Highland Jewel
A Royal Highlander Novel #2
May McGoldrick
St. Martin’s Press, Sep 23, 2019
313 pages
Historical romance
Provided by NetGalley
⭐⭐⭐⭐🌙 4.5 stars
The cover isn’t anywhere near as exciting as the book itself is. What drew me to the book is the author’s name. I’ve always liked Ms. McGoldrick’s books and this one is no exception.
Maisie’s father and older sister, Isabella, are doctors. When their father dies, Isabella marries Dr. Drummond, who is a radical. He has a daughter about Maisie’s age, Morrigan, but the girls are nothing alike and aren’t close. So Maisie goes on her quiet way and the household sort of overlooks her most of the time. However, pretty Maisie isn’t the empty-headed lightweight they all seem to think she is. She listens when Dr. Drummond’s radicals meet at the house and she reads the papers and forms opinions. She and her friend Fiona have formed the Female Reform Society in Edinburgh. They speak in small groups with the women in the city. They print up and post the information so that people can understand what’s being passed as law. And now they’re speaking at local gatherings. Gatherings that the local constabulary are about to break up mounted on horses with clubs and pikes. Fiona escapes ahead of the horses and clubs. Maisie is saved by Fiona’s brother, Lieutenant Niall Campbell, now retired from the 42nd Royal Highlanders. His regiment is famous for its loyalty to the Crown and its bravery and brutality. But what Maisie sees is a very handsome man who is trying to tell her what to do. Go home and stop getting in the way of danger.
True to historical romance form, as the story goes on, the hero and the heroine, of course, grow to have warmer feelings for each other. I don’t want to tell the story here, but after several crises and some time and travel for each of our main characters, fortune will shine on them again. But it takes a kidnapping, a death, a loss of home for both, a marriage to a famous renegade, a close call, being thrown in prison, a queen, a threat or two, and Maisie speaking out again. I recommend this second book in the Royal Highlander series and probably the others of the series as well. This is an author that is easy to recommend.
a thoughtful reveal 