A
Highlander Never Surrenders
by Paula
Quinn
Royalists and Roundheads - Loyalties and
Betrayal!
Paula Quinn’s Scottish romance A Highlander Never Surrenders takes all the passions and intensity
of romance Laird of the Mist
and adds even more precise attention to detail. She adds complementary
secondary characters that give her new romance a richness and depth.
Placing her characters in chaotic yet intriguing time periods, Paula
Quinn makes history and romance come alive as passions, both personal
and political collide, setting hearts ablaze.
Paula Quinn
sets her romance during a tumultuous period of Scottish
history when factions of Scotland’s Third Civil War re-emerged. Oliver
Cromwell has died and General Monck, a man who had served Cromwell and
Parliament throughout the civil wars, now aligns himself with forces
seeking the restoration of Charles II. A Highlander Never Surrenders opens
with a vignette into this fascinating explosive time with a vision that
focuses on two men and a woman caught up in the political drama of the
period. Graham Grant, the first in command of the MacGregor clan, sits
in a pub with an unlikely friend, Robert Campbell, the Earl of Argyll
discussing their order from Monck to find the Royalist rebel Connor
Stuart. Two unlikely friends, Royalist and Highlander Graham and
Presbyterian, or Roundhead, Robert Campbell join forces seeking to save
Scotland from anarchy. Captured by Graham and his forces, Claire Stuart
knows she must hide her identity and link to the royal family from the
Roundhead men she sees before her. With her brother Connor dead, Claire
has one goal and one goal alone --- to save her sister Anne from the
treacherous Monck. Graham knows he must stop Claire from her plot
against Monck so he proposes a compromise, getting Claire to agree to
join forces with him in exchange for his assistance rescuing her
sister. Political intrigue infuses this romance as alliances are not so
easily discerned and Claire's brother and sister have become pawns in a
political clash between Roundheads and Royalists.
The heroine
Claire is one feisty woman! Taught by her brother to fight,
Claire is a woman who carries a sword not a broom. She would rather
fight than sew and when it comes to love, Claire is just as tempestuous
and passionate. Commander Grant, the hero, is just as full of fire,
tempered with just enough insight and patience to get what he wants.
Thoughtful and knowing in battle, women are mere diversions, to be
enjoyed and left for more important political aims. Grant certainly
meets his match in Claire, a woman as single-minded and devoted to
politics and her family. When these two come together, love is
combustible! A secondary pair complements these two perfectly -- Robert
a man as chivalrous and honorable as Galahad and a man who respects the
law and Claire's sister Anne, a true lady in heart as well as lineage.
A Highlander Never
Surrenders strikes the reader
with its
beautiful use of language, dynamic dialogue and amazing detail. In one
scene where Paula Quinn describes the eyes of a potential enemy,
readers feel the danger in an almost tactile way as if looking into his
eyes. Paula Quinn carefully orchestrates intrigue as one small detail,
talk of a letter or a certain phrase, emerges later in a more ominous
circumstance whose framework has been carefully planned earlier. A Highlander Never Surrenders
is a sexy romance, as much for the subtle facial expressions and
dialogue between the hero and heroine as the kisses and beyond.
Passionate emotions abound as historical politics, honor, betrayals and
irresistible love draw unlikely forces together in a dangerous mission.
Paula Quinn brings A
Highlander Never Surrenders
to a conclusion with a beautiful, beautiful ending with a love just as
fiery as the first sparks.
Paula Quinn’s A Highlander Never Surrenders is so full of
emotion and intrigue that it makes this reader want to read about
Scottish history in much more detail. Paula Quinn’s historical romance
makes a reader feel history, not just think it. Readers feel the
political and personal stakes at risk when love and politics mix during
this uncertain interregnum period of Scottish history. A Highlander Never Surrenders inspires late night reading!
Personal notes:
I read this
author's Laird of the Mist which I thoroughly
enjoyed so I did have a strong feeling I would love this one --- but it
was even better than I imagined. I never expected to finish this
romance when I finally sat down to read one night. I ended staying up
until 2 a.m. because I could not put it down. This romance grabs and
never lets go.
In a scene or
two, Paula Quinn mentions or has her characters
reading/listening to Sir Thomas Malory's Arthurian tales in a context
that really moved my heart as well as my intellect. I have worn out my
3 copies of the Middle English version of this book! I had even planned
to write my dissertation on this book before I decided academia itself
was not for me. It was just one of the small details "oh my!" delight
moments in this book. Malory took the Old French tales of Arthur and
other English versions, rewrote them while making significant changes,
changes that affected the meaning. It is through Malory's tales that
most English speakers, even today, know the Arthurian stories. It's a
small detail. This is a 17th century romance, not a medieval romance
like her first three books, but it made my heart flutter a bit seeing
this author's understanding of what is technically called reception
studies in literary jargon --- how a book is received (through time
periods, different language cultures, etc.) I use this as one example
to illustrate just how fine this romance is in details.
Visit Paula Quinn's website
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Book Description:
Desire is the deadliest weapon of all . . .
Defending Her Was His Duty
Skilled
with a sword and quick with her wit, Scottish rebel Claire Stuart
cannot be tamed. And nothing can deter her from rescuing her beloved
sister and saving them both from arranged marriages—not even the
handsome Highlander who vows to protect Claire. His scorching gaze and
fiery kiss bring her to the brink of surrender, but she belongs to no
man . . .
Seducing Her Would Be His Reward
Graham
Grant has had his share of lasses. But he has never met one as
headstrong or as bonnie as Claire—or one with such desperate, dangerous
plans. Helping her could betray his honor, his country, and more.
Graham can't claim her. Yet everything in him says: Take her, make her
yours, teach her pleasure, and never let her go.
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