Guest Review: (ARC) The Warrior by Margaret Mallory - 4.5 Wine Glasses!

The Warrior
(Return of the Highlanders #3)
by Margaret Mallory
Mass Market Paperback, 400 pages
Expected publication: October 30th 2012 by Forever
ISBN 044658309X
ARC Courtesy of NetGalley

Four fearless warriors return to the Highlands to claim their lands and legacies. But all their trials on the battlefield can't prepare them for their greatest challenge yet: winning the hearts of four willful Scottish beauties.
Star-Crossed
From the Isle of Skye to the battlefields of France, Duncan MacDonald has never escaped the memory of the true love he left behind. Deemed unworthy of a chieftain's daughter, Duncan abandoned the lovely Moira to prove his worth in battle. Now, when called upon to rescue her from a rival clan, one thing is certain: Moira's pull on his heart is stronger than ever.
Bartered away in marriage to a violent man, Moira will do anything to ensure she and her son survive. When a rugged warrior arrives to save her, the desperate beauty thinks her prayers have been answered—until she realizes it's Duncan. The man who once broke her heart is now her only hope. Moira vows never again to give herself—or reveal her secrets—to the fierce warrior, but as they race across the sea, danger and desire draw them ever closer.

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Crystal L.'s Thoughts:
Favorite Quote: "A lass should know how to protect herself," he said. "Your training in this regard has been sorely lacking, so I'm going to teach ye how to kill a man with a dirk." "That's the sweetest thing a man has ever said to me," Moira said in a dead-serious voice.


Duncan and Moira were madly in love when she was seventeen and he was nineteen. But their love was doomed from the start because Duncan was a bastard child of the cheiftan's nursemaid, and Moira was the cheiftan's beloved daughter. They couldn't help themselves no matter the circumstances and Moira tried to convince Duncan that her father loved her so much that if she wanted to marry him, her father would let her. Duncan knew better though. Her father would marry her off in a marriage that would create some kind of alliance for their clan. So when he came home one morning from one of his over night getaways with Moira, just to discover his cheiftan and Moira's older brother Ragnall in his mother's home, he knew he'd just lost the love of his life forever.

Cheiftan MacDonald sends Duncan to France with the cheiftan's youngest son Conner and two of Conner's cousins. Weeks after Duncan leaves he arranges a marriage for Moira to an Irish cheiftan's son, and convinces her Duncan left her willingly. Moira is now left heartbroken and married to a man who would put her through seven years of marital hell before help would arrive to save her.

Now Duncan and Conner are back where they grew up to lead the clan since the Cheiftan and Ragnall were killed by Conner's Uncle while they were away. But after Tearlag, the clan's seer, has a vision about Moira lying in a pool of blood, Conner sends Duncan to her husband's clan to check on her. Duncan arrives in time to save Moira's life, but too late to stop her abusive husband Sean from sending Moira's son away into the hands of her enemies. Will Duncan be able to help Moira save her son? Will Moira forgive Duncan for leaving her? Most importantly, will Moira tell Duncan the secret she's protected these long seven years?

A sweeping love story with brawny stubborn Scottish men who fight like the devil himself and and equally stubborn Scottish woman who must learn how to forgive the man she gave her teenage heart too. It will make you yearn for your own sexy Scottish warrior! Four and a half wine glass toast! Enjoy lassies!

Rating: 4.5 Wine Glasses!