Customer Reviews

The Dark Highlander (The Highlander Series, Book 5)

5 star:		(137)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

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.

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!

Druid mage Daegus MacKeltar used his powers to travel back in time to save the life of his twin brother Drustan (see TO KISS A HIGHLANDER). However, Daegus pays a high price for his good deed as he released the spirits of thirteen evil Druids that share residency with him in his body. Desperate to re-incarcerate these malevolent beings, Daegus steals ancient Celtic texts in search of the spell that will do this. The Manhattan press dubs the thief the "Gaulish Ghost".

Medieval expert Chloe Zanders is shocked to learn that a curator of the Cloisters collection wants her to deliver a five century old reprint of the third book of Mannannan to some private collector who has provided artifact donations in exchange for reading the text. A wary Chloe delivers the book to Daegus, who recognizes his soul mate has arrived. Holding her prisoner, Daegus and Chloe travel to Scotland where he hopes to free his soul by imprisoning the Druids and to persuade her that they belong together through time and space.

This sequel is a great romantic fantasy that should provide Karen Marie Moning with a loyal cross genre audience awaiting her next book. The story line is action-packed, filled with tension, and never slows down even when the lead heroes debate their fate and attraction. The good vs. evil battle will hook fantasy readers with its feel of authenticity even with magic, incantations, and otherworldly demons. Ms. Moning seems heading to the read realm of greatness with THE DARK HIGHLANDER proving she is one of the best writers on the market today.

Harriet Klausner

Dageus and Chloe's story had the potential to be a truly amazing story, but ended up for me, as only average (if even a little below average - 2 ½ stars). To begin, let me say, that I found Ms. Moning to have an incredible imagination. The idea for the story is great, it is the execution that I had trouble with. First, Dageus has these 13 miserable, evil, desperate, lonely, frustrated, grasping souls trapped in his body. What great possibilities this could have opened up. Instead it is pushed into the background as just something that Dageus has to fight in order to keep himself "good" and not dark. These entities did not impress me as being so strong and all powerful (which they were supposed to be) if Dageus could keep them under control for so long. (I mean really, how long can one Druid hold out against 13 of equal power?) They really did not DO anything, they were just there, a temptation of sorts (for Dageus to use magic - which I didn't understand either, since his brother in the previous book could use magic with no ill effects, why should using magic for Dageus push him farther to the dark side?)

The story itself seemed a bit short to me. I would have liked to have seen a longer and better thought out climax/end scene and thought that as the reader, we would have been better met with about another 100 pages of story. Everything got very choppy with short groupings in the end few chapters, jumping between the different parties of the story. Chloe was an interesting character, but seemed very similar to Gwen in the previous book (small, "not perfect", gutsy, smart, etc). Although very convenient, I could appreciate that Chloe was a historian with a Celic background, but it did almost seem too "pat". The romance between Dageus and Chloe was decent. Seeing their attraction grow and Dageus's "nobility" in staying away from her sexually - even though that sexual release would have helped him was touching. Their first love scene was, uhm, a bit much, especially since Chloe was a virgin, but hey, I'll suspend my beliefs on that one.

On a side note, I found the imagery with Dageus's eyes quite interesting. Overall, this was an OK, book, though I suspect you will appreciate it more if you have read Kiss of the Highlander and were waiting for Drustan's brother's story.

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.

Quickly becoming the master of time travel romance, Ms. Moning follows KISS OF THE HIGHLANDER, Drustan's tale, with her latest work, the story of his twin brother Dageus MacKeltar. Though Dageus traveled through time to save his brother, doing so for personal reasons was in violation of an ancient pact. As punishment, Dageus is consumed with thirteen evil ancient beings that threaten to take over his soul. Ironically, his only relief from the dark spirits occurs when he is engaged in sexual activity.

When Chloe Zanders' employer asks her to take an ancient book over to a client's New York apartment, she reluctantly agrees. Dageus, the client, is absent when she first enters his penthouse and discovers among recently stolen museum artifacts, other objects attesting to his sexual proclivity. Caught snooping under his bed, Chloe is mortified with the appearance of Dageus, the most handsome virile man she has ever met. His refusal to let her leave renders Chloe with unwitting feelings of attraction and bewilderment from this utterly fascinating man.

Helplessly falling under his spell, Chloe journeys with Dageus to visit his identical twin brother in Scotland. As Chloe and Dageus journey back to his sixteenth century world, she learns of the dark force that threatens to claim him and desperately hopes that with her love and help, they can defeat the evil that wants to consume his soul.

Ms. Moning writes some of the most sensual love scenes in historical romance, and this latest read is proof positive of that fact. Much to her credit, the sexual encounters are well integrated into the plot line and exude feeling, eschewing the gratuitous sex often found in romance novels. This is quite possibly her best work to date, chock full of romance, time traveling suspense, and eerie mysticism.

Lately, I've been scouring the book store Romance section for a decent romance novel and I have been disappointed time and time again...until The Dark Highlander. Wow, this book was such a pleasant surprise! I really loved it. The story was engaging and the characters were very lovable.

I will spare you my summary of the plotline as may others have outlined the story. I only want to put my two cents in because I have to stress how much I liked this book. Especially, the hero, Dageus. Boy oh, boy! Dageus is a romance novel hero to end them all: tall, dark, handsome, brooding, very alpha-male, and too sexy for words, but he doesn't stop there. He is also smart. Smart as in Albert Einstein smart. This may sound a bit farfetched, but once you read the book, it will make perfect sense. Moreover he is a sexual dynamo without being cheesy. I have to say that KMM writes some of the best erotic scenes that I have ever read.

With all the above said, I have to also stress that the story becomes extremely emotional and heartwrenching near the end. When you read what Dageus' father says to him near the end and how Chloe, the intrepid heroine, reacts to events, you will feel your heartstrings being tugged. The familial relationship was just beautiful to read about. The words and feelings that Dageus conveys to Chloe will make you sigh with longing. KMM really knows how to squeeze a girl's heart!

So, don't walk...run to the bookstore and get this one. I haven't read any books this satisfying since Linda Howard's "After the Night". I hope you will not be disappointed.

I discovered Karen's books about a year ago and I've never been so thankful that I did. I have loved everyone of her books. The characters are larger than life and yet normal too. They have their wants, needs and desires just like everyone else. They can be strong and willful and vulnerable and giving. Karen's books make you believe that true love does exist and that it can conquer all. I have laughed and cried over her books and read and reread them again and again.

Dageus is the hero of this tale. He is brother to Drustan, from KISS OF THE HIGHLANDER. Dageus has commited a crime. He used a sacred circle of the druids for his own personal use. Now that use was to save Drustan's life so that he could go to his love but rules are rules. Now he must pay for his crime with his vey soul. He has travelled to modern times to try and find a cure for the curse. He is slowly being taken over by evil and his only was to slow the evil down is with sex. He has become a expert lover who women flock to. All except Chloe. Chloe is a sweet young student of antiquities who stumbles upon his secret and before she knows it is swept back in time with Dageus in search of the cure. She resists the temptation of Dageus until she finds that along the way she has fallen in love with him and he with her. When they do make love its explosive.

I enjoyed this story so much that I read it all in one setting. I was thrilled when we got to see characters from the previous story and a few tie ins with other stories. If you haven't read this story get it quickly. Its a must for any historial romance readers library.

Moning pulls out her best highlander novel so far in The Dark Highlander. It's worth reading The Highlander's Kiss just so that you know the back story in this novel The Dark Highlander. Daegus is by far the most developed of her Heroes and it shows as he goes through his emotional transformation in the course of this novel.

Warning: Moning uses the same plot devices in all of her Highlander novels, each time with varying degrees of sucess. It's gotten to the point where having read four or five of her novels I could almost write the next one based off of the back cover blurb. I reccomend reading one or two but not bothering with as many as I have. If you read only one: pick this one!

This book could also be titled: The Great Adventures of Chloe Zanders. I just keep giggling while thinking of Chloe huffily delivering a relic to Dageus' penthouse apartment, thinking that he's some disgusting man that's going to eat popcorn and ruin the book. And then seeing that he's probably more of a womanizer than anything, so she goes inside to make sure none of his dates touch it. And then being so enchanted by the relics on the inside of the penthouse that she breaks in and explores the entire home. And finally is caught under his bed and dragged out by the ankle by the darkest, most gorgeous man in existence who is probably a super dangerous thief. OK, and that is just the first chapter! Lucky girl!

This was the first Karen Marie Moning book I read, and like somebody else mentioned, I ran back to the bookstore and picked up the rest of them in the same day. KMM is seriously addictive and I will warn you that you must clear your entire schedule because you will NOT be able to put the books down. Do not start reading one before you go to bed because you will stay up all night to finish it. And by golly, don't even consider putting it in the front seat of your car because you will be compelled to read it while you are driving.

Anyway, I loved the Dark Highlander a heck of a lot! Dageus MacKeltar broke an oath his ancestors have held for eons and in return is cursed by 13 dark souls that are fighting for his body. He must exert an inhuman amount of control to prevent them from taking over because not only will it be the end of him, but could be the end of all that is good in the world. Just about the only way he is able to keep the evil at bay is by "tooping". So girls, if you run into this guy, you would be saving the WORLD if you go home with him ;-)

Enter Chloe, who is about the most innocent thing you could ever meet. Her character is so real, which is what I liked right away. She is not a hideously refined heroine like so many authors create, she is highly intelligent and absolutely hilarious. So naturally she is perfect for Dageus. Her expertise in Scottish history and multi-lingual talents help him to get to the bottom of his curse. He takes her on a trip to Scotland she will never forget. Who could forget traveling through time with the hottest man you ever met? With Chloe, Dageus is able to keep the evil at bay and find his soulmate.

I can't tell you more because it would seriously ruin everything. But like the rest of Moning's books, I laughed, cried, and got the chills. Something about her stories does that to me and I'm sure many others too! This is just a fabulous read that you will fall in love with and read over and over again. I had to reglue the binding on this book because I read it so many time, and now I'm just going to have to find it in hardcover!