Broody McBrooderson falls in love again. ( )

It's easier to put my finger on things that weren't great than it is to determine what was better than average, but I suppose being entertained is reason enough. One aspect that I would have changed drastically though is the amount of time spent walking us through the hero's first relationship. I don't mind hearing some about a previous love, our pasts help make us who we are, but all the way through this book we cut to scenes of their relationship developing... It just felt like a weird choice. Even if there were some aspects the author wanted us to know, the hero could have just recalled it to mind, or mentioned it to someone or something. On the whole, this was probably more predictable than average, but the telling of it was nice. ( )

1.5 stars

This story was not for me, at all. As much as I loved the first in the series, I did not like this one.

No, men didn't intimidate her. No one intimidated her.

Our heroine is now a lady's maid after eloping with a dude below her station. Her dad wasn't having it, got the marriage annulled and sent the dude away on a ship. ship sunk, dude died. She's twenty-nine and after living through the disillusionment of happily ever after, she has a bit of a crusty outer layer. I generally liked her, but the numerous sad inner thoughts passages didn't endear her to me so much as keep any momentum between her and the hero from getting rolling.

"You are wretched, Rabbie MacKenzie."

Took the words right out of my mouth. Seriously, the hero goes beyond depressed, grumpy, or broody, he's a d*ck. His rudeness towards his fiancée (who heroine works for) is completely uncalled for. I get it, he doesn't want to marry her, and he’s depressed and still hurting from his first love. Oh that's right, not only is there a fiancée to compete with the heroine but also a lost first love. He comes off immature and d*ckish with his attitude towards everything. I would have accepted standoffish with the fiancée, 'cause hey, she's not the heroine, but his attitude made me severely dislike him.

Not being able to connect with the hero and heroine definitely led to me not feeling their romance. It was probably also the occasional flashbacks to the hero falling in love, with the first woman. I would unscientifically guess that 70% of this story is the hero and heroine bemoaning their losses. They both have reason to, hero missing his first love and the utter devastation the English caused in the Highlands after the failed Jacobite rebellion (no specific history mentioned, except for Culloden referenced, it felt weirdly like the author was trying to give us the emotions from this without giving a solid focus on it) and the heroine had a miscarriage (not a spoiler, told pretty soon).

I'm going to put this next part in spoiler quotes because if you know the outcome, it might ruin some reading enjoyment. There is a sort of secondary romance where the hero's fiancée starts to become attracted to his brother, because he is at least decent to her. However, after completely misleading the reader it turns out the brother does not like the fiancée, at all. I wanted to scream to the heaven's "WHAT WAS THE POINT?" The portrayal of the fiancée was so mean, lol. She's only 17 and naïve but holy guacamole is the hero mean to her, the heroine says she's a friend but bangs her fiancée and kind of talks smack about her, and then the guy who she thinks likes her, is like no way jose. So mean.

Basically, I found the hero mean, too many long hero and heroine inner sad musings, and the impediments to their relationship weren't resolved until waaaaay late in the story; I spent most the time wondering where the romance was in this romance. Also, there was a hero with his first love flashback in the EPILOGUE. Like, no. I get this was supposed to be emotional reminiscing about lost loves because of society and war but for me, it badly missed the mark.
( )

3.75*

I've received an eARC in exchange for an honest review

Review in Portuguese:http://pepitamagica.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/livro-hard-hearted-highlander-de-julia.html

Hard-Hearted Highlander brings us the story of another one of Arran and Margot McKenzie’s sons, Rabbie McKenzie.

To protect his family and re-gain lost lands, Rabbie agrees to marry an English girl, even though he doesn’t like English people (*cof* but loves his mother, who IS English *cof*).

Rabbie is a character that has suffered a lot. With a past filled with loss, he spends a great part of the book sad and sorrowful, something his own nephews (children) notice. Rabbie lost his bride during the war between the Scots and the English (and this could have been a more explored, explaining a bit more what really happened to her), and he’s been… broken, let’s say, since then. And his parents think that this marriage might be, besides economically favourable, a way to help him heal and appreciate life again.

But Rabbie doesn’t want the 17 year old English girl who is practically afraid of her own shadow. Now, Bernadette, her companion and lady’s maid, is much more interesting. Like Rabbie, Bernadette has also a painful background story that makes become afraid of what might happen when she and Rabbie start falling in love.

I liked the way Rabbie and Bernadette heel each other, creating new happy bonds. Some things could have been improved, like the orphans being practically thrown at Bernadette by Rabbie, but besides some small details, it was a pleasant book, although a bit gloomier than the previous ones, but it kept the same quality. ( )

I am really enjoying this series by Julia London. In the 3rd book Hard-Hearted Highlander we get Rabbie and Bernadette's story. Both of them have had some heart breaking things that have happened to them that being open to the possibility of love is hard won. The book contained some funny situations of misunderstandings and some hot moments of passion. I also felt such hatred for Lord Kent and I wanted him to fall off a horse over the cliffs. I enjoyed the test that Rabbie made for Bernadette at the end of the book. I think it was needed to show her that family is made up of all kinds of kinds.

The readers are also treated with appearances of the whole MacKenzie family, which was delightful. I am hoping that a certain outspoken sister gets her own book. ( )