Highland Sword by May McGoldrick
My Rating: 
Genre: Historical Romance
Release Date: March 31, 2020
Formats: eBook, Audiobook, Paperback
Morrigan Drummond vows to see that Sir Rupert Burney, a spy, will pay for his past sins. When she spots him in the Highlands she seizes the opportunity—only to have a riotous meeting with a renowned barrister, Aiden Grant. Aiden needs Burney’s secrets to save the lives of two men… and does not need a vengeful woman scuttling his pursuit of justice.
After their tumultuous meeting, the pair meet again within the walls of Dalmigavie Castle. Morrigan is unhappy at first about Aiden invading her home, but the barrister is an honored guest of the laird. He makes her feel things she never wanted to feel. Aiden also may be the key to moving on from her shadowed past.
Morrigan was a difficult character to connect with for the first half of the book, because even if you pick up on some clues, she doesn’t reveal much about who she is and why until she opens up regarding her past. Aiden was more straightforward and was guided by his morals. He knew that Morrigan was holding back, yet was patient and didn’t push. I admired his tenacity for defending his clients as well as the care he exhibited for Morrigan.
The duo’s relationship had time to breath and grow. Were there feelings early on? Of course. But they took the time to learn who each other was long before committing themselves to a relationship. Morrigan had additional hurdles to overcome, and this is when the beauty of her resilience shined through. She fully came into herself and that was the moment I knew we were seeing the true Morrigan—the one who could see a future for herself.
There was one subplot I could’ve done without in this book: the caricatures. They were an interesting opener to Morrigan, but ended up being a weird tool that was employed only when the characters needed an excuse to go certain places. The story had enough going on without this addition.
Morrigan and Aiden’s story is third in the series but can be read as a standalone. There are a couple oddball chapters with Cinaed as the narrator which seem to exist only to tie an overarching series story to the previous book and, presumably, the next. Not reading the previous books didn’t detract from my enjoyment of this story at all—the author does a great job at explaining previously established relationships and events.
Highland Sword is out now and available in eBook, audiobook, and paperback formats.
I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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