Customer Reviews

Spell of the Highlander (The Highlander Series, Book 7)

5 star:		(77)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Oh, if only this book had been longer, I didn't want it to end! But if it hadn't I would have been up even later than 3am.

If your familliar with Moning's books you'll know this is a continuation in the Kelter Druid/ Faery series.And after reading the end of this book you find out that there are atleast 2 or 3 more books to come! The dialogue of this novel was so beautiful I may force my husband to read it and learn a thing or two!

Cian Kelter is the oldest of our druid hotties yet. A genetic freak born in the 9th century & made laird at birth, he has all the possible magical abilities bred into the Kelter line. Naively he invited another druid into the castle one night, an evil twisted man, and to sum up events Cian ended up stuck in an enchanted mirror perched on his enemies study wall for the past 1,133 years. And he'd have probably stayed there...if the magic that enabled a previous Kelter hotty to serve hadn't also triggered an unheard of string of events...

Passed through the black market and still trapped in his mirror, Cian has to hide out for 3 more weeks and his entrapment will end. He ends up in the round about possesion of Jessi St. James, an overworked anthropology graduate in Chicago. Convincing her to summon him from the mirror a few brief hours each day, Cian is able to slay the assasins the baddy sends after Jessi & himself only to find - with the hillarious help of his Kelter descendants- that Jessi is his soul mate. But winning his freedom may very well kill him & the love he feels...

The series in order:
Beyond the Highland Mist
To Tame a Highland Warrior
Kiss of the Highlander
The Dark Highlander
The Highlander's Touch
The Immortal Highlander

Ms. Moning's "Highlander" series is without a doubt one of the best series I've read. The lastest offering by this very talented author is Cian's story and this highlander is just like all of the rest in this series...hot, alpha, and brought down to earth by the love of his life.

Jessi St. James is over worked, and wondering if she is ever going to finally realize her dream of earning her PhD. But with one phone call her life is about to change. It's about to get more hectic, harried, and dangerous. It's also about to get a lot more exciting and one alpha male is about to make her feel real good. That is if she can keep herself alive and Cian out of the darn mirror....

Cian has called the dark mirror his prison for the last eleven hundred years. He wants out for good and it looks like that dream may become a reality. But first he must talk Jessi into believing that he's not a figment of her overworked imagination, and that she can count on him. It won't be easy as Jess doesn't respond to him as others do...his powers can't touch her. How on earth is that possible? Together these two fight to stay alive, find an end to the curse, and try to come to terms with the attraction that sparks between them. Will they be able to do this or will they fail...at one of them? After all a very dark and evil man is striving for them to fail.

Cian and Jess are an explosive combination. One of the things that I thrill to regarding Ms. Moning and her writing is we ALWAY get a chance to revisit with old friends (Drustin and Dageus, Chloe, Gwen)this in my opinion adds to the previous romances. Although at times this read was a tad predictable Ms. Moning's characters managed to keep it from being a total bore. Ms. Moning is an author that I purchase the second she has a book released...hardback, paperback...it matters not. What is important is the fact that you are guaranteed a good read that will leave you spellbound.

Official Reviewer for Romance Designs

I absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED this book!!! Why are you sitting here reading this?! Why aren't you out getting the book?

I love the female character in this book. Most romance books are all the same... there is a stupid, weak, little girl who doesn't know half of what is going on, and then she is swept off her feet by a blundering idiot known as a male. But Moning's book is very different... her female character, Jessi, is very independent and strong. She is on her way to getting a PhD when her whole life changes because of Cian. I'm not going to tell you anything else about the plot of the book, because you can read it and figure it out for yourself.

I believe that most people who read this book will become entranced with Karen Moning's style of writing. And the sex scenes... wow! Hot!

This is the third book in this series that I have read. Kiss of the HL and Dark HL being the other two, and I am glad I read the other two first. Cian is the worst character of the three. Drustan and Daegus are written with much more love and tenderness in their hearts. Now don't get me wrong I love an Alpha Male in my romance novels but he has to have a heart underneath that muscular chest. The whole couldn't keep their hands off each other was stupid, with the "tupping" in the hallway while everyone else is trapped in the library. I just wanted Drustan and Daegus to beat the crap out of him. I also did not like the heroine and I really tried to like her. I would only recommend this book if you read the other two and wanted to see Drustan and Daegus again.

Archeology graduate student Jessi St. James has an already full life with a research job, classes, and teaching. But when her advisor has an accident and asks her to receive a package for him, she can't exactly turn him down--even if she doesn't have time. The package turns out to be a strange mirror--with an eleven-hundred-year-old highlander druid/magician locked inside. The man who's owned that mirror for the last thousand years, the man who locked the highlander in the mirror, is desperate to recover it--and to make sure no one who saw the mirror survives.

Cian MacKeltar recognizes the attraction he feels for the sexy Jessi, but knows it can go nowhere. With all of the sins he's committed, he has only one goal from life--to keep the mirror, and its power, from Dark Magician Lucan Myrddin Trevayne for three weeks. At the end of that time, the magic will be undone and Lucan will die. But Lucan has assassins, dark magic, and the power of unseelie artifacts at his disposal. Better than a thousand years of magic have taught him to be ruthless--and to be cunning.

On the run from assassins, Jessi and Cian can think of little but the attraction that flows between them. That his mind control does not affect Jessi only makes her more attractive to Cian. But although Jessi has cast the spell to release Cian from the mirror, the effect is only temporary. The mirror calls him back--and will continue doing so (often at inconvenient times) until the spell is finally broken.

Author Karen Marie Moning writes a highly sensuous tale with the powerful and primative highlander, Cian MacKeltar taking center stage. Other members of the McKeltar clan, also brought up to the present from the distant past return from earlier books in the series, giving fans a treat as they see the familiar characters moving forward with their lives. A few minor inconsistencies--especially the repeated reference to Cian as the ancestor of the other MacKeltars (he wasn't married in the 9th century and presumably didn't raise bastards to be heirs so he wouldn't have been their ancestor, just a some number of greats uncle) distract, but not enough to spoil the story's enjoyment.

Fans of alpha male highlanders, loaded with muscle and magic, will definitely want to add SPELL OF THE HIGHLANDER to their reading list.

I really wanted to like this book, having enjoyed Moning's previous works so very much, but I just couldn't get into it. I agree with some of the other reviewers that this is basically the same book as the Immortal Highlander, but with much less interesting, one-dimensional characters. The formula is really starting to wear thin. Have some evil people after you? Run to Castle Keltar with your big, supernaturally gifted highland warrior, where you will be regaled YET AGAIN with stories of how the twins met their feisty, beautiful, intelligent wives, lose your long-held virginity in some mind-blowing fashion, contemplate the disappearance/impending death of said highlander, conquer the baddies, and then live happily ever after.

If Moning had followed this formula but had fleshed it out with events that were remotely interesting, this book might have been saved, but I doubt it. MacKelter fans will probably want to read this anyway, but I highly advise waiting for the paperback.

I may be Karen Marie Moning's biggest fan! I have read every one of her books and Daegus MacKelter, the dark, intense, super-alpha hero from the "Dark Highlander," and his time traveling brother Drustan, ("Kiss of the Highlander"), are two of my favorite fictional men. Although I remain loyal to Daegus, the MacKelter brothers may have some competition now with the introduction of their 9th century kinsman, Laird Cian MacKeltar, in Ms. Moning's latest novel, "Spell of the Highlander." A major bonus in this new book is that all three McKelters, along with their mates, appear here.

Cian is a Celtic warrior and the most powerful Keltar Druid ever to live. He is heir to the arcane magic of the Old Ones, but has been imprisoned for eleven centuries in The Dark Glass, one of the four coveted Unseelie Hallows, objects of seemingly boundless powers. The Dark Glass has been stolen, along with other priceless antiquities, due to the intervention of Aoibheal, Queen of the Fae, (the Tuatha De Danaan), who is determined to destroy the dark Druid sect of the Draghar.

Lucan Myrddin Trevayne, a former pupil of Cian's back eleven hundred years ago, is the evil sorcerer and ancient enemy who imprisoned him and who will stop at nothing to reclaim the Dark Glass and gain more power.

Jessica St.James, a graduate student in archeology at the University of Chicago, receives a midnight phone call from her doctoral advisor. Apparently he has been involved in a fender bender and needs her to go to his office on campus to accept an important emergency delivery. What kind of package, she wonders, gets delivered in the early morning hours? A mysterious one. The package is huge, the size of a sarcophagus. It turns out to be a mirror with an ornate golden frame carved with symbols and glyph-like shapes, apparently an ancient relic. Her first thought is that she would love to authenticate its age and origins. But sleep and a hard days work beckons, especially since she will have to take the professor's classes the following day. When she returns to the office the next evening to grade students' papers, she finds a strange man there who attempts to kill her. Cian MacKelter calls to Jessi from inside the mirror and gives her the Celtic words which will temporarily free him from his prison to defend her. Her terror overcomes her disbelief and she recites the spell. Cian keeps his word and does save her. Did you doubt?

Cian's freedom is transitory and he has a lot of work to do before he can break the spell which has ensorcelled him and free himself permanently. He desperately needs Jessica to help him. Actually, he needs her to believe that he really exists and that she is not crazy first. On Samhain, in twenty-two days, Cian's hated enemy Lucan Trevayne must pay a tithe to the mirror to keep MacKelter imprisoned. All "Tuatha De bindings, both the Seelie (the good fae) compacts, and the Unseelie (bad fae) indentures, must be periodically reaffirmed by gold. Usually compacts only require reaffirmation if something is changed or violated within the agreement. However, since the Dark Arts run counter to the nature of things, the Dark Glass must be paid every one hundred years, on the anniversary of the original date of binding at midnight." Cian has to keep himself and the mirror hidden during the twenty-two day period and plan his revenge. He cannot allow Trevayne to continue to live. Lucan looks to obtain the Dark Book, the contents of which are so potent that "continual exposure to it will change a man forever...and not for the better." Lucan Trevayne is bad enough to begin with - the world does not need him to get worse! He must be stopped at all cost.

Obviously, Cian is the typical mouthwatering male hunk Ms. Moning usually creates. And Jessica is bold, beautiful, intelligent, etc., in other words, a perfect MacKelter mate. Their courtship is similar to previous MacKelter romancing rituals. I really enjoyed the "Spell of the Highlander," however, here's where I might run into some trouble with other fans. My critique is totally constructive and I do write as a loyal Karen Marie Moning reader. Her storylines are usually much more complex - intricate plots, subplots, etc. Not so here. The narrative is interesting, but very simple, without any real twists and turns. Cian is a likeable character, but not at all complicated. In fact, at times he is almost caveman-like. And Jessi is so stereotypical. Heroines like Jessica exist in hundreds of romance novels. I have read many books by this author and know what she is capable of. Maybe it's me, but I wonder if pressure from her publisher is forcing her to pump out the books. I really hope not, because I so look forward to reading Ms. Moning's work. Also, BASTA!! Enough with women drooling all over men and visa versa. It is getting old and there are more subtle ways, and sexier ones, to express lust and sensuality.

From what Ms. Moning writes in a brief afterward, she is planning more novels about the MacKelters and the Fae. I say "terrific!!" I only hope the author grows as a writer as she further develops her wonderful characters. Highly recommended!
JANA

I loved other books by this author, especially the books about Grimm & Hawk, but this one, featuring Cian [KEY-on] & Jessi, was pretty boring. It had its moments but quite frankly, until Daegus got involved at the end there, in a surprisingly witty and compassionate role, this book was doomed. I guess using the mirror was a necessary plot idea to the overall theme of Moning's tales, but I wasn't thrilled about this approach.

Okay, so let me begin by saying that I did not read this book word-for-word. It came in my order of free books (thank God it was free), and I skimmed it from start to finish, reading large chunks here-and-there, and paragraphs in other places just to hurry me along.

With that said, I read enough to know that the male protagonist, Cian (a hot Druidian Highlander who has lived in a mirror for over a thousand years) was more believable and realistic than his 21st Century female protagonist, Jessica (a 25-year-old college student studying for her Ph.D.).

So, let's take a look at Jessica: It's not believable that a 25-year-old Ph.D. student is 1) Going to talk like a 16-year-old Valley Girl ("Well, duh!", "Whuh!?", "As if!" and "Crimeny, what a butt!" are some of Jessica's more astute quotations and thoughts); 2) Be a virgin (continue on for why I find her virginity hard to believe); 3) Wear low rider jeans with a thong purposefully showing over the waistline to tease members of the opposite sex (see why her virginity is not very believable?); 4) Has boobs seemingly the size of watermelons (like, fer sure, that's believable!!! Not!); 5) Can eat four cheeseburgers without gaining an ounce of fat when I saw no mention of her workout regimen.

I'll admit that any woman with a healthy libido (and one who has male domination fantasies of being tantalized by a man with an expertise of the female anatomy) will drool over this book...but the storyline...wait a minute - what storyline? It was if the author wanted to write a sexual fantasy, and then decided to throw some semblance of plot around all the sex scenes. Great sex scenes, though!!! I'll admit that much!! Whoa! Who turned the heat up in here!

But, sex scenes do not a great book make. A plot and plausible, realistic characters with more than just abnormally large body parts flopping around and sticking out everywhere make a book one to remember.

Also, the author's use of the word "slant" really became irritating after a while. He "slanted" his mouth over hers. She "slanted" her mouth over his. He "slanted" her head up to his. Okay...enough with the slanting!! He "tipped" her head up to his. She "tilted" her face up so that their lips met. He "brushed his lips over hers, softly at first, then more aggressively as his passion mounted." Okay...do you get the picture here? A little variety, please!

Lastly, the end of the book had a rushed "so-a-stake-through-the-heart-does-not-kill-a-vampire" feel to it. It was almost as if the ending was an afterthought and an urgent attempt to make the world right again so that the sun would continue to rise and set...blah, blah, blah.

This story had so much potential!!! One other reviewer said that it felt rushed, and I would agree. It was as if I was reading a rough draft instead of a well-thought-out and finished product. I think I even caught a few misspelled words along the way. I'm writing a book myself, and after a three-hour skim of this one, if mine doesn't get published, something is wrong in this world! Mine is still in rough draft stage, but it's already better than this one.

Sorry, Ms. Moning, but this book missed the mark for me. Great sex, but not much else. You need to do a better job of developing your characters than this. It seemed like Junior High reading to me (and, in fact, reminded me of the stories I wrote in Junior High), but, sex scenes aside, this book isn't for "mature" audiences, if you know what I mean.

I too must preface this review by saying that I am a huge fan of all of Moning's books, but "Spell of the Highlander" was a disappointment.

Cian MacKeltar was too much a man of the ninth century for my taste. He had little of the charm of Circenn Brodie (granted, Circenn had 500 years to mature), or the fierce loyalty of Drustan or the seething sexuality of Dageus. Even Adam Black had a more introspective air despite his undeniable carnality. Cian was too rough-hewn and too much the Alpha Male with none of the romantic tempering Moning gave to all her other heroes. To my mind, that is what makes them so attractive. They are big and manly and sexy, yet each has characteristics beyond their sexuality that seduces their women. I cannot believe that many women dream of losing their virginity the way Jessi loses hers. Cian seemed too one dimensional to me, without the complexity of previous Moning males.

Adam's book, "The Immortal Highlander" should have brought this storyline to a (satisfying) end. Yes, we loved Drustan and Dageus. Yes, I'm sure we all wanted more - and maybe if this book had been better written I wouldn't feel this way. How many times can we read "her glossy black curls" or "pillowing her breasts" against assorted surfaces without asking why the repetition? Where was her editor? This book felt like it had been written to satisfy contractual obligations and demands.

Still, if you are a MacKeltar lover, you will want to read this book. I'm hoping that it will prove to be the exception to the rule, and Moning's next book will return to the strengths that made me love all of her previous novels.