Highlander Week Review: The Guardian by Margaret Mallory

Highlander Week Review

The Guardian 

Return of the Highlanders #1

by Margaret Mallory

Mass Market Paperback, 416 pages

Published May 1st 2011 by Forever 

ISBN 044657516X

Courtesy of NetGalley & Publisher

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.                                              PASSION IGNITED                                            After years of fighting abroad, Ian MacDonald comes home to find his clan in peril. To save his kin, he must right the wrongs from his past . . . and claim the bride he's long resisted.As a young lass, Sìleas depended on Ian to play her knight in shining armor. But when his rescue attempt compromised her virtue, Ian was forced to marry against his wishes. Five years later, Sìleas has grown from an awkward girl into an independent beauty who knows she deserves better than the reluctant husband who preferred war to his wife. Now this devilishly handsome Highlander is finally falling in love. He wants a second chance with Sìleas - and he won't take no for an answer.

GoodReads

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My Thoughts:

The Guardian is fiendishly good and a sensational start to a new series.

Ian MacDonald was forced to wed Sileas five years ago when she was but a child and him a young man, angered and blaming her for his misfortune he returns to France and the war there, all but forgetting the girl he left behind.

When Ian and his three best friends finally return to their homeland after the death of their Chieftain, they find it vastly different from how they left it and a tyrant in the Chieftain’s seat. But that isn’t the only thing that is different; the ungainly wife he refused to acknowledge is now a beautiful woman, capturing the attention of more then one male, including him.

Ian is determined to win her affections again but Sileas’ family is looking to take advantage of his long absence. Can he reconcile his new feelings for Sileas and prove his love before it’s too late?

If you love Scottish Romances then The Guardian is a must read!

Ian was an amazing character; a sexy and strong warrior, built, with black hair and blue eyes, just the way I like em’. He doesn’t start off winning the ‘Husband of the Year’ award but when peeling back his multiple layers throughout the story you find a heart of gold and man who will do anything for those he loves.

Sileas is probably one of my favorite heroines. She has been abused emotionally and physically but also suffers from that ugly duckling syndrome, being an awkward and gangly girl and blossoming into a gorgeous woman, though she still feeling insecure about her looks. Despite all this, Sileas, is still a strong woman; helping out with Ian’s disabled and disheartened father, assisting his mother in the day to day running of the house and lands and being a sister to Ian’s younger brother.

I thought it was hilarious, and so typical for a male, for Ian to think that he could walk right back into Sileas’s life and have her welcome him into her bed. He truly did not get it at first why she was giving him the cold shoulder. Hello, you abandoned her to your family to deal with nasty gossip for five years while you were out having yourself a grand time! Sileas doesn’t easily forgive but you really can’t help how the heart feels and despite all she still loves Ian. And in the end, I think Ian made up for his mistakes.

Their love story is heart warming and gets very steamy, it’s not an easy relationship and they have their fair share of bumps but the development of it was believable. Each character, main and secondary, where endearing and stood out, even the villains. It is also, a well-written story with descriptive world building that never bored and plenty of action and suspense to keep you turning the pages. It was fun and interesting and the plot has a few twists and turns in it. The ending was well done for the couple but leaves it open and expecting for the next novel in the series, which is Alex’s. And I cannot wait to see how that plays out! 

Rating: 4 Wine Glasses - Loved It!