Highland Surrender by Dawn Halliday
Historical Romance
April 6, 2010
Paperback, 320 Pages
NAL Trade
Reviewed by Tori

The Earl of Camdonn has decided to quit his roguish past and become respectable by marrying the very proper very English Lady Elizabeth. But his plans drastically change when he is shot and left for dead.

Destined to be alone, Ceana MacNab has poured her heart and soul into her healing arts. When fate decides to intervene by sending Cam to Ceana; their all consuming passion may lead to ever lasting bliss or death to all.

The second book in Ms. Halliday’s Highland series, we are once again transported back to the Scottish highlands and to the Earl of Camdonn. If you read her previous book you’ll know that Cam was a bit of a rogue with a healthy sexual appetite who kidnapped his best friends wife so she could be his mistress. Whaaaa??? At the end of Highland Obsession Cam decides to go shopping for a “proper” wife in England. In the beginning of Highland Surrender Cam is awaiting the arrival of Lady Elizabeth, the woman he has chosen to become his wife. As he rides to escort her to his home her carriage is attacked and he is shot. He is found by Ceana  who is a famed healer in the area. She gets him home and patches him up.

There is an instant blazing hot attraction form the first moment they laid eyes on each other. Very sensual and erotic. But the odds are stacked against them.  He is engaged, an Earl, and she has vowed never to marry. After Cam is well to travel he entices Ceana to go back to his castle with him to make sure he recovers. There she meets Elizabeth and against her will finds herself liking her. But things are not what they seem at the castle nor with the people who inhabit it. As Cam and Ceana fight their growing attraction, Elizabeth fights her own demons and attractions to a climatic finale.

I enjoyed Highland Surrender. I call books like these bodice rippers.Some one’s always getting their bodice ripped and skirt tossed up. A simplistic plot that is easy to follow with some erotic steamy love scenes. A small warning, if the thought of anything beyond the missionary position in the dark makes you uncomfortable, this may not be for you. Lets just say that leather isn’t used for just the horses.

There is actually two separate love stories in here that eventually meet, intertwine and resolve themselves. Cam and Ceana are a joy to watch. The chemistry between them is believable and professions of love are not uttered in the first 100 pages. I especially enjoyed Ceana as she is not your typical helpless maiden. She is respected in her own right and has a fantastic no nonsense attitude. Cam seems to have taken his lessons to heart from Highland Obsession and has begun to care for others besides himself. He takes charge of his own fate and reshapes his destiny.

Robert and Elizabeth are wonderful supporting characters that certainly bring a lot spice and yumminess to the story. Robert is a hard man who has a secret that he struggles with daily. He fights his attraction to Elizabeth but soon realizes it’s a losing battle. And when she reveals to him the need to be “taught” of ways of love, Robert is doomed.

There was a little too much misdirection in the story where Ms. Halliday tries to drag out the intrigue. Highland Obsession was a much darker story and followed a more serious plot line then this one. It dragged you in and keep you prisoner till the end. This one only touched lightly on some serious subjects but she danced back when I really felt she should have divulged a little deeper.

All in all Highland Surrender is a wonderful read with plenty of romance, love, and some pretty darn steamy smex scenes.


Rating:3.5/5

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Thanks Tori!