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Lady Magdalen Keith is indeed the daughter of an Earl in 1700s Scotland, yet she is illegitimate. She does her father’s bidding and attends a holiday masquerade ball to dance with soldiers in an effort to lift their spirits. One soldier in particular truly catches her attention, even through his mask.

Lord Aiden Murray is a navy lieutenant who has been away at see for several months. He sees a beautiful lass and they share a kiss. The kiss they share at the ball will be with them for a long time to come.

Aiden cannot stop thinking about Magdalen, but he can’t imagine ever seeing her again. Not only does he get that very opportunity, he discovers who she is, and that her father has been accused of treason and may very well be hanged. Aiden is willing to risk just about anything to help Magdalen get her father freed.

Quite a lot happens while Aiden seeks to help Magdalen, but circumstances change and her skills as a superior harpist changes things for her. Between that and the political climate, the intrigue and action reaches a high level. Meanwhile, Aiden and Magdalen throw caution to the wind as their relationship blossoms.

Amy Jarecki does a fantastic job of mixing true Scottish history with fiction and it is indeed fantastic mix. There are lots of twists and turns, drama, danger and lots of loving going on. The story has a riveting and dramatic conclusion.

This is the second book in the Lords of the Highland series. The other books that have been released are, The Highland Duke, The Highland Guardian and The Highland Chieftain. The Highland Renegade and The Highland Earl are due for publication in 2019. ( )

***Full Review***

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Lady Magdalen's father has been imprisoned in the Tower and charged with treason against Queen Anne. Magdalen's step-mother is pregnant and even though she's shunned Magdalen for being a bastard, she begs her to go to London and plead for her father's case. Magdalen would do anything for her father so she takes off with her maid Agnes.
Commander Lord Aiden has leave from his ship for the first time in two years and plans to finally live life to the fullest at Whitehall. However, on his way there he comes across a Lady and her maid needing help.
Magdalen and Aiden have met before but court intrigues and war may keep them from their true destinies.

Second in the Lords of the Highlands series, The Highland Commander can be read as a standalone. When we are first introduced to Magdalen and Aiden they came off as gently sweet characters; they were a bit Garwood-esqu in their feel. Magdalen was the slightly outcast heroine because of her label as bastard but she had cultivated a role with the people of her town by running a hospital for battered women. Aiden is a second son of a duke and in the Royal Navy, is very young (early twenties), and the exact opposite of a rake. While we've seen the essence of Magdalen many times in romance, Aiden was sweetly different.

As the story went on I thought it lost some of its focus on Magdalen and Aiden together and instead kept hammering on Aiden's virginity. I wished the focus hadn't been on Aiden simply wanting to lose it and instead his growing attraction and affection for Magdalen for the sake of herself; missed more of an emotional bond. Don’t let Aiden’s lack of experience fool you though, towards the middle and end, sexual escapades are had. The court intrigue and Magdalen trying to find a way to free her father and later trying to work for her father lacked some details and progression that could have kept it from feeling like Magdalen only bemoaning her circumstances instead of making moves to change it.

There's a plethora of secondary characters, real and historical, that the author did a good job of incorporating that helped shaped the world and setting. The ending did seem extremely rushed and the fate and revealing of some characters lacked the emotional punch it was supposed to have because of the lack of previously laid groundwork. The first half was a bit slow while the ending was rushed as a jumble of ideas and story plots got thrown at the reader and wrapped up with perfect bows. Magdalen and Aiden were two very sweet characters but their story was lacking support. ( )

The Highland Commander was a bit Scottish, a bit English, with a dash of scandal! Maddie is the illegitimate daughter of an earl. He has seen to raising her, so she has had a good education, but once her father married, her stepmother wouldn't allow Maddie to be around. She had such a sad and lonely life! But, she found her purpose and was running a hospital for women in her hometown. Then her father gets arrested and she has to go to London to save him.

Aiden is a sailor on the Royal Mary and he meets Maddie at a masquerade party. They don't begin a relationship quickly and lots of time passes throughout the story when they are apart. I loved that they were both inexperienced in the bedroom! I thought the plot was engaging and lots of events happen throughout the story to cause tension.

My biggest problem? The end! All this build up and all these terrible things then everything is wrapped up in a matter of a few pages! I was really disappointed with how quickly it just ended. It left me feeling a bit unsatisfied after having enjoyed the story a great deal.

 

• POV: 3rd


• Tears: I did tear up near the end!


• Trope: bastard child, Scottish


• Triggers: none


• Series/Standalone: stand alone


• Cliffhanger: no


• HEA: yes

Book by Mary Wine, May McGoldrick, Hannah Howell...then you will probably like The Highland Commander!

 


The Highland Commander





See full review on The Book Disciple ( )

Treason and true love!

The tale of two innocents really with a whole lot of feelings and not really knowing what to do with them. Well that changes somewhat (thanks to the 'French' pamphlet) Captain!
Lady Magdalen Keith, the illegitimate daughter of a consummate Jacobite, the Earl Marischal of Scotland, has raced to London to try to free her father from the Tower. Although a representative of Aberdeenshire in the new British Parliament, the Earl was arrested after Prince James' abortive attempt to land his armada at the Firth of Forth.
Navy lieutenant Lord Aiden Murray is commander of a Scottish vessel that has been enfolded into the English navy. He's a virgin and wants to put that part of his life to rest. Aiden and Maddie originally meet at a masquerade at her father's castle in Stonehaven.
Between trying ro rescue Maddie's father, hiding their Jacobite leanings, and court intrigue in the guise of a delectable widowed countess, things become very active--almost too so.
A slow start, the story picked up and had some 'on the edge of your seat' moments as Aiden and Maddie flee into the highlands.

A NetGalley ARC ( )

Author Amy Jarecki is a auto-buy author for me. Her books are packed with emotion, suspense, sometimes based loosely on history, other times follows very closely the time and events. Her books take you to a world where challenges seemingly are insurmountable, where you cheer for the success of the ‘good guys’ and ready to punch out the lights of the bad. Her stories also expose injustices, the brutality of man in the political arena and religious ones. Something, even today, man hasn’t crawled out of this chasm of human frailty. What you discover about her characters are easily identified in man to this day.

Lord Aiden Murray is a second son of an earl who takes to the seas becoming his own man at a very young age. He is posted as First Lieutenant sailing aboard the Royal Mary. At 22, he is ribbed by his fellow officers, has very good rapport with them. He certainly is not a novice in the skills he’s acquired on sea, except for one small item. He doesn’t have a woman in many ports, he doesn’t have a woman in any ports, and he just hasn’t had a woman at all. Being a young man, this worries him. He’s eager to find a woman of some skill to bring him fully into manhood. ‘Tis verra’ embarrassing to him.

His thoughts: But by the saints, he’d been aboard the Royal Mary for the past month without setting foot shore. Bloody oath, he intended to kick up his heels this eve–swill ale, swing the lassies in a reel–mayhap he’d even find a bonny lass he fancied.

Damn the cold.

Damn political posturing.

Damn the war.

And whilst I’m at it, damn the queen.

This was Hogmanay–a pagan Scottish holiday–and he would enjoy the piss out of it for once in his miserable highborn life.

I am amused and delighted with the innocence of Aiden. While at the party, he meets a young woman, Lady Magdalen Keith, whom he’s immediately attracted to. But seeing she, too, would be chartering new waters, virginal as he is, he only sneaks a kiss. This kiss, however, stays with him and torments him with such internal conflict, he quickly becomes a hero close to the heart.

Lady Magdalen Keith, has had a difficult time growing up in Stonehaven. She’s a bastard, rarely leaves her small town, but when her father gets involved in a political skirmish, finds himself in prison, she is determined to help him. Perhaps, she’ll finally mean something more to him. She happens upon Aiden in London trying to figure out how to get to her father. She is so much a fish out of water, but her character does her a great service.

She is an amazing character with strengths and weaknesses, a woman of honor and a love for Aiden, you will identify with her, feeling her pain and wonder of new love.

This series is a must-read for those who love settings in the Highlands and London. Jarecki brings it all to life in four-dimensional living color! That is to say, what you see is not necessarily the complete picture, hidden multi-layered nuances enrich the story. Join Jarecki’s many fans who love her stories! ( )