. While this is technically part of a series, it's definitely one that you can read out of order as each book is based on different main characters and written well enough that you don't really feel like you are missing things. 

I am new to Heather McCollum, but I must say I am impressed! I thoroughly enjoyed the style of her writing, and loved all of the different elements she was able to incorporate into this book. It was funny, sensual, serious when it needed to be, and just had a really nice overall feeling to it. 

The book starts with Joshua leaving Robert Stuart's castle after training his men to fight and guard it. Joshua is on his way home when he meets Kara who decides after seeing him that she must get his help to train her people to fight Robert's tyranny. The book continues with Kara trying to convince Joshua to stay and help the people of Hillside.

I loved the sense of community we see from the people of Hillside - it felt so real and special! They were small in number, but large in heart. 

Kara Flett was the main female lead in this book and I found her to be such a great character. She was fiercely loyal to her people and willing to do whatever necessary to save them from Robert Stuart's tyranny. Joshua himself was absolutely hilarious, yet also intimidating and very straightforward. I loved that he always said exactly what came to mind and didn't give a hoot what those around him thought. He was sexy and bold, ruthless when necessary yet a bit of a softie at the same time. It was a great combination and written really well. 

The humour thrown into the book was really well placed - it was always at just the right time, and said in just the right way. I found myself snorting out loud in public and getting the oddest looks lol. I always love it when a book can do that, and take me completely off guard! Very interested to read other books by Heather now as I quite enjoyed this one. I will likely start with the first Sons of Sinclair book and then go from there! Definitely recommend it to anyone who loves romance with a Scottish twist xD 

Rating: 4/5 Devils