The Sweetest Sin [Mass Market Paperback]

Mary Reed McCall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 2004

Years after being sold to the English by his enemies the MacDonells and imprisoned in London Tower, Duncan MacRae returns to Scotland to exact his revenge and to reclaim what is rightfully his—the famed protective amulet, the Ealach.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mary Reed McCall once studied at the University of Leningrad and considered a career in national security. However, she soon realized her calling lay elsewhere and turned to her love of books for inspiration, eventually becoming a high school English teacher and a romance writer. She began work on her first novel one week after completing her M.A. in English literature. The award-winning author of seven novels for Avon Books, Mary lives in upstate New York with her family, sharing an often crazy but always wonderful life.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon (May 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060098120
• ISBN-13: 978-0060098124
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,135,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mary Reed McCall grew up in a rural area of Upstate New York as part of a large and loving family. Before becoming a writer, she first considered a career in national security, studying for a brief time at the University of Leningrad before completing undergraduate degrees in Russian and English back in the United States, followed by a Master's degree in English Literature. The sixth of seven girls in her family, Mary now makes her permanent home in New York State, with her husband and children. When she is not writing or involved with family activities, she teaches high school and college level English.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An emotional story that tugged at my heartstrings!, June 4, 2004

By 

LisaM - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sweetest Sin (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm not a huge fan of Scottish historicals, since many of them seem cliched, and I especially hate trying to read the Scottish brogue some authors try to write to give their story "flavor". Thankfully, Ms. McCall avoids boths of these traps and has written a story that is emotional and exciting, with a smooth, lyrical style and straightforward dialog free of those anoying colloquialisms.

As much as I enjoyed the storyline, I absolutely LOVED the hero. Although his name is perhaps over-used in Scottish stories, this Duncan is unique and very compelling as a hero. He is powerful and dangerous, yet capable of being breathtakingly tender. And although he's suffered terribly thanks to Aileana's family, he is still a good, honorable man at heart who, inch by painful inch, allows himself to open to Aileana and learns to love again with her help.

As a couple Aileana and Duncan face seemingly insurmountable conflict, but the way McCall showed them both slowly learning to trust, respect and feel passion for each other, when each had perceived the other as his or her worst enemy at the start, really pulled at my heart. One of my favorite scenes is the one when Duncan secretly sees Aileana mending his clothes and realizes all of the joys of simple life that he's missed. His heart aches over all that he yearns to have with Aileana, if only he could find the courage to reach out and take it. That scene, along with several others, brought tears to my eyes.

Another aspect of this book that I really enjoyed is that for once, the villain is a female. I found her fascinating and thought that she had, in her own mind anyway, very good reasons for feeling and acting the way she did.

Overall, this was a beautiful love story that turned out to be more than I expected. I highly recommend it and plan on seaching out McCall's backlist.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exciting historical romance with a touch of fantasy, May 26, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sweetest Sin (Mass Market Paperback)

In 1545 in the Scottish Highlands, Duncan MacRae is betrayed by his brother Colin and Morgana MacDonnal at his wedding ceremony. The MacDonnals kill many of the MacRaes including Duncan's bride, steal the magical amulet Ealach, and sell Duncan to the English, who imprison him in the Tower.

Thirteen years later, Duncan returns to Scotland following Queen Elizabeth freeing the Scottish prisoners. He and his clan raid MacDonnal to take back the Ealach as well as to avenge what happened to him and his people. However, both Colin and Morgana were reported dead while in exile and her brother Robert offers a deal to end the feuds. He offers his other sister Aieleana as Duncan's wife in exchange for allowing his other brother to live. Duncan accepts Aieleana as his leman until he begins to fall in love with the witch who has safely hidden the Ealach.

THE SWEETEST SIN is exciting historical romance with a touch of fantasy to spice the plot. Duncan admires Aieleana for her courage within hostile environs while she learns of the atrocities committed by her family towards the MacRae clan. The story line grips the audience from the moment that Duncan realizes what happened to his beloved as they stood at the altar until the final neat twist places his new beloved in jeopardy by his enemies. This Scottish historical is a terrific tale that sub-genre fans will enjoy.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Skip this one. No chemistry between the hero and heroine! (C- Grade), June 4, 2004

By 

K. Garrabrant "Katiebabs" (Bloomfield, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Sweetest Sin (Mass Market Paperback)

McCall is an excellent writer overall but this book is not a good example of her writing. The main problem with the story is there is really no chemisty or connection between Duncan and Aieleanna. The story has an interesting promise- revenge and angst from the hero against the evil sister of Aieleanna, who killed his young wife and tortured him years ago. Duncan means to take it out on her by making Aieleanna his mistress. His overall cruelity forms into affection and love but overall not believable. There is too much emotional seperation for the two and the sudden love from Duncan will make most readers scratch their heads in confusion.
On the positive side, McCall can write convicing life during the early middle ages. Too bad this romance is too stale.

Katiebabs