The Highlander & The Queen’s Sacrifice (The Queen’s Highlanders #1) by Heather McCollum. Historical Romance Release & ARC Review.

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Could the Highlander be more dangerous than a poisoned gown?
Welcome to book 1 in the sensational new series, The Queen’s Highlanders by USA Today bestselling author Heather McCollum.
Kerr Gordon, next in line to be chief of the Gordon Clan, is tasked by Mary, Queen of Scots to bring to bring a gift to her cousin—and jailer—Queen Elizabeth of England. When he arrives at Whitehall Palace to find a courtly woman tied up in the stables, he acts to save her, only to be rebuked for dispatching an assassin before she could hear his confession.
Queen Elizabeth calls Maggie Darby her sacrificial lamb: Maggie's job is to try on all of the queen's gowns and accessories before she wears them—just in case they’re poisoned. Trained by her father, Maggie has no intention of dying in the line of duty. She's learned all about poisons and how to test for them.
When the handsome Highland warrior who saved her in the stables is accused of treason, Maggie’s instincts tell her that he’s been framed. As they work together to find the true traitors in Queen Elizabeth’s court, the smoldering fire that’s been growing between them erupts into an inferno that threatens to change their worlds forever.
The Queen’s Highlanders
The Highlander & The Queen’s Sacrifice
The Highlander & the Counterfeit Queen
The Highlander & the Lady of Misrule

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Highlander Kerr Gordon is taking his life in his hands by representing Mary Stuart,  Queen of Scots at the court of her enemy Queen Elizabeth. It will not help him that there is someone planning her assassination. 

Maggie Darby has been named as the Queen's sacrificial lamb because of her duty to test for poison in gifts sent for the Queen. 

There are a lot of surprises in this historical romance.  Political intrigue is the norm, and danger is around every corner.  Our characters have life changing decisions to make from the moment they meet. 

This is the first book in a new series that I will definitely be reading more of.  

I loved it.  

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Heather McCollum is an award winning, historical and YA paranormal romance writer. She earned her B.A. in Biology, much to her English professor’s dismay, and was a 2009 Golden Heart Finalist. When she is not picking her teen’s brain for authentic attitude for her YA books and finding time to write, she is usually found educating women on ovarian cancer symptoms. Ms. McCollum has recently slayed the cancer beast and resides with her very own hero and 3 kids in the wilds of suburbia on the mid-Atlantic coast.

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Ruff Justice ( Ruff Wooing #2) by Anna Markland. Historical Romance (Tudor) Release & ARC Review.

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Like his father and brother before him, Julian Hawke is a well-respected London goldsmith—and an informant for Elizabeth Tudor’s Spymaster. But he craves the challenge of a more significant role in espionage. As part of a plan to trap the imprisoned Mary of Scotland in treasonous activities, he is sent to France as a double agent. His mission is to deliver false documents to the exiled Thomas Morcant, one of the Scottish queen’s stalwart supporters and a suspect in the attempted murder of Julian’s brother.
Things go awry in Paris when Julian meets Morcant’s sister. He is drawn to her but assumes she has come to France as a courier for Mary.

Sara Morcant has travelled to Paris in a last-ditch effort to dissuade her older brother from involvement in the plot to put the Scottish queen on the English throne. She finds herself falling for Julian Hawke but, when she discovers he has met with her brother, fears he must be a courier for the traitors plotting Elizabeth’s overthrow.

Untangling the web of intrigue in which they are mired could implicate them both in the deadly plot to assassinate Elizabeth Tudor and lead to arrest and execution.

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Julian Hawke is a talented Goldsmith and like his father and brother before him, an informer for the Crown. Unfortunately the Queen's spy master pushes him to get a bit more than just information this time.  

Our hero is not really cut out for the work of a spy, but nobody can say no when the spy master calls. 

Sara Morcant and her little brother are in Paris to see their older brother who has been imprisoned in the Bastille. Our heroine is trying to make her brother see how much danger he has put them all in, but he's a very stubborn man. 

This is an action packed historical romance is set in Queen Elizabeth's troubled Reign.  The politics of the time and the troubles caused by religion are very well described and make for exciting reading.  Our sexy hero has his own secrets to hide.  

This is the second book in the series but as there are a few years between the settings, you don't need to have read the first to enjoy this one.  It would help to understand the relationship our goldsmiths have with the spy master though.  

I loved it. 

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I’m a Canadian author with a keen interest in genealogy. I write medieval romance about family honour, ancestry, and roots. My novels are intimate love stories full of passion and adventure.

Passion conquers whatever obstacles a hostile medieval world can throw in its path. My page-turning adventures have earned me a place on Amazon’s All-Star list.

Besides writing, I have two addictions-crosswords and genealogy, probably the reason I love research. I am a fool for cats. My husband is an entrepreneur who is fond of boasting he’s never had a job.

I live on Canada’s scenic west coast now, but I was born and raised in the UK and I love breathing life into the history of my homeland.

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Ruffled Feathers (Ruff Wooing, #1) by Anna Markland. Historical Romance, Release & ARC Review.

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Dominic Hawke is a proud member of a well-respected family of London goldsmiths who’ve honed their craft for four generations. Like many goldsmiths, they also carry on a lucrative and trusted banking business.

Spain plots to invade England, assassinate her queen and install the Catholic Mary of Scotland on the throne. Determined to protect his country from Spanish interference, Dominic is also an informant for Elizabeth Tudor’s Spymaster.

When the Pope’s Venetian emissary deposits the funds to finance a Spanish invasion with the Hawkes, events are set in motion that will likely result in the Venetian’s execution.

Things go awry when Dominic meets and falls in love with the emissary’s daughter. A man smugly proud of his prodigious sexual appetite and imbued with an innate desire to dominate in the bedroom, he doubts the haughty and spoiled Luisa Bertolli would ever bend to his will. Even if she isn’t involved in her father’s plot, the innocent often do not escape torture and execution.

Unaware of her father’s involvement in treasonous activities, Luisa cannot understand her craving for a London goldsmith who lives in a cramped apartment above his shop. Venetian noblewomen are destined to marry wealthy Venetian men. She begins to suspect Dominic is somehow involved in her father’s affairs and doesn’t doubt that he craves sexual dominance—something she could never agree to. It becomes clear the goldsmith is using her to entrap her father.

Both their lives are at risk in the deadly game of intrigue orchestrated by the Queen’s notorious Spymaster, Francis Walsingham. 

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Dominic Hawke is a Goldsmith and a spy.  Although he is a catholic he will protect England and his Queen with his life.  Queen Elizabeth's spy masters demand absolute obedience and will punish traitors in the worst ways.  

Luisa Bertolli travelled to England with her father from Venice. What she didn't know was the real reason her father was making the journey.  

The Pope and most Catholics don't want Protestant Elizabeth on the throne.  They are working to replace her with Catholic Mary of Scotland.  

This historical romance gives us a real feel for the events of this time and it's effects on the lives of the ordinary people.  I loved the insight into the Guilds and how they worked.  Fabulous characters and lots of danger and intrigue.  Our naughty and sexy hero sometimes has trouble keeping his mind on the job at hand.  Our heroine is braver and more intelligent than the men around her give her credit for.  There are plenty of surprises and some sexy scenes. 

This is the first book in the series and it will definitely tempt you to want to read the next one.  

I loved it.  

AMAZON.US * AMAZON.UK * AMAZON.ES

I’m a Canadian author with a keen interest in genealogy. I write medieval romance about family honour, ancestry, and roots. My novels are intimate love stories full of passion and adventure.

Passion conquers whatever obstacles a hostile medieval world can throw in its path. My page-turning adventures have earned me a place on Amazon’s All-Star list.

Besides writing, I have two addictions-crosswords and genealogy, probably the reason I love research. I am a fool for cats. My husband is an entrepreneur who is fond of boasting he’s never had a job.

I live on Canada’s scenic west coast now, but I was born and raised in the UK and I love breathing life into the history of my homeland.

 WEBSITE  * GOODREADS * FACEBOOK * TWITTER * BOOKBUB