I really enjoyed reading this book. The story is quite thrilling and packed with action. Although, the romance part it a little lacking but I think the situation demanded it to be so. Rose is kidnapped by a highlander and now to stay safe she must put her trust in the hands of the very person who kidnapped her. Will knows that kidnapping Rose was a bad idea but he is woriied about his kinsmen and he would do anything to protect them. Rose might have posed some kind of threat and he needed to make sure that didn't happen. Now, he is stuck with and he also needs to protect her from the men he is currently working with. He only hopes that after all of this is over she forgives him. But for now, they must first survive the ordeal they're all facing because of one villainous man.

What a wonderful trek through the lives of a London maid and her Scottish warrior. Rose at first is timid about life but as more and more conflicts arrive in her life, she chooses to do her best to push through each one. By doing so, her meekness disappears and becomes more of a lioness. Her adversary is by her side for the good, the bad and the ugly. And yet this warrior William learns what it means to be more tempered. Life is a struggle for everyone but it is so much better with friends, family, and the love of your life by your side.
I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for my volunteer review.

Historical romances are not using my thing. I definitely prefer sports or contemporary romances; however, I am Outlander Trash, so whenever I see something about Highlanders it peeks my interest. This book wasn't bad, but I felt like I definitely did myself a disservice by starting on book four and not reading the other ones. You definitely can read this as a standalone, but I felt like I was missing some key details on things. I also felt like something was just missing in this book, and I couldn't figure out what that was.

The plot of this is what grabbed me, a Highlander kidnapping an English Maid because of a case of mistaken identity and they have to work together to defeat their common enemy? LOVE IT! Especially since you could feel the slow burning of attraction between them while they are pretending to be lovers while William is a spy. I loved this part, but I felt like we didn't get enough of that tension between them. It felt like there wasn't enough time to pass for them to really feel that connection. The pacing here just felt a little too fast.

Despite the look of this cover, this book really doesn't have that many steamy scenes. There is really only one sex scene in it towards the end of the book. It's not really that explicit either. At least to me it wasn't. Just a lot of tension and kisses between the two lovers. Which I did really love. I did love the kind of hate-to-love thing they had going on and how they just argue half the time. It made me laugh, because I love characters that can just infuriate each other.

The subplot of Ramsay and the Highlanders fighting was interesting, but I felt like I didn't know what the heck was going on. It's explained somewhat, but I had to get the feeling that if I read the other books I might have understood the conflict a little better. I know book three is supposed to take place at the same time as this one, so there were some offhand comments that had me scratching my head because I didn't remember certain things being talked about.

If you are looking for a HEA book and you like historical romance, I would recommend this one, but maybe read the other books first.


*I received an eARC copy of this book via Netgalley and the publisher Entangled publishing. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

William MacGregor will lie, spy, and happily die to protect his clan from their greatest enemy, but when he kidnaps the wrong woman, he triggers the very events he’d been working so hard to prevent
Rose Thatcher will do anything to protect her lady and return them both safely to English soil. But the damn Highlander who snatched her off the docks has done nothing but get in her way.
How was William to know that Rose had taken her Lady's place or that he would be so very attracted to his captive.
I liked this title but although it is an amusing story it just didn't strike my fancy as much as previous books by this author had. I was a little disappointed with the thread of this story in general. The mistaken kidnapping I thought would lead to a very good story but that was my mistake.
There was just too much in the way of violence and I didn't see the attraction factor.
I gave this book 3.25 of 5.0 stars for storyline and characterization.
These characters just didn't mesh in this readers opinion.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book to read. This in no way affected my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

I enjoyed this book as a quick, easy summer read although the heroine, Rose, did get on my nerves just a bit.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Good romance! The characters were little up and down for me. My favorite parts were Rose's internal thoughts. I wish some of that wittiness was external. Overall, a typical Scottish romance with a sexy highlander who kidnaps the wrong lady but ends up in love!

I would definitely recommend this book.👍 Rose is very committed to her Lady. Lady Alice takes off on a boat after blackmailing a handsome highlander. After Alice departs, Rose is supposed to put a plan in play, but is kidnapped. Young William thinks she is a spy, so he takes her. Little does she know, he is the spy amongst the enemy.

In this book we follow their journey through highland where they find happiness, peace and love.

It was well written, easy to read. I loved the characters!
Rose was a strong, opinionated female heroine character. They were able to show courage when needed. She and William often fought 😀 That was even funny

Rose Thatcher is a ladies maid who is worried over and furious with her lady. Her Lady Alice has run away from home on board a ship to chase after a man. Rose's job is to try an cover for her to give her time to get away.

William MacGregor has just seen his Kinsman off on his way to Scotland. He is staying in the enemy camp to find out all he can about the expected attack. Someone on the dock is behaving suspiciously, time to go to work.

This is a very amusing story even though it's full of danger. Our heroine is incredibly brave, our hero is strong and brave as well but also a little too impulsive. A fabulous adventure with great characters.

I loved it.

An English Lady's maid is kidnapped by a Scotsman suspicious of her actions. Will eventually reveals to Rose that he infiltrated the group of rogues who want to take over two Scottish holdings and capture his Laird's wife. Rose is angry that he kidnapped her, but Will's actions earn her trust. Working as a spy he hopes for redemption for his mistakes and prove his worth to his Laird and forgiveness from Rose. A short book, but reads really fast.

As far as a historical romance, it was pretty good. It was hard to keep my attention but those that love the avid historical details would love this book. The main characters are spunky and full of grit. But this was not a book that held my attention.

I enjoyed this medieval romance. Rose Thatcher, an English lady’s maid, agrees to help her lady, but then she is kidnapped by William MacGregor, who mistakes her for someone else. He agrees to take her to her lady, who is now with his relatives. During the long journey their bickering turns to something more. This was an entertaining book and I would recommend it to others.

Michelle McLean is a new-author to me, it is the blurb which attracted me first.
As I’m a self taught reader in English language, stories with Scottish brogue are not always my favorite as I struggle sometime at reading it (don’t talk to me to listen to an audio version, it would be sexy but like listening to Chinese!), but here I had no difficulties.
But first I loved it was about commoners, for once no laird nor lady but a simple highlander loyal to his kin and a maid ready to fight with teeth and claws for her charge.
Sure William seems to be wreaking havoc in his wake, having not read the three previous installments, I can only trust his words. But it is certain than despite his good intentions, he make a muddle of things. So I quite understand why he felt so defeated and so not deserving but he does not see he does good even in his mistakes, he was ready to die to save his laird’s wife, and her friend.
Rose is a her-head-screwed-straight kind of girl, she gives a thought before taking any action, she is not easily confused, only when around William, she looses her temper.
When close, each arises the worst and best in the other, they can’t stop to argue or bicker but also feel stronger when together and are drawn to another.
They tried to fight their attraction, because worst than their constant nagging at another, there is their origins, she longs for London when he only wants to go back to Scotland among his kind or serve them.

« “But you’re as human as the rest of us. No one is infallible, Will. And you’ve since saved my life—more than once.” »

It was a slow burn story as the author took time to give them moments to get to know the other, to learn about their past and their hopes. It was in spite of them they fell in love, but still they struggled because of who they were.
In all a lovely tale of two very opposite persons finding home in each other.
I just would have liked an epilogue, but it is just me.
4.5 stars

Rose is 100% committed to her Lady. Lady Alice takes off on a boat after blackmailing a handsome highlander. Lady Alice’s story was the previous book. After Alice departs, Rose is supposed to put a plan in play, but is kidnapped. Young William thinks she is a spy, so he takes her. Little does she know, he is the spy amongst the enemy. Follow their journey through the highlands to find family, love,and a place to belong.

I thought I would be into this book because I really love things of a Scottish nature. However, it started off slow and I couldn’t get into it at all. Not for me, sorry. Thank you to netgalley for the arc.

Heat Factor: Medium-low
Character Chemistry: That thing where they argue and it’s true love
Plot: Accidental kidnapping leads to much bloodshed, but probably the bloodshed was going to happen anyways
Overall: Decidedly uneven

So here’s the deal. We have your classic Ye Olde Hottie MacScottie (aka William MacGregor), who sees a quintessential British Rose (aka… Rose) and MUST kidnap her for Reasons. Since I have a well-documented love for Old School Julie Garwood Highlander Romances, I figured this would be a good fit for me.

There are definitely some expected things that this book does well. Specifically, if we’re reading in the Scottish Kidnapping subgenre of romance, we expect the heroine to get a bit saucy with the hero while also being uncomfortably attracted to his manliness, and I was not disappointed. McLean excels here, especially in Rose’s interior monologues, which are quite funny. For example:
"What sort of fool was she, mooning over how strong he must have been when he carried her unconscious body to his wagon so he could abduct her?"
Ha! But also: good question.

There are also some unexpected bits to the book, which made it different from a standard rehash of the Scottish Kidnapping trope, and which added some interest to the story, particularly in terms of the conflict between William and Rose as they start to fall in love and try to imagine their lives together. To wit: William is not a lord, and Rose is not a lady. Rather, William is a vassal, with no holdings of his own, and Rose is a lady’s maid. They therefore have obligations that neither can easily jettison, as well as logistical concerns about where they could possibly live and both feel accepted. Who cares if the washerwomen won’t gossip with the new lady of the house who happens to be English? No one. Who cares if they won’t gossip with the new maid, who also happens to be English? Well, that might be a bit more uncomfortable for the parties involved. (Also - what is the historical precedent for lady’s maids getting married and keeping their posts? This doesn’t come up, but I did wonder…)

Unfortunately, this potentially interesting source of conflict between William and Rose is hand-waved away without much discussion, which brings me to my main critique of How to Forgive a Highlander: that the book doesn’t pick an idea and stick to it. This goes for plot, tone, and the arc of William and Rose’s relationship.

As I mentioned above, when Rose is first kidnapped, the tone is quite feisty and fun. But then - suddenly - we turn to ANGST. So much angst. Some of this angst is William, who insists, sort of out of the blue, that he messes everything up, and that all the danger that is coming to their friends is because he kidnapped Rose, and every time he tries to do something right everything goes wrong, etc etc etc. First: this comes out of nowhere, as he starts out pretty confident in his abilities, and doesn’t do anything remarkably stupid on the page. Second: there is no evidence whatsoever that the fact that William kidnapped Rose led to the Evil Bad Guy finding the people William is protecting; in fact, all signs point to the Evil Bad Guy already knowing where everyone is. William’s heavy burden of guilt doesn’t seem earned, and makes the actual mechanics of the adventure story component of the plot unnecessarily confusing.

There is also angst about their relationship, which, ok, fine. But the correlated transitions in their relationship as the tone moved from feisty to angsty were not well-developed. The build from Enemies to Lovers is not bad, but then they are suddenly very deeply in love, but claim they can’t be together because they argue all the time - except they haven’t been arguing all that much since they started being lovers, because they’ve been too busy being angsty about their stolen moments of time together before their inevitable parting. (There’s also some Fake Relationship stuff going on, which just adds to the book feeling overstuffed and underdeveloped.)

A final note: this is the fourth book in a series, and it only sort of stands alone. There is a LOT of expository monologuing in the first quarter or so of the book, so that the reader is all caught up on all the different players and their histories and their nicknames and their fight against the Evil Bad Guy. Some of this is funny - William explains everything to Rose while she’s unconscious, and he’s carrying her to his wagon to complete his kidnapping - but overall, it’s tedious, especially since it happens more than once.



I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

A terrific story that was very enjoyable. The characters were well-developed and the story line was interesting. William and Rose are such a good match and have great chemistry together. Their journey together is a good one. The pace of the story was just perfect, and the story held my interest.

This is the fourth book in The MacGregor Lairds Series and the first book I have read by this author. It definitely won’t be the last! It was well written, easy to read and paced perfectly. I loved the characters! Rose was so strong, opinionated, and out of her comfort zone. But she was able to step up to the challenge and do what needed to be done to keep herself and William alive. William was trying so hard to “prove” himself to his older cousins by spying on the enemy. He was so sincere and truly distressed when he discovered he had kidnapped Rose and put her in danger. They quarreled a lot which added such humor the story. They made such a great team! But they each had their own responsibilities; Rose to her mistress and William to his Laird. In the end they got their HEA but it took them working together and overcoming their fears. This was such a great book and I am certainly going to have to read the previous books in the series!

This was a sweet and charming book with lots of action, an adorable and charming couple whose bickering and nagging made me smile and laugh a lot. The characters felt authentic and genuine and even though I was upset that William was really hard on himself while I thought that he was simply human, I really loved those two.
Rose is something else, strong, loving, funny and loyal to the core. I loved to see her slowly (and thoroughly) fall for William and vice versa.

Towards the end, when those two to have to figure out how they can overcome the problems that keep them from acknowledging their feelings or at least from daring to hope for a future because - how could they dream of a future together if one of them is supposed to live in Scotland and the other one in England?
But having overcome everything they did - how could they give up these dreams?

I didn't know the other books in this series but I had no problem to get into this one and to stay captivated till the end. Now I'm really looking forward to reading the other books in this series even though Rose and William were rather special and I'm not sure that the others will be as sweet as those two but I really hope so.

Ahhhhh this was just such a great read. I just didn't want this book to end and I was sad to turn the last page. I'm so excited to see what's next from this author.

This is the first book I've read by Michelle Mclean and it certainly won't be the last.

How to forgive a Highlander was a quick, fun read.
Rose and William were adorable together. I always liked a bickering couple but this is so difficult to get right. McLean walks a fine line where the couple's charming bickering showcases the chemistry between the leads instead of them being annoying.

While Rose was a brave straightforward character, William was a hero who knows his flaws, admits to it and overcomes it with flying colors. Rose was a perfect match for William even though she lacked the diffidence her role was supposed to have.

I did take a whole to connect with the characters since I haven't read any of the previous books, but the story got me hooked pretty fast. I couldn't put the book down and enjoyed the dynamics between our lead characters.
I enjoyed reading this book so much I'm going to read the previous books in the series.