New Review: Jan Cox Speas’s BRIDE OF THE MACHUGH – A Highland Classic and an Absorbing Love Story from 17th Century Scotland!

My friends on Goodreads recommended this book to me, and I was happy to find it. A bestseller when it was first published in 1954, it has been off the market for some time. The edition I read was published in 1978, available used at the present time. It’s worth obtaining a copy, trust me. If I could give this novel more than 5 stars, I would. It’s a keeper and so well written it would be a good model for authors today. Even though there are no love scenes per se, there is a lot of sexual tension and much romance to satisfy the historical romance lover. The writing is simply beautiful.

Set in the Scottish Highlands in 1614, it tells the story of Elspeth Lamond, a beautiful young woman, the product of a handfast 20 years earlier between her Campbell mother and Lamond father, both Scots. Raised in England, she is a favorite at Queen Anne’s court. Her uncle, the powerful Archibald Campbell, Earl of Argyll, has plans to marry her off to a rich, titled man. But to fulfill a promise to her dying mother, she leaves London for the western coast of Scotland to Inverary, the home of the Campbells, her mother’s clan. On the way, she is abducted by the MacHughs and held at Rathmor castle where she was born, the lair of her father Robert Lamond and his ally, Sir Alexander MacHugh, Chief of Clan MacHugh—the feared “Black MacHugh.”

Alex is attracted to the strong willed Elspeth—a perfect match for him—from the very beginning. He wants her as “his lass,” but does not speak of his love nor offer her marriage. Elspeth is exasperated by the arrogant Scots chieftain who kisses her whenever he likes (though she does not reject those kisses, oh no). Then she discovers she likes the Scots who surround her and the wilds of the Highlands—and she likes the MacHugh. As her father tells her of the qualities that make Alex stand out as a leader, respected by all, he remarks, “…Scotland is a quarrelsome place at times, my dear Elspeth, and a man must look sharp to keep his head intact upon his shoulders.”

Schemes and treacheries abound in this well told tale, not only from Elspeth’s uncle but from Alex’s mistress, the beautiful Kate who would force him to wed her by getting with child. Alex takes a stand with the MacDonalds in their battle for independence in the Isles against the Campbells fighting as King James’s cats paw. The characters are compelling, the action suspenseful and the anxiety as to whether Elspeth will end up with the MacHugh will have you turning pages late into the night.

I liked Alex and Elspeth so much they are going on my Favorite Heroes & Heroines list. 

By the way, if you like the more modern cover, I'm showing 
it here, but I, for one, do not prefer it. I like the fact the 
original cover by Tom Hall shows the MacHugh as a 
rugged guy who is dressed and looking very intensely
into the heroine's eyes. He is much more as I pictured him
from the novel.

How We Got to Where We Are Today: Modern Historical Romance Over the Last Several Decades, or A Recommended Reading List for the Uninitiated

 

Sometimes when I talk to fellow readers of historical romance, or even authors, and I mention a name from the past, an author who helped shape the genre, like Kathleen Woodiwiss or Rosemary Rogers, I get a blank stare in return. It occurred to me that as lovers of a genre it might be helpful to read some of the classics to see where we’ve come from and to enjoy the greats who have contributed so much to the craft.

I’m not going as far back as Ivanhoe, Pride and Prejudice, or Jane Eyre. I’m not even reaching back to the seminal novels of Georgette Heyer in the early 20th century. Except for two novels of note in earlier decades, I’m starting in the 1970s when the bedroom door was flung open never to close again. And while I may not have included your favorite author, by reading the romances on this list, you’ll have a good idea of our beginnings and what so many wonderful authors have done for the genre. Think of it as an education in modern historical romance.

Where an author has written many novels (some early authors are still writing best sellers today), I tried to use their earliest work that influenced the genre.

So, here’s the list of the historical romances I recommend you read. Each has something to show you. Some may require you to shop online for a used book though many are available as eBooks. I’m not saying they will all be your favorites, or that they are all mine. And I realize some readers will think I left off one I should have included (do comment about those as I update this annually).

This is a sampling meant to give you a picture of how the genre has developed over time. Most are novels I’ve rated 5 stars, so I promise you won’t be bored. 

Included because of their significance…

·       Bride of the MacHugh by Jan Cox Speas (1954)

·       Bond of Blood by Roberta Gellis (1965)

The 1970s: The Pioneering Years

·       The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss (1972)

·       The Wicked Marquis by Barbara Cartland (1973)

·       Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers (1974)

·       Devil's Desire by Laurie McBain (1975)

·       Love’s Tender Fury by Jennifer Wilde (aka Tom Huff) (1976)

·       Caroline by Cynthia Wright (1977)

·       Love’s Wild Desire by Jennifer Blake (1977)

·       Captive Bride by Johanna Lindsey (1977)

·       The Rainbow Season by Lisa Gregory (1979)

The 1980s: The Explosive Years

·       Lady Vixen by Shirlee Busbee (1980)

·       Skye O’Malley by Bertrice Small (1981)

·       Devil’s Embrace by Catherine Coulter (1982)

·       Rose of Rapture by Rebecca Brandewyne (1984)

·       Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught (1985)

·       The Wind and the Sea by Marsha Canham (1986)

·       Mountain Mistress by Nadine Crenshaw (1987)

·       The Hawk and the Dove by Virginia Henley (1988)

·       Capture the Sun by Shirl Henke (1988)

·       Nightwylde by Kimberleigh Caitlin (aka Kimberly Cates) (1988)

·       Sweet Savage Eden by Heather Graham (1989)

·       Heartstorm by Elizabeth Stuart (1989)

The 1990s: The Developing Years

·       Dark Fires by Brenda Joyce (1991)

·       Flowers From the Storm by Laura Kinsale (1992)

·       Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (1992)

·       Enchanted by Elizabeth Lowell (1994)

·       The Passions of Emma by Penelope Williamson (1997)

·       Night in Eden by Candice Proctor (1997)

·       Kilgannon by Kathleen Givens (1999)

The 2000s: The “Standing On The Shoulders of Giants” Years

·       By Possession by Madeline Hunter (2000)

·       Beyond the Cliffs of Kerry by Amanda Hughes (2002)

·       The Captain of All Pleasures by Kresley Cole (2003)

·       Laird of the Mist by Paula Quinn (2007)

·       Broken Wing by Judith James (2008)

·       My Lord and Spymaster by Joanna Bourne (2008)

·       The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran (2008)

·       Raeliksen by Renee Vincent (2008)

·       Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold by Ellen O’Connell (2010)

·       Pieces of Sky by Kaki Warner (2011)

New Review: Laurie McBain’s WILD BELLS TO THE WILD SKY – Enthralling Tale of Queen Elizabeth’s Sea Dogs–a Great Love Story--a Keeper!

Few authors can come close to the masterful storytelling of Laurie McBain, which is why I am one of her fans. With an amazingly complex plot, this one features prejudice, treachery, threats to the queen, spies, gypsies and high seas adventure making it one of her best. I highly recommend it.

Lily Christian was the product of a marriage between her English father, a privateer for Queen Elizabeth I, and her aristocratic Spanish mother who met Lily’s father when he captured a Spanish galleon on which the Spanish beauty was traveling with her family. 

Like her mother before her, Lily is beautiful with dark auburn hair, but she has her father’s green eyes and his love of adventure. Even as a child Lily was climbing with him the rigging of his ship. When treachery results in her father’s death and his ship being sunk by a vengeful Spanish uncle, Lily and her mother and their father’s friend, Basil Whitelaw, escape to become castaways on an island in the West Indies. Seven years later, when Lily is 14, Valentine Whitelaw, Basil’s younger brother and one of the queen’s favorite privateers, rescues Lily. And she falls in love with the dashing captain who, much to her dismay, confides to his mistress that he thinks of Lily as only the daughter of a friend.

McBain’s style is to build the story slowly adding layer upon layer of meticulous detail as she carefully weaves together many disparate threads. This tale from Elizabethan England (and the West Indies) is incredibly well crafted, with endearing characters (including Lily’s siblings and a pet monkey and parrot and real persons like Queen Elizabeth I and William Shakespeare), and rich in historic detail. Oh yes, and a surprise at the end I did not see coming!

Lily is a special heroine, always unselfishly caring for others and sacrificing her own desires. Valentine is a noble hero who will take most of the story to recognize the woman destined for him.

You may have to purchase it used, as I did, but it will be worth it, I promise!

New Review: Laurie McBain’s DARK BEFORE THE RISING SUN – 3rd in the Dominick Trilogy a Great Story and a Fitting Ending!

For those of you who read and loved McBain’s Moonstruck Madness, as I did, and want to read the others in the Dominick trilogy, this is the 3^rd and it is just as good. This last one begins in 1770 as Rhea Claire and Dante return to England from the Caribbean. Rhea wants to see her family and Dante, having found the treasure, now has the means to reclaim his family estate.

Aware he seduced the young innocent on that faraway Caribbean shore (Rhea was 17 and he was twice her age), upon his return to London, though they are married, Dante is worried he won’t be able to hold Rhea’s love, and he is experiencing trepidation knowing he must face Rhea’s father, the powerful Duke of Camareigh. But that is not all he will have to face. There are smugglers who have engaged in murder, including the murder of the young cutter captain who was the brother of Dante’s friend, Sir Morgan Lloyd, who have despoiled Dante’s ancestral home, Merdraco.

There are many threads in this story as Rhea’s and Dante’s love is tested by an old flame who would like to have Dante, and Dante’s enemies would see him dead. More a sweet love story than the first books, the descriptions are vivid and detailed with rich dialog capturing the period and personality of the characters, whether Scottish, Irish, poor man or high born—or the cat, Jamaica. Well written and an exciting ending to this great trilogy.

While you can read it as a “stand alone,” I recommend you read all three, as they comprise one incredibly worthy story of the Dominicks.

The Dominick trilogy:

·         Moonstruck Madness (1977) Sabrina and Lucien

·         Chance The Winds Of Fortune (1980) their daughter, Rhea and Dante

·         Dark Before The Rising Sun (1982) Rhea and Dante (cont’d.)

New Review: Laurie McBain’s CHANCE THE WINDS OF FORTUNE – A Shipboard Romance from the 18th Century: Pirates, Privateers and Sea Captains!

For those of you who read and loved McBain’s Moonstruck Madness, as I did, this is the next book in the Dominick trilogy. The first was set in England and this one begins there but soon takes off for America and the Caribbean. You should read all three, as they comprise one story. This one begins the romance of Dante and Rhea. Each is so well done, you can read them as stand alones.

Set in 1769, this is the story of Dante Leighton, captain of the Sea Dragon and Marquis of Jacqobi, who is hoping a buried treasure will return him the wealth he needs for revenge against the man who took from him Merdraco, his family estate on the Devonshire coast of England. Aand it's the story of Rhea Dominick, the beautiful and sweet oldest child of Sabrina and Lucien, Duchess and Duke of Camareigh, who we met in the first book. Rhea is now seventeen and the object of revenge by the Duke’s cousin. Abducted and sent aboard a ship to the Colonies, Rhea escapes one man’s evil plans only to run into another’s.

McBain weaves many threads together for an exciting tale of betrayal, revenge and love wrapped around a hunt for a sunken treasure ship. Actually it is an absorbing introduction to the third novel, Dark Before The Rising Sun. I could not put it down and so appreciated McBain’s command of the English language and her attention to vivid detail. It is superbly written. You will soon be lost in the world of Dante’s ship the Sea Dragon and feel Rhea’s intense longing to return home to Camareigh even as her desire grows for the brooding ship’s captain. Rhea is a courageous, unselfish heroine with a fondness for God’s creatures and those in need of help. Dante is a self-absorbed aristocrat, turned hardened American privateer and smuggler, who is not beyond taking a duke’s daughter.

I promise you will love it, but get the next one for the end of the story! 

The Dominick trilogy:

Moonstruck Madness (1977) Sabrina and Lucien 
Chance The Winds Of Fortune (1980) their daughter, Rhea and Dante 

Dark Before The Rising Sun (1982) Rhea and Dante (cont’d.)

New Review: Laurie McBain’s TEARS OF GOLD – Irish Heroine Finds Love in America from Old California Ranchos to San Francisco to New Orleans

Set in 1848 (prologue) and the early 1850s, this is the story of Mara O’Flynn and her brother Brendan, who live with the stigma of being bastards of an Irish nobleman father who left them to survive on their own. Both Mara and Brendan, like their mother before them, are actors. Mara’s mother died in poverty after her wealthy lover cast her aside, and Mara will never forget it. She has no desire to follow in her mother’s footsteps. In her private revenge, Mara intentionally makes noblemen fall in love with her only to send them away brokenhearted. In one such encounter the young man shot himself. Unbeknownst to Mara, she made an enemy of the young man’s uncle, a Creole Frenchman from New Orleans, Nicholas Chantale—who vows revenge.

In pursuit of a new future, Mara and Brendan set sail for California on a clipper ship. Ever the Irish optimist, Brendan hopes to find gold. While on the ship, however, Brendan gambles away what little money they have, and they are forced to agree to the plan of another passenger, Don Luis, a Spanish Californian. Don Luis wants Mara to act the part of his half English niece who, from her youth, has been the fiancé of another ranchero in the Sierra Nevada. Mara and Brendan become involved in the lives of the rancheros even as they long to leave for San Francisco. Then one day a stranger shows up--Nicholas Chantale.

The beginning takes a bit of patience as McBain meticulously brings to life old California when gold was discovered and the Californian ranchos were beginning to disappear. As is typical of her novels, she includes much historic detail adding richness to the story. It’s a tale of people fleeing their past hoping for a better tomorrow. Tara flees poverty and shame and Nicholas flees his aristocratic family that cast him out when they thought he murdered his brother.

The story moves from London to California to New Orleans as Tara and Nick are continually thrown together and Tara resists the love she feels for the man who only wants her to share his bed. Once the story picks up in San Francisco, it moves along at a fast pace and will definitely keep you turning pages with some great action scenes, mystery and intrigue and a heartwarming ending. I recommend it.

Favorite Author Laurie McBain: Every One a Keeper!

California author Laurie McBain was always passionate about art and history. Her father, who encouraged her, helped her write her first historical romance in 1975.

That first novel, Devil's Desire, made her a part of the seminal generation of modern romance writers and you will see it on my How We Got To Where We Are Today recommended reading list for the uninitiated when I post it later this month. I am a huge fan of McBain's detailed, meticulously written and captivating historical novels.
 

Amazingly, her first two novels, Devil's Desire and Moonstruck Madness, each sold over a million copies. After the death of her father, with only seven novels published, McBain decided to retire from the publishing world in 1985. Sadly, the world of historical romance lost a truly great author. 

I’ll be featuring reviews of her books on my blog this week. Stop by to read my praise for some superb historical love stories—ones that should be on your “keeper” shelf!

Single Novels: Devil's Desire (1975), Tears Of Gold (1979), Wild Bells To The Wild Sky (1983) and When The Splendor Falls (1985)

Dominick Trilogy: Moonstruck Madness (1977), Chance The Winds Of Fortune (1980), and Dark Before The Rising Sun (1982)