The High Sheriff of Huntingdon [Kindle Edition]

Anne Stuart (Author)

Book Description

The High Sheriff of Huntingdon, A Very Bad Man, has arranged to marry a young nun in order to get a coveted piece of land. He never expects to fall in love with her, or to let her tame his wicked ways, but with the interference of his mother, the witch, he’s in for a big surprise.

Inspired by the Sheriff in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, it goes to prove there’s a hero in everyone.

Product Details

• File Size: 263 KB
• Print Length: 80 pages
• Publisher: Anne Stuart (December 15, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B006MWYQDW
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,191 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous book, lovely romance and great fun to read December 19, 2011

By sarah stewart

Format:Kindle Edition

Those of you who have watched Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves know that Alan Rickman stole the show as the evil Sheriff of Nottingham. This book follows the theme and introduces us to Alister, the High Sheriff of Huntingdon. He is a evil, murdering, pillaging, drunken son of a witch and only interested in power and money...and maid with big boobs. In order to get his hands on a wood next to his property (to give to his witch mother), he marries Lady Elspeth. Elspeth has been a nun for the last 8 years and is non too pleased about being married to the sheriff, who is rumored to be the son of the devil. For all her disapproval and desire to get away from Alister, and return to the nunnery, she feels an overwhelming attraction to Alister. Meanwhile, Alister believes Elspeth is his destiny because of a prophecy that was made years ago - what he doesn't know yet is whether she is his soul mate or the cause of his death. Will Elspeth tame the uncontrollable Sheriff of Huntingdon, or will he end up like the Sheriff of Nottingham...dead?!

I loved this story. It has romance (although a little rough around the edges), sex and most of all...humour. I thought the relationship between Elspeth and Alister was electric and very funny. I adored Alister who was very boorish but you can see through him. And I loved Elspeth who was an excellent match for him being that she was so feisty and unwilling to take any nonsense from Alister. My only complaint is that this book should have been longer...it could have been a full size book. And I didn't enjoy the abrupt ending......I would have liked to have heard a little more about their life once they came together as a couple, and seen evidence of how Elspeth had taken Alister in hand, or not as the case may have been. Highly recommended, and a keeper for me. Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Short, But Not Sweet February 26, 2012

By angie bookclub

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Sarah Stewart "Otagogirl" gives a great synopsis of the plot of The High Sheriff of Huntingdon; I don't think I could explain it better, so I won't!

I felt like this book fell a little flat and the length was certainly a huge part of why it didn't work for me. The first three chapters of the novella were a great start; Elspeth seemed like she was going to be a tough cookie and that Alistair was the typical rough around the edges guy who would get polished by the heroine. It didn't really happen like that, though. For starters Alistair wasn't really bad at all (and I don't think that is a spoiler because it's pretty obvious from the beginning who the big creep is in the story) and he was, as described by Elspeth, a very elegant type of guy. Elspeth meanwhile becomes pretty pathetic pretty fast - she goes from running away to refusing to leave in roughly twelve hours. There wasn't a lot of romance or even attraction from my perspective - as soon as she heard about the prophecy something seemed to switch off in her brain. I actually find the product description a little misleading - it says Alistair never "expects to fall in love with her, or to let her tame his wicked ways." I didn't really feel like either of those things happened in the book. If she tames his wicked ways, it is sometime in the future and again, he's not that wicked. And does he fall in love? I think he says he does, but there is certainly no reason I can say why besides there is a rhyming prophecy of which he is afraid. The best part of the book was actually Alistair's mother who is a witch; she was pretty funny in the few pages in which she appeared. I think if the story got fleshed out and wasn't so focused on Alistair's cousin it would have been quite good!

4.0 out of 5 stars Too good to be a short story! February 16, 2013

By Jazzy

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I should start off by acknowledging that I don't like short stories/novellas; and in fact since I dislike them I usually don't read them. Generally speaking the characters tend to seem under-developed and the plot rushed. The only reason I decided to read this particular story is because it promised to deliver all the elements of my favorite Anne Stuart books and curiosity demanded that I check it out.

All of my expectations were met. My main problem with the story and the reason for the lack of a 5 star review is that it was too short, the plot felt rushed and while I really liked the hero and heroine, I would have liked them to have more depth. Alistair had the makings of my favorite kind of hero, hard and cold on the outside with a touch of dissolute evilness clinging to him yet harboring an almost desperate vulnerablity on the inside. He was not so bad as to be irredeemable, yet he was bad enough not to be the worst kind of hero ever - the "faux bad boy". He also scored extra points for not being a whore in real time; meaning once the heroine arrived on the scene. Just a personal preference but I prefer my heroes to be so taken with their designated love interest that all thoughts of sex with other women simply pale in comparison.

As far as the heroine is concerned I liked her quite a bit as well. She was reasonably strong and fearless with a decent sense of humor. She did fall rather quickly for Alistair; but it being a short story she was on a bit of a timetable.It would have been much more gratifying to watch Elspeth slowly come to realize that Alistair was not the villian everyone said he was and to see her feelings for him develop based on learning about his character through spending time with and observing him....

The story was enjoyable as it is; but I was left feeling disappointed that it hadn't been chosen to be developed into a full length novel. Read more ›