Forbidden To The Highland Laird by Sarah Mallory | #Review #ForbiddenToTheHighlandLaird #LairdsOfArdvarrick | @SarahMRomance @MillsandBoon @HarlequinBooks

Hello, Sunshines, I hope you are all well on this sunny Sunday! I am super excited to be sharing my review of the utterly gorgeous (and that’s just the cover) new book; Forbidden to the Highland Laird by Sarah Mallory. I can’t wait to share this book with you all, be prepared for babble! Firstly, I want to say thank you to Sarah for the advance reader copy. Now. let’s have a look at this book.

Forbidden to the Highland Laird by Sarah Mallory

Series: Lairds of Ardvarrick

Genre: Historical Romance, Scottish Romance

Publisher: Mills & Boon/Harlequin Books

Release Date: 1st December 2020.

A Scottish beauty

Lures the Laird to sin!

Exchanging elegant society balls for clan wars, Logan Rathmore has returned to Scotland as the new Laird of Ardvarrick. Peace is within grasp when he meets musician Ailsa McInnis from a rival clan.

Her stubborn pride and innocence fascinate him—but with her now under his protection, he must do nothing to abuse her trust.

The fragile peace is dependent on his being able to resist the forbidden temptation she presents…

Review

My, oh my! Oh, my! Oh, my!!

I could go on, but you get the drift of my initial feeling about this magical book…..In other words, I adore every page!

Firstly, I have to mention the cover, isn’t it glorious? The art department has once again smashed it with the detail, that cover model is exactly how I imagined Ailsa as I was reading, the cover Logan is a wee bit of kilter for me, but I can see a lot of the chemistry that shimmers between Logan and Ailsa throughout the story on the cover. It’s beautiful!!

This is the first book in the brand new Lairds of Ardvarrick series, It’s beautiful, sensual and captivating, emotional and heart-warming. It’s a brilliant start I can see is going to be a captivating series. Plus, this is also Sarah Mallory’s first Highlander romance, something which in my humble opinion is long overdue and equally well worth the wait, and easily has become one of my favourites.

Hmmm, I think, I say that about every Sarah Mallory book I read. But, I do love her work and this is what happens when you have a top-notch author, who is at the very peak of her game, you fall in love with each and every book. Sarah has really put so much into this book, the research going into the history of the era, the setting right down to the clothes, the music and of course the stunning Castle Ardvarrick – I was completely whisked out of my chair to the atmospheric and hauntingly beautiful Scottish highlands.

I really liked how Logan and Ailsa slowly get to know each other, it’s not; boom straight to bed, their romance blossoms beautifully, each page they become closer and closer. I absolutely love the little things he does to put her at ease, to draw her closer to his light, show her that there is kindness and that she is valued, and prove to her that she can be happy. Dancing in the moonlight, reading her poetry …my goodness I fell under his spell just like Ailsa….except for me, it was way sooner, I was swooning and melting mess.

But, then again I have always loved a Scotsman..;-)

Unusually for a Harlequin/Mills and Boon, there is quite a large cast of characters, we have Logan’s clan, Ailsa and her clan, villains, and unruly cousins, but instead of being inundated with characters popping up left right and centre and never knowing who is who and where they belong. Each character has a place and they each make an impact on the story, there are one or two which I would love to see have a story of their own.

I loved Ailsa’s passion for her music, even though I do think she has been a little groomed in her beliefs about this ‘curse’ all to make her more biddable and compliant to what her family want. My heart went out to her, she is lonely and sheltered, she has so much love coursing through her and so far her only outlet for that has been through her music, and then out of the mist comes walking a; fall to your knee’s, swoon-some (Is that a word??) charismatic, charming, protective handsome chap, who bestows a gift on her that no one ever has; kindness….plus, the sexiest tilting smile which would make any women go weak at the knees….all he was missing was a kilt 😉

This is an intriguing story, going from the back blurb alone you would think it’s a basic enemy to lovers type, but as always with Sarah Mallory, there is more to the tale than that, if you have read any of Sarah’s books you will know she likes to mix thing’s up, she likes to add sneaky little twists and additional elements that bring the story to life and makes you keep flicking through the pages and this is no different. A lot is going on, various subplots, family myths, clan wars, villains and right amid such turmoil are two lonely, passionate and likeable people all of which entwine together to create a highly enjoyable love story with a twist.

I loved it, I cannot recommend it enough, it may not have as many kilted rough-around-the-edges highlanders as I would have liked but luscious Logan soon worked his Scottish magic.