Evil is the first word that comes to mind when Anne Garthwicke arrives at Castle MacCairn. Duty bound to help her father appraise the holdings, she has no choice but to stay. And her trepidation deepens after meeting the laird. Proud and powerful, he embodies all the wildness of the Scottish highlands and incites dreams of carnal passion such as Anne has never experienced. Achingly tender one moment and roughly forceful the next, Ruairdh MacCairn has a beast within straining to break loose. And according to legend, it is only a matter of time before the monster will escape. Anne already knows her heart is lost, but she can only hope that when the moment of fate arrives, her body won't be sacrificed as well.
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Look at that face! Look at that hair! How could I not buy this book? Even though it was originally released in 2002, this book gives off serious old school vibes - it might as well have Fabio on the cover! LOL! I didn't know what I was getting myself into, the description to me meant there was a 50/50 shot of it being good-good or bad-good, but I really enjoyed this!
Ruairdh is a tortured soul, just waiting for 'The Shadowing' to turn him into a raving madman; when he sees Anne and starts to feel something other than depression, he's not too happy about. He's a bit of a jerk in fact, which luckily is balanced by the reader having some insight to his mental state (ie, I didn't hate him because the book is told partially from his point of view). What's especially great about this story is that Anne doesn't just accept Ruairdh being a jerk; while she does keep her station in mind, she tends to give as good as she gets and the sparks between the two are pretty awesome.
The paranormal plot line doesn't detract from the romance at the heart of this book and I thought the inclusion of 'love conquers all' was done very well with only the slightest hint of corny. If you can get your hands on a copy of this book I'd recommend it, it's a fast, fun read with a satisfying ending.
Overall Feeling - B+
Series - None
