The Dark Highlander (The Highlander Series, Book 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Darker, sexier and more serious than Moning's previous time-travel romances, this tall tale is every bit as entertaining. A Highlander from the 16th-century versed in both ancient Druid magic and the many ways in which to love a woman, Daegus MacKeltar is an enchanting hero as well as his own worst enemy. At the end of Moning's previous book, To Kiss a Highlander, Daegus used his Druid powers to travel back in time and save his twin brother, Drustan, who would have otherwise perished in a fire, but in doing so, he released the spirits of 13 evil Druids, who now reside inside him. In his search for age-old texts that may hold the key to re-imprisoning the spirits, Daegus meets ever-curious Chloe Zanders, a Manhattan antiquities lover. When she accidentally stumbles upon his collection of "borrowed" texts, Daegus holds her captive, which leads to a number of hilarious exchanges and heady encounters. The tension, sexual and otherwise, hits a boiling point when the two travel to Scotland to face Daegus's demons. Chloe's cheery disposition is a perfect foil for Daegus's brooding sensuality, and their clever banter leavens the weighty plot line. This wild, imaginative romp takes readers on an exhilarating ride through time and space.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Description

Journey to a world of ancient magic, breathtaking sensuality, thrilling time-travel.... Journey to the world of The Dark Highlander. Crisscrossing the continents and the centuries, here is a novel as gripping as it is sensual—an electrifying adventure that will leave you breathless....

I am Dageus MacKeltar, a man with one good conscience and thirteen bad ones, driven to sate my darkest desires…

From his penthouse lair high above Manhattan, Dageus looks out over a glittering city that calls to the darkness within him. A sixteenth-century Scot trapped between worlds, he is fighting a losing battle with the thirteen Druids who possess his soul, dooming him to an eternity of sexual pursuit. When Chloe Zanders, student of antiquities, is drawn into his world, she finds the insatiable alpha male an irresistible lure.Before long, she is caught up in an ancient prophecy that will sweep her back into time to medieval Scotland. Plunged into a world of timeless magic and dark seduction, she will soon face the challenge of a lifetime: fighting thirteen evil spirits for the heart of one irresistible man....

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Dell (May 20, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044024479X
• ISBN-13: 978-0440244790
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (173 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #125,835 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 5 in The Highlander Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Story That Gives New Meaning To Tall, Dark, and Sexy!!!!, August 22, 2003

By	Kristi Ahlers (Illinois) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Dark Highlander (The Highlander Series, Book 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

This was the first time I've ever read Karen Marie Moning, and needless to say half way through this book I ran back out to Amazon and put her other four books in my shopping cart! I'm not big on time travel and really only read a few authors that pen this sub-genre. I have added Karen Marie Moning to this short list!!!

This was a very fun book due to the great characterization that she did. Chloe is a perfect complement to Dageus. She's funny, sweet, and totally from the 21st century. Dageus is tall, dark, sexy...all right he's yummy period, oh and did I mention a 16th century druid? Dageus is looking for a way to reverse a curse and Chloe is basically in the right place but at the wrong time and Dageus can't help himself. Chloe is his mate, his love, and he's not going to let her go! At least not if he can help it. Chloe on the other hand is innocent, has no idea what this highlander is thinking, and loves historic artifacts (Museum business is what brings her to Dageus in the first place) imagine her surprise when her curiosity lands her tied to Dageus' bed!

This was a great book with laughs, romance, and yes...even tears! I loved it and I can hardly wait for Ms. Monings other books to be delievered to my mailbox!

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moning's Best, October 16, 2002

By	"cowgirlwithagun" (In The South) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dark Highlander (The Highlander Series, Book 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

THE DARK HIGHLANDER is intense, deep, and dark. For that reason, some readers may be put off by it, expecting a romance more like the light, funnier predecessor KISS OF THE HIGHLANDER. This cannot be a light read because of the character of Dageus and what he sacrifices (himself) in order to save his brother in KOTH.

Dageus is a spiritually tormented hero, which crosses over into the physical. Battling the 13 evil entities means he must try in any way to keep them at bay. Sex is his way of holding onto this life. This is also a time travel, but not in the sense that he is going to a place he's never been, such as in KOTH. Dageus is already in the future and must return to his own time in order to try and find the information he seeks to try and cure himself of these dark beings.

He's a darker version of Drustan, a more compelling hero that Drustan simply because he has to be. Chloe is the perfect heroine for him in that she is skeptical at first, but is slowly drawn into his world. She doesn't back down from the challenges that face her, but rather steps boldly with Dageus into an uncertain future. What I loved most about Dageus, though, is his love for his brother. He literally sacrifices himself in order to save Drustan, then again to save Chloe. It's rare for me that a book will bring me to tears, but the scene with his father did just that.

If you love intense, dangerous but courageous heroes, Dageus' book is one you will not want to miss. The Celtic lore that is the backbone of his plight might get too detailed for some to handle, but if you really pay attention, it really works for this story.

I've read some of the previous reviews and am a little surprised that some found that the love scenes were not hot. I guess they were skimming pages and didn't read the scenes where the tension was built up nicely and the love scenes were well-written.

THE DARK HIGHLANDER just proves to me that Moning's writing just gets better with each book she writes. It'll be hard for her to write a better hero than Dageus, though, but I'm sure she's up for the task. Moning is an exceptional writer and I thank her for giving us Dageus' story.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 1/2* DARKER AND BETTER, November 8, 2002

By	Desmond Chan (Bishan North Singapore) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Dark Highlander (The Highlander Series, Book 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

Superior time-travel romance gems are few and by. Most fanatics of such genre would agree that the classic by Jude Deveraux A Knight in Shining Armour reigns incomparable. That is until Karen Marie Moning releases her latest The Dark Highlander to be a worthy contender.

This is by far Ms. Moning's most complexed time-travel with its subversively darker tone and beautifully researched materials on Irish myths and historical tapestries - converging on the magical realms of Druids and a superior fairy-race Tuatha De Danaan. While the fairies indoctrinate the Druids on flourishing their civilization with science, 13 druids became avaricious and desired immortality like their otherworldly counterparts. The fairy imprisons them as dark souls trapped in the Stones - a time portal forbidden to humans and the chosen MacKeltars who guard them. Daegus, a 16th century Highlander in an attempt to rescue his twin brother, goes back in time to save him but ends up manipulated by the dark souls gradually.

He is thrown to the modern times - and voraciously reads up the scripts relevant to removing the curse. Earthy and sassy curator Chloe Zander delivers a sacred book and accidentally stumbles upon his identity as the Gaulish Ghost - a moniker for the thief of Celtic relics. Dageus bounds Chloe as his mate and together they search for his panacea, with descendents of the evil Druids on their heels....

Ms. Moning cleverly eschews from bombarding the reader and inserts her materials aptly. Her prose is snappy, fast and instead focuses on the characterization to accentuate the loyalty of Dageus and the saucy Chloe. Their effervescent sexual chemistry zings through the page and offers a respite from the frenetic pace of their rollicking adventure.

With so many developments at hand, it is all the more laudable that Ms. Moning, a former RITA winner strings them up coherently with her usual sleight-of-hand into an essential battle of overcoming odds with love. Of course Ms. Moning is deft after writing so many time-travel romance, but this passage through time is zippy, gleefully fun and darkly intriguing to give the best joyride I have experienced this year.