Review of "Dangerous Highlander" by Donna Grant

Just finished "Dangerous Highlander" by Donna Grant, the first in her Dark Sword series. I'm not sure how I remembered first hearing about this author, but I won some swag for the release of "Dangerous Highlander" several months ago, and finally got my hands on the book itself to read. Bought by myself, by the way, neither book or money was given in exchange for this review.

From the back of the book:
" A DANGEROUS MAN... He is magnificently strong - and dangerously seductive. One of the fiercest of his clan, Lucan MacLeod is a legend among warriors, inspiring fear in man and woman alike. For three hundred years, he has locked himself away from the world, hiding the vengeful god imprisoned in his soul. But then, a young lass caught in a raging storm awakens his deepest impulses... and darkest desires.
A DANGEROUS PASSION... Cara doesn't believe the rumors about MacLeod Castle - until the majestic Highland warrior appears like a fiery vision in the storm, pulling her into his powerful arms, and into his world of magic and druids. An epic war between good and evil is brewing. And Lucan must battle his all-consuming attraction for Cara - or surrender to the flames of a reckless, impossible love that threatens to destroy them both... "

As I'm sure everyone has noticed, character development, as well as how much I come to love the characters, is one of the biggest factors that make or break a novel for me. While I can't say I saw too much development in Lucan himself, I definitely saw change in Cara, and even more so in Lucan's brothers - Quinn and Fallon. Of course Lucan changed during the course of the novel, but that would mostly be because of his interaction with Cara, I wouldn't necessarily call it development.

One quick note, I did find my mind straying on occasion. There are some books that while I am interested, and for the most part they do keep my attenion, I find myself skipping lines, or sometimes just following dialogue. This seemed to be the case with "Dangerous Highlander." There were certainly passages that kept me glued to the page, but others, my mind would occasionally wander.

That said, I still loved the book. I really enjoyed the plot, the gods inside the warriors, and especially the description of what the warriors looked like when they let their god transform them. Even more than that, I loved that each warrior that held a different god transformed into a different colored creature. The big baddie in the storyline is interesting, and I can't wait to see how the whole thing wraps up, which I hope won't be for another several books. On that note, the next book in the series is "Forbidden Highlander".. and seems to be Fallon MacLeod's book.

So to wrap this up, I would give "Dangerous Highlander" by Donna Grant a FOUR out of FIVE. I liked the idea, I liked the characters, even loved some of them. And yes, I will check out the rest in the series. But this just didn't feel like a five star book to me. But definitely check out "Dangerous Highlander" and come up with your own conclusions.

Happy Reading!
~!~Morning Glow