Review; Rescued by Her Highland Soldier by Sarah Mallory.

Hello, Sunshines, I have the massive pleasure to be sharing my review of; Rescued by Her Highland Soldier by Sarah Mallory, this is the second book in the wonderful; Lairds of Ardvarrick series, I am super excited to be sharing this book with you all.

Firstly, I want to say thank you to Sarah Mallory for the advanced reader copy.

About the Book

Rescued by Her Highland Soldier by Sarah Mallory.

Series: Lairds of Ardvarrick #2

Genre: Scottish, Historical Romance

Publisher: Mills and Boon/Harlequin Books

Her rugged Highlander

Is the gallant son of a laird!

Traveling alone through the treacherous Scottish Highlands, Madeleine d’Evremont is saved by rough-looking soldier Grant Rathmore. Attraction flares between them as he escorts Madeleine on her perilous escape to France, until she discovers he’s the heir of a respected laird!

Madeleine knows she must let him go. Surely the daughter of a humble adventurer could never be a suitable match for him now…

Purchase link here – Rescued By Her Highland Soldier

Review

Rescued by her Highland Soldier is EVERYTHING you could EVER want from a historical romance!!

That’s it, simple! I don’t need to say more than that, do I?

This is the second book in the mesmerizing Lairds of Ardvarrick mini-series and easily the best of the two, I loved the previous book; Forbidden to the Highland Laird and knew that this series was going to steal my heart, but this book is mind-blowingly great. If you haven’t read the previous book then don’t worry you don’t need to read them in order, this is very much a stand-alone but in my humble opinion, you need to read the first book as that is fabulous too.

There is something very Outlander-ish about this, especially Maddie and Grant, the beautiful and enthralling romance between them the way they not only bounce off each other with their differences of opinion and the that they are both strong-willed individuals but the chemistry is off the charts. They are a glorious couple to watch as that flame flickers into life and grows with such burning intensity as the story steadily draws closer to the finale.

That cover…..Ouh La La!! Go on take a look…isn’t it wonderful? Again I am transported right into the centre of Outlander, I fell in love with this book the moment I set my eyes on this cover, it has the perfect intensity of emotion, and the cover models and the scene is beautifully in sync with the overall story.

Set in Scotland, in 1746, the story opens in the shadow of the massacre which we know as; the Battle of Culloden. A horrendous and barbaric battle where the English soldiers brutally killed so many proud Scotsmen and their families only to go on and begin prowling the Highlands in search of the Jacobite traitor who had escaped the red coat’s sword. It is here where we meet both Grant and Maddie, both aren’t who they say they are and both are in danger – isn’t it good fortune that they found each other?

Madeleine d’Evremont is alone amid such high tension, she has been left to her devices to try and find her way to friends of her father – who is the one who has abandoned her in the war-torn country. She has no one by her side to rely on, that is until she finds herself in big trouble when she is nearly raped by some despicable English Dragoons and along comes her very own rugged, bear-like highlander and with the barest growl sends the soldiers off with their tails between their legs as the alpha male is protecting his she-wolf.

I like Maddie she is a strong, independent, loyal, resilient woman who after looking after herself for so long whenever her adventurer father goes off on one of his many trips. I connected with Maddie she is a wonderful person – a little stubborn and set in her ways but a genuinely good person with a loving heart. True she is resilient and more than capable of getting on with the job at hand and making her way to her fathers’ friends home, but I do think she is starved of affection she is so used to being the one taking care of others that she is very rarely has anything support or kindness shown to her. Maddie is one of those characters where you just ‘get’ there is so much about her that I understood, that I saw so many of myself in her which made me connect with her all the more.

From the moment we meet Grant Rathmore I fell hook line and sinker for the patriotic, rugged, loyal, passionate, sexy-as-hell, rough-around-the-edges, gentlemanly, honourable, kind Highlander and yet beneath all the brusque bravado of the soldier, he is a very kind and caring man who I rather think has self-esteem issues and thinks no-one will want him. He stoked the fire in that very first glimpse and then once we got to know the proud Scotsman that slow-burning fire is a furnace of complete lust – there have been a fair few swoons, sighs, groans and oh Grant’s while reading, he is easily one of my favourite historical heroes. My heart broke for Grant, there are moments where you feel his sadness, his anger, frustration and grief with such intensity, I wanted to hug Grant and tell him everything was OK, that he didn’t lead them to their death, they were all proud and loyal to their cause and they wanted a free Scotland.

We meet Grant as he is making his way to safety from Culloden, he is devastated and angry that all of his comrades have been lost in that battle, and he feels huge amounts of guilt too as they followed him, they followed their commander the man they trusted and he feels he let them and their families down and now he is an outlaw a rebel and hunted with the rest of his countrymen. Because of his loyalties and the position he took in the Battle of Culloden he is now seen as a traitor Jacobite and he knows that he will never be able to return home, he loves his family dearly and he would never willingly put those he loves in danger. But, he can’t turn his back on a damsel in danger, especially one who is as intriguing as Maddie, he agrees to escort her to the haven of her father’s friends even if it does mean he could put himself in even more danger especially seeing as there is far more to the captivating beauty then meets the eye.

I really like that Mallory doesn’t romanticize this fascinating and turbulent era, she keeps the history intact and skilfully entwines her glorious romance between Maddie and Grant with it. There is sadness and moments of shock and awe weaved throughout, you are taken on an enthralling, exciting and engaging journey that doesn’t hold its punches as it ploughs a battering ram through your defences and completely takes over your heart.

I love that this is a proper trip across the Scottish Highlands, I loved the dramatic Scottish scenery – I have always loved the way Mallory transports the reader into every scene with her attention to detail and it’s not just historical detail it’s the way she describes the rolling countryside you can picture every hill, every glen the river, the over-hanging trees. I also loved how Mallory draws attention to the simplest of things which I think we would take for granted, such as what they ate, the way they have to be ever so vigilant and the safety measure that they adhere to in the safe houses they stay along the way which I have to be honest it wasn’t something I would have thought about.

Rescued by her Highland Soldiers is a phenomenal love story that is masterfully centred in a time of danger and uncertainty, the romance doesn’t distract from the history and vice-versa, the perfect historical detail captures the imagination as the story unfolds giving a realistic and atmospheric glimpse into an era which is full of intrigue.

I cannot recommend this book enough, definitely, one to be read by any historical romance fan who especially loves true history meticulously entwined with a glorious love story featuring two people who you can’t help but fall in love with…plus not to mention, if you love Outlander’s Jamie – well Grant will steal you away 😉

About the Author

Sarah Mallory grew up in the West Country, England, telling stories. She moved to Yorkshire with her young family but after nearly 30 years living in a farmhouse on the Pennines, she has now moved to live by the sea in Scotland. Sarah is an award-winning novelist with more than twenty books published by Harlequin Historical .

She loves to hear from readers and you can reach her via her website at: www.sarahmallory.com