The Guardian's Bride is third in the Highland Secrets series by Susan King, following The Scottish Bride and The Forest Bride. The series follows three sisters who are great-grand-daughters of a man who lived with faeries for seven years and came back a "truth-teller" (he tells prophecies). As you may have guessed, based on the series' titles, the books are set in Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence. Several of the characters - most notably, I think, Edward I - are real historical figures. (I am not a history buff so I count it in this book's favor that I actually looked some of this up because it sparked my curiosity.)

The plot follows Rowena, a healer whose skill is aided by a stone given to her by her great-grandfather (of the faeries), and an interim Guardian of Scotland, Aedan MacDuff. Aedan witnesses the crowning of Robert the Bruce and is given the royal vestments for safekeeping, but is gravely injured after doing so. Rowena saves his life but is then summoned by the king and has to leave him before he is fully healed and before she knows that he will survive. (Also, Edward I really died of dysentery, isn't that interesting!)

I should warn you that I am biased by my love of healer characters. Something about them gets me every time and Rowena is no different!

Rowena and Aedan meet again when she is accused of poisoning the king and is thrown in the same cell as him. There are immediate sparks between the two, especially once they both realise they were almost betrothed when they were both very young. Both are widowed, however, as Aedan's guardian disagreed with the betrothal and each ended up marrying other people. Aedan has a five-year-old son and by all accounts Rowena was widowed almost immediately.

I really enjoy a low-drama romance like this. The plot is moved along largely by forces external to the characters themselves: they move from point A to point B pursued by King Edward's forces. Sir Malise Comyn is a repeat villain (I went ahead and read the first book in the series, though they are all standalone) who is desperate to marry someone but too comically evil to seal the deal. Aedan and Rowena are extremely sweet and due to the aforementioned almost-betrothal they pretty quickly give in to their attraction to each other because they see it as Fate.

Aedan himself is very sweet and the interaction between him, his son, and his family members are adorable.

Overall I would recommend this book. I'd give it 3 and a half stars (rounding to four) - it's well written and isn't boring. If you like Highlander romance, that's what the genre is for. Quick and fun read.

what is delightful story. Even with the best planning, things may not go as smoothly as One would hope. But if it’s meant to be, it will be and that’s how I like the story.

The Healer and the Guardian, Fae Magic, Politics and Desire:
This is certainly a complex story that deals with the fate and luck of two intriguing characters that captured my heart.
Rowena a healer with the magic healing stone and Aedan the guardian of Scotland takes us into their incredible journey of discovery and finding a deep love that helps them conquer many situations with some being extremely emotional, and many being terrifying such as pirates, accusations, imprisonment, escapes where all of these and more kept me on the edge of my seat until the heartfelt endearing end of this enthralling love story.
The main story is deeply intricate, although bit long in details with a multitude of verbiage that just lengthened the story.
My biggest disappointed was the low flame of desire that the author could have ignited the pages with at the end but instead left me disappointed with the lack of any kind of sizzle.

Historically accurate Highlander romance full of adventure (we’ve got pirates, we’ve got prison escapes!) and tonnnssss of hurt/comfort!

The first fifty pages were a little slow to get through but after Aedan is officially on the page we were off to the races!

I really enjoyed the characters and their slow burn yet insta love for each other. Very fun story and am excited for more to come

I read this as a standalone and it worked great if you haven’t read earlier books in the series

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Guardian's Bride by Susan King is a third person dual-POV historical romance with light fantasy elements set in 1306 in Scotland. Rowena is widow and a healer to the English king Edward accused of poisoning the king. When she meets her former betrothed, Aedan, a Scottish knight and guardian, in prison, the two escape to Aedan’s home and start the relationship they could have had years ago.

Because Aedan and Rowena never met prior to the story opening, this isn’t quite a second chance romance because they don’t have those shared memories and hurt that they need to move past. It does hit on some of the same notes as Aedan’s aunt and sister both encourage him to pursue a relationship with Rowena and the couple do bring up that they were almost together several times. I think someone who loves a second chance romance could still be fairly pleased with how the story plays out because of the tropes used later and the connection between Rowena and Aedan.

One thing I really appreciated was how Aedan and Rowena are both widowed and their story is about finding love after the death of a partner. Rowena almost had a family with her former husband and Aedan has a five-year-old son from his previous marriage, so neither are going into a relationship without experience of the heartaches and joys, though Aedan has had more of the joys as he had more time with his wife than Rowena did with her husband. There is a real maturity to their relationship because of this as neither are jealous or possessive or resentful of their former partners. Instead, there’s a shared understanding that helps them grow closer.

The other thing I liked was that there is no bashing of the former spouses. Sometimes romances feature an ex or a deceased spouse who was toxic or downright abusive and it’s very important to depict those things as they do happen in real life. But it’s also important to depict people who had content or happy marriages, who hold no resentment towards their old partner, and yet are finding love once again because sometimes we find our soulmates after we’ve already had a lifetime of experiences.

Content warning for mentions of miscarriage

I would recommend this to fans of historical fiction who also like a second chance romance and those looking for more romances between widows and widowers

Rowena is content as a healer in thirteenth century Scotland....until she is taken hostage on charges of poisoning the English king. While imprisoned, she joins fellow prisoner MacDuff in a breakout. She has to make her way home without attracting English attention, but her feelings for MacDuff provide a complication.

I love romantasy, so I was very excited to see that this book had fantasy elements. You could also see the influence of Outlander, especially with Rowena's healing career, but I do really appreciate a FMC who has a passion and a vocation. I loved Rowena's dedication to healing, as well as the setting. Far more romance novels are set in during one of the latter Jacobite rebellions, and I loved that this one was set in the also chaotic, earlier reign of Robert the Bruce.

The book was a quick read and would really recommend to anyone who wants a romance between two equals set in historic Scotland.