I have to admit that this is my first historical by Ms. London. I know, I live under a rock but it's true. I gobble up her contemporaries like candy but I can't resist a Scot. I will admit that I had a few issues with the book.

1. Rabbie - While I understood that he was not only grieving for his countryman, his own family and most importantly his first love, he really needed to stop with the Debbie Downer stuff. It made me depressed at times when he needed to truly move on.

2. Avaline - that poor child. Yes, she is a child, a teenager really but I felt sorry for her. She was only a pawn from her own family and Rabbie's, too. And then, to have her own heart shattered. I almost DNF this book.

3. Bernadette - I actually really liked her. She had spirit and watching her fight her attraction to Rabbie was fun. On the other hand, she really needed to have a bigger backbone when it came to having to burden everyone's pain and suffering. She was hurting, too but what she did is almost a no-no for me.

I know it sounds like I didn't like the story. Actually, I did. Ms. London wrote a beautiful book about two lost souls that found each other in a terrible time. There were some things that I wouldn't have put up with but based on the time period of the book, it was the standard practice of the time and place. Overall, it's a story of starting over, redemption and finding that one person that makes the journey towards true love that much more sweeter. Just remember, this isn't a nice time in Scotland. It's horrible and Ms. London makes you feel it, smell it and live it.

I will definitely start reading her historicals in the future. She has always been a go-to author for me when it comes to contemporaries. She didn't disappoint me with her historical.

I expected an epic love story considering the tragic events in both Rabbie and Bernadette's pasts. I found the overall story too be good, but their constant inner monologues about their pasts became quite repetitive. Some of the supporting characters were annoying and that combined with the monologues earned the lower rating. While not my favorite of the author's books, I still enjoyed the their story and I did love seeing them overcome the tragedies in their lives to find love with each other. I haven't read the previous books in the series, so I don't know how they compare to this one.
3.5 stars

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book. I was not compensated for this review, all conclusions are my own.

The third book in the Highland Grooms series introduces us to Bernadette Holly and Rabbie Mackenzie. Both Bernadette and Rabbie have suffered great losses and are trying to deal with the heartache the best way they know how.

Bernadette is the companion and lady's maid to Avaline Kent. She has traveled to the Highlands to prepare Avaline for marriage to the stoic Mackenzie. While her first instinct is that he is rude and uncaring, she soon finds that she is drawn to the tortured Rabbie. The man that she encounters on the edge of the cliff that no one sees. But as she finds herself falling deeper for him she is torn in her loyalty to her friend Avaline.

Rabbie is being forced into a marriage that he does not want, but he will do it for his family. After losing his first love he doesn't see how his heart can ever recover. And his timid fiancee is not the answer. She trembles when she even tries to talk to him, but her companion is quick to give her opinion on his behavior. As Rabbie and Bernadette work through their war or words and wills, Rabbie finds himself feeling emotions he thought long dead. And when he finds himself in love with Bernadette, now he must convince her that they can conqueror all the challenges they face.

Wonderful story about two people dealing with their grief in different ways. Touching to see each work through their issues and reach for the happiness that awaits them if they will just let go of the pain and cling to each other.

I enjoyed the story but it wasn't a favourite. There were several things I had to push past in this one. Rabbie was so good natured in the earlier books. He did a drastic character change, but considering his past it was somewhat understandable. I felt she went through more than he did and came out with a better personality.
I enjoyed the story and it could be read stand alone.

Another winner! This was a quick read. I loved Rabbie and Bernadette's story. This was a story of second chances. I like that we get to revisit the characters from the prior books in the series. It's sort of like checking back in with friends. I think that the moral to the story is that you never forget your first love but that there's always room for a second love sometimes. For me, this had all of the elements of a great romance. I'm hoping there are more books in the series.

I’ve enjoyed the previous two books in Julia London’s Highland Grooms series in spite of my general aversion to Scottish/Highland set romances; both books are strongly character driven with, in the case of the first book, Wild Wicked Scot, a dash of politics and intrigue thrown in to add an extra layer of interest. So I’ve been looking forward to this third book, in which the hero is Rabbie Mackenzie, younger son of Laird Arran and his English wife, Margot. But I’m afraid I can’t say that I enjoyed Hard Hearted Highlander as much as the other books, mostly because the eponymous hero is such a miserable bastard for well over half of the story, and it’s difficult to find any vestige of sympathy or liking for a man who is so ill-mannered and self-centred.

That’s not to say that Rabbie doesn’t have grounds for what is immediately apparent is a case of severe depression. The book is set in 1750, five years after the Battle of Culloden, and takes place in a very different world to the previous novel. Many families and clans were wiped out on the battlefield and after, and of those who weren’t many have fled – to the cities, or overseas – and the landscape has been forever changed. Even the powerful Mackenzie clan is struggling to look after its own; their neutrality in the conflict did not protect them from the widely wrought devastation and times are hard.

Like many of his countrymen, Rabbie is frustrated and bitter about the huge change the battle has wrought in the Highlander way of life, but he is also mired in grief for the woman he loved, Seona MacBee, who was killed, along with her family, either during or after the uprising. It’s been years since her death, but Rabbie mourns her every day, and continues to scowl and growl his way through life, much to the consternation of his family. They love him dearly and hate to see him so melancholy, but don’t know what to do to help – and know that he would probably reject it if they tried.

As the Mackenzies struggle to rebuild their fortunes after the rebellion, it becomes necessary for Laird Mackenzie to broker a match between Rabbie and the young daughter of Lord Kent, an English nobleman who has purchased the nearby estate of Kileaven and looks set to buy up other lands around Balhaire. If that happens, there won’t be enough land to sustain even the small number of Mackenzies who are left, and a this arrangement is the only way to protect Balhaire and its dependents. Rabbie recognises the importance of this marriage to his family and agrees to marry the girl. He doesn’t care – he’s dead inside anyway.

When the Kents arrive, it’s immediately apparent that the two families are not a match made in heaven. Lord Kent is an abrasive boor who is more often drunk than not and his wife and daughter live in fear of him. Aveline Kent is only seventeen; she’s pretty and sweet, but her excessive timidity and utter lack of individuality and spirit irritate Rabbie intensely and he finds himself unable to say a civil word to her. His complete lack of consideration for the young woman, and for the difficult situation she has been pushed into similarly irritate Aveline’s maid and companion, Bernadette Holly, who makes very clear her disdain for Rabbie and dislike of the way he is treating her friend.

Of course, this is a romance novel, so I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by saying that that disdain leads to some harsh words and eventually to verbal sparring that sends the sparks flying between Rabbie and Bernadette. For the first time in years, he finds himself attracted to a woman, but things are moving quickly, and with the wedding just days away and the fate of his clan at stake, how can they have a future together?

Like Rabbie, Bernadette has a heart-breaking tragedy in her past, but unlike him, she doesn’t allow it to colour her every thought and move. As a younger woman, she fell in love and eloped with a man her father thought beneath her. He had her followed and brought home, the marriage was annulled and the young man sent away, never to be seen again. Bernadette later learned he had died at sea – but even worse, after the separation she discovered she was expecting his child only to lose the baby when she was several months along, and is now unable to have children of her own. Ruined and with her reputation in shreds, Bernadette is now employed by the Kents as a maid-cum-companion, and it’s to her that Lord Kent looks to prepare Aveline for her upcoming marriage. It’s an impossible task however; the dour Highlander shows no inclination whatsoever to even try to get to know his bride, and doesn’t care that Aveline has no alternative but to obey her brutish father.

I liked Bernadette; she’s come through her tragedy and emerged as a stronger person who isn’t easily cowed by anyone. She goes toe-to-toe with Rabbie and calls him on his crap, hinting to him that he’s not the only person to ever have been hurt and telling him outright that he needs to stop acting like a spoiled child, man up and deal with it. In the absence of treatments for depression, it’s fortunate for Rabbie that his interest is piqued by Bernadette’s spirit and he is not a little inspired by the way she has managed to pull herself out of the despair she experienced upon her own losses.

The biggest problem with Hard-Hearted Highlander is that about two thirds of it is Rabbie being a rude, unfeeling and discourteous dickhead to his poor fiancée – who isn’t to blame for anything other than being an empty-headed seventeen-year-old – and Rabbie and Bernadette pondering their losses during a number of lengthy inner monologues. I liked the author’s overall message about the need to let go and move on, but the romance is rushed, there’s an odd subplot that made me a little uncomfortable, and the various flashbacks to Rabbie’s life with Seona are out of place; we already know he’s heartbroken, and these reinforcements add nothing to the overall story.

I understand that there are to be more books in this series, and I certainly intend to read them, but I can’t wholeheartedly recommend this one. It’s well-written and Ms. London has once again made good use of her research into the period to create a suitably subdued atmosphere that reflects the political situation of the time. But ultimately, the romance falls flat; the hero is too unappealing for most of the book, and his turn-about, when it comes, is too fast and too late. Hard-Hearted Highlander is certainly not the place to start with the Highland Grooms, and even if you’re following the series, you might want to give it a miss.

Grade C+

This is my second novel by Julia London, and it did not disappoint. While I did not enjoy Rabbie's story as much as I did Cailen and Daisy's, this was still a sweet, heart-lifting romance. My only issue with the book was that we only got to see Rabbie and Bernedette together a few times. Most of the time they were dealing with inner turmoil. I would have liked to see them interact more so I could fully connect to the relationship.

This is the story of Rabbie Mackenzie and Bernadette Holly. Rabbie is a broken man due to the loss of the love of his life and Bernadette is a brokenwoman due to the loss of her husband as well as her unborn child. Rabbie is betrothed to Avaline Kent, a 17 year old girl who is nearly 1/2 Rabbie's age.and who just so happens to be infatuated with Rabbie's brother, Captain Auley Mackenzie and is Bernadette's charge. Miss Holly, by the way, detests Rabbie. Sparks fly each time Rabbie and Bernadette encounter each other and eventually sparks turn into flames. This is a an entertaining read full of twists and turns that is sure to keep the readers attention. The only other comment I have to make is that I received an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

DNF
So far I have been wishy-washy on this series. However, I had to DNF this one pretty early on. I couldn't make myself like the characters or the situation they were put in. I was also very put off by Arran from the first book telling his son, Rabbie, to marry the 17 year old and take a mistress on the side. That seemed so far from his character who is still supposed to be so in love with his wife after all these years. I'm not sure if I will continue with this series.

In Hard-Hearted Highlander, Book 3 in the Highland Grooms series, Rabbie Mackenzie is anything but hard-hearted. Rabbie fled to Norway after getting word that the English were coming after him as a Jacobite sympathizer. He returns to find his fiancee gone, without a trace. Though there is no confirmation it is not hard to presume what has happened, which plunges Rabbie into a depression. With no reason to expect any happiness, he agrees to the arranged marriage between himself and the daughter of Sassenach who bought the neighboring castle.
Bernadette Holly knows pain and loss. Her fight for the future caused scandal and landed her in the position of governess/lady's maid/companion to 17-year-old Aveline Kent, whose father has promised her to Rabbie Mackenzie.
Once she meets Rabbie, Bernadette knows that there is no way Aveline can marry him. She is too young and naive for such an unhappy person. Rabbie can't believe that the lady's maid would talk to him as an equal and with disdain. He also realizes quickly that he can't marry Avaline. As Rabbie and Bernadette spend more time together trying to figure out how to end the marriage of convenience, they find that there is to their own feelings. Can these two get past the obstacles and the pain of their pasts and find a way to make a future together?
I enjoyed this book and the characters. It was a bit disturbing to see how both Bernadette and Avaline's fathers treated them as property. This story is heart-wrenching on both sides.
This is a developed story with strong characters and an interesting story line. Though it is a part of a series, it can easily stand alone.

Marriage and more in the wild Highlands!

Bernadette Holly has taken up the life as a governess after her scandalous elopement became salacious gossip for polite society. Her charge is Avaline is the daughter of an English Baron, Baron Kent. Kent is determined to marry his daughter off to Rabbie Mackenzie. The Baron wants access to the sea for trading from the dispossessed lands of Killeaven he's bought from the crown that surround the Mackenzie stronghold of Belhaire. Marriage with the Mackenzie will give him that. In a world post Culloden and the Jacobite uprising, 1750 Scotland leaves little choice for anyone. 'Scotland [was] drowning under the weight of taxes and excises.' Rabbie will marry the Sassenach for his family and their survival.
Rabbie's heart has been broken from the day he found out his one true love Seona, was missing after the English had taken their revenge. Seona had never returned.
Avaline is a flighty, set upon young girl with a head full of dreams and an unwillingness to face reality. But given her situation why should she? She is being married off to bring about her father's plans. Perhaps her fantasy world, her drifting through things kept her sane.
You can't help but be dismayed at treatment of women as property. Both Bernadette and Avaline are badly treated by their fathers. What happened to Bernadette when she was dragged away from her husband and her marriage annulled was truly wicked.
Of course Rabbie and Bernadette rub each other up the wrong way from the very beginning. Bernadette is trying to protect Avaline, to show her she can make choices. Avaline has other ideas. Her fear of her father doesn't help.
There were real moments of tenderness in this story between Bernadette and her nemesis Rabbie Mackenzie. Indeed, I surprised myself by my near tearful response when Rabbie comes to understand Bernadette and her story.
I did enjoy this look at two haunted people who find each other.

A NetGalley ARC
(April 2017)

I really enjoyed reading the latest highland romance by one of my favorite authors. This is a delightful tale of the Highland Grooms series and can be read as a stand alone. I just adore those brawny men who wear their kilts so handsomely with power in their own right.
This is a tale of one of the men who has almost given up his life after the Battle of Culloden. His wife is now dead and his clan is not doing so well. His name is Rabbie MacKenzie who sees no end in sight in his troubles. He just lives each day and not wanting to give his family grief, goes through the motions. Now he has the chance to keep his clan together.
Rabbie will marry an Englishwoman to bring in money to keep his clan from starving. He vows not to love her because he still loves his dead wife.
The bride is accompanied by the ever present lady's maid. Her name is Bernadette Holly who has a very tragic past that sees her going to the highlands. Bernadette is really a Lady, but she keeps her secrets close as to help the bride in unknown territory. The bride is not liking her groom to be.
Rabbie and Bernadette are attracted to each other. They each have burdens that lighten when they become friends and then lovers.
Will they have a happy ever after? You will just have to read to find out.
I appreciate Net Galley for the title in which I gave an honest review.

Scandal, smugglers, arranged marriages, and star crossed lovers all against the backdrop of the Scottish highlands! I've only recently discovered Julia London and I'm enjoying her books very much!

Summary from Goodreads:

"An ill-fated elopement cost English-born governess Bernadette Kent her reputation, her fickle lover and any chance of a future match. She has nothing left to fear—not even the bitter, dangerously handsome Scot due to marry her young charge. Naive wallflower Avaline is terrified to wed Rabbie Mackenzie, but if he sends her home, she will be ruined. Bernadette's solution: convince Rabbie to get Avaline to cry off while ignoring her own traitorous attraction to him.

A forced engagement to an Englishwoman is a hard pill for any Scot to swallow. It's even worse when the fiancee in question is a delicate, foolish young miss unlike her spirited, quick-witted governess. Sparring with Bernadette brings passion and light back to Rabbie's life after the failed Jacobite uprising. His clan's future depends upon his match to another, but how can any Highlander forsake a love that stirs his heart and soul?"

My Thoughts:

I am officially sold on this author and her books! Earlier this year I read and enjoyed Sinful Scottish Laird so I jumped at the chance to read this one. This book was just as good and a delight to read! I have to say that I love how this author put her characters in next to impossible situations. From the very beginning of this book, I couldn't see how things would ever be able to work out for the hero and heroine. This makes for an interesting reading experience as this is always in the back of my head. I didn't read the above summary before starting this book so I honestly didn't know what to expect. What I got was a much more tragic and brooding hero than I expected. Rabbie wasn't very likeable at the beginning of the book even though you began to understand why as the reader. I loved the fact that Bernadette didn't try whatsoever to pretend like the way he was behaving was okay. She didn't cut him any slack at all and it was fun to watch them hate each other (especially knowing that at some point this would all change).

Although they didn't like each other in the beginning, the best parts of the book were when Rabbie and Bernadette's relationship started to change. I adore a good romance and this is exactly what this book had. I wanted everything to work out for these two even if I was wondering how it possibly could. It definitely kept me reading which hasn't always been the case this year. I seem to be so easily distracted by everything else but I wasn't while reading this one. I also appreciated the fact that there weren't always easy answers. The author keeps true with the story lines that she sets up and I appreciate that. I finished this book with a smile on my face which should tell you enough about how I felt about this book. I absolutely cannot wait to read more by this author!

Overall, this was a really great romance and I'm super excited to have found this author! I am so excited to see what else she has written - I believe there is a first book in this series that I need to get my hands on. Books like this remind me of why I enjoy romance so much. I need to read more of it because it was the perfect change of pace to all of the mysteries and thrillers that I usually read. I would recommend this book (and Sinful Scottish Laird) to historical romance readers and romance readers alike. It was a really great read and one that I enjoyed immensely!

Bottom Line: A delightful read of an author that I can't wait to read more of!

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher and NetGalley as part of a TLC book tour.

Highland Grooms Book Three

Bernadette Holly is along for the ride when her charge, Avaline, is sent to marry highlander Rabbie Mackenzie. Avaline is a naive girl who is afraid of everything and everyone, especially Rabbie. While the rest of his family tries to welcome Avaline and her family, Rabbie just cannot care enough to follow their lead. He is dead inside. Bernadette cannot stand the jerk who ignores her charge. She tries to encourage Avaline as much as possible, but she doesn't think much will come of the union.

If you're looking for a Highland story with several surprising story twists, this is the book for you!

Audio Review:
Derek Perkins has the perfect tone for this story (series). His ability to work with several accents and characterizations is fantastic.

*I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Set in the years following the terrible Scots defeat at Culloden and the subsequent ravaging of the Highlands by the English, there is a dark and moody undertone to this book, embodied in the hero, Rabbie MacKenzie. Rabbie's fiancee was lost in the ravaging and he is hurt and embittered, frankly suicidal at points during the book. Convinced by his family to accept a betrothal to a young Englishwoman in order to reverse the family's failing fortunes, he runs headlong into the serious problem that he can't stand her.

This was where the book absolutely fell apart, for me. Yes, Aveline was a whining little ninny, but she was also seventeen and being forced into a marriage she wanted no more than Rabbie did. A genteel Englishwoman of that age is probably equivalent to an eleven-year-old girl today in how little she understood the world, how sheltered she was. Aveline was treated with nothing short of cruelty by the entire narrative, most particularly by Rabbie. She was a child doing her best in an untenable situation, and the book went out of its way to basically slap her in the face for it. I did hope that she'd get her happy ending with the man of her dreams but instead there was a horrible reversal that quite unnecessarily devastated her.

Bernadette, the supposed heroine of the book and Aveline's 'friend' behaved absolutely reprehensibly, and so did Rabbie. Rabbie was engaged to another woman and the pair of them cheated. Rabbie made little real effort to end the engagement, dumping all the burden on Bernadette's shoulders when she had no power to do anything about it, and was an utter heel throughout the book.

Having a tragic backstory doesn't absolve you of the responsibility to at least attempt to treat other people decently. Or do I have to channel my inner Jake Peralta here?
“Cool motive. Still murder.” Or in this case: “Tragic backstory. Still cheating.”

Not one person in this entire book treated Aveline with any real decency except for Rabbie's sister Cat, the only person in the book I actually liked. Frankly, for the rest of them I had little emotion left but contempt by the end, and the eventual news of Aveline's marriage was clearly supposed to leave us saying 'yay, at least she didn't end up an old maid'. I did not say yay. Trading one fiancé you don't like for another fiancé you don't like? Not a step upwards.

The book is well written and the language beautifully descriptive. If you like broody asshole Scottish heroes and heroines who are willing to sleep with a man engaged to another woman, you might enjoy it. I'm afraid I really did not. Two stars.

An emotional-packed, intense roller-coaster-ride novel. Julia London will have you sigh with relief before you get to the "happily-ever-after," I was tensed and fear for Bernadette!!

Hard-Hearted Highlander brings us the story of another one of Arran and Margot McKenzie’s sons, Rabbie McKenzie.

To protect his family and re-gain lost lands, Rabbie agrees to marry an English girl, even though he doesn’t like English people (*cof* but loves his mother, who IS English *cof*).

Rabbie is a character that has suffered a lot. With a past filled with loss, he spends a great part of the book sad and sorrowful, something his own nephews (children) notice. Rabbie lost his bride during the war between the Scots and the English (and this could have been a more explored, explaining a bit more what really happened to her), and he’s been… broken, let’s say, since then. And his parents think that this marriage might be, besides economically favourable, a way to help him heal and appreciate life again.

But Rabbie doesn’t want the 17 year old English girl who is practically afraid of her own shadow. Now, Bernadette, her companion and lady’s maid, is much more interesting. Like Rabbie, Bernadette has also a painful background story that makes become afraid of what might happen when she and Rabbie start falling in love.

I liked the way Rabbie and Bernadette heel each other, creating new happy bonds. Some things could have been improved, like the orphans being practically thrown at Bernadette by Rabbie, but besides some small details, it was a pleasant book, although a bit gloomier than the previous ones, but it kept the same quality.